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The Archduke Albert was, perhaps next to Louis, the most
unpopular of the royal house. He indignantly refused to listen to any
demands of the people, and, hastening to the spot, rallied the soldiers
and led them to the open space at the corner of the Herren Gasse, which
is known as the "Freyung." The inner circle of Vienna was at this time
surrounded with walls, outside of which were the large suburbs in which
chiefly workmen lived.
The students seem already to have gained some sympathy with the workmen;
and for the previous two years the discontent caused by the sufferings
of the poorer classes had been taking a more directly political turn.
Several of the workmen had pressed in with the students in the morning
into the inner town, and some big men, with rough darned coats and dirty
caps over their ears, were seen clenching their fists for the fight. The
news quickly spread to the suburbs that the soldiers were about to
attack the people. Seizing long poles and any iron tools which came to
hand, the workmen rushed forward to the gates of the inner town.


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