Johann Strauss II—“The Waltz King”—was born on Oct. 25, 1825, in Vienna, Austria. It’s a city he is permanently associated with, now more than ever. In his youth, though, this hadn’t yet come to pass. He grew up in the shadow of a famous father who dominated the waltz genre. Johann Strauss Sr. As successful as he was, he didn’t want his son to be a musician.
The elder Johann Strauss pushed his son toward the “safe” profession of banking, but the younger Strauss quietly studied violin anyway. After his father left his mother for a mistress, Johann, still in his teens, formed his own dance orchestra to support the family.
