Hiking in the Alps was truly a memorable experience and probably one of my favorite activities that I was able to do while abroad. I went with a group of six girls instead of the main class group so we all had a slightly different, and shorter, hike. Since we were a group of girls, we decided to enjoy the experience of being in the Alps by not only hiking but also meeting new people, picking flowers, and trying to find Catholic crosses and shrines. This made the hike go a little slower, but for us it really increased our appreciation for the Alps and Austria in general.
While hikers in America are generally nice, very rarely do you get the chance to meet a group of gentlemen who just rock climbed up a sheer cliff but still have the energy to talk to a bunch of girls about their hiking and climbing history. It was also very interesting to hear their reaction when we told them that we were from California. They were so incredibly excited about it! As soon as they found out they just started asking us tons of questions about all the mountains and climbing opportunities that we have there.
And it was not only the people in the Alps that were pleasant, the trails themselves were incredibly nice as well. Unlike in America, I did not see one scrap of litter the entire twenty kilometers that we hiked. And the truly amazing part was that I did not even see any trashcans. Apparently, Austrians must feel more of a responsibility in keeping their country clean and beautiful, a trait which you can see both in the Alps and in the cities as well.
The most interesting and memorable aspect of the Alps however, had to be the man made structures that you could find there. The most obvious of these are the beer houses that are scattered throughout the mountains. These were great when you were hungry and thinking about turning back and then all of a sudden there is randomly this great little house where you can get a warm meal and a cold beer. The other man made structures were much more numerous but they were supposed to serve a much higher, and more divine, purpose.
The crosses and shrines that were scattered throughout the mountains were incredibly numerous and also tended to seem extremely random. They were apparently erected mostly during the Counter Reformation by the Catholics who are very fond of their relics and holy images. I am still unclear exactly how putting up crosses and shrines throughout the Alps was supposed to advance the Catholics' cause but their efforts did make for a much more interesting landscape.
I hope that I can revisit their Alps someday very soon.
Schonbrunn palace is very much your standard European royal palace in that it could not be mistaken for anything but the very grand living quarters of a royal family. No one but the wealthy and powerful aristocracy could ever have afforded to build such a massive and beautiful building and no one else certainly could ever have afforded the up keep. Since I am a poor college student, I did not actually pay to go inside the palace so all of my observations and analysis is based on my touring of the grounds and the pictures I have seen of the interior. However, even without seeing the interior, I can very easily tell that Schonbrunn is a place that has obviously been designed to impress. With its huge royal living space, extensive servants quarters, grand gardens, and its very own zoo, Schonbrunn is any royal family's dream.
It was especially interesting to go and visit Schonbrunn after seeing the Habsburg's previous residence at Klosterneuburg. While Klosterneuburg is unquestioningly beautiful, it cannot compete with the sheer size and grandioseness of its replacement. This change in residence that was enacted by Maria Theresia does indeed make senses both within the Habsburgs and on the larger European scale. For Maria Theresia this was a place that she could make her own without the shadow of her father hanging over everything like at Klosterneuburg. This desire to build something new and something that is yours is a pretty universal feeling. Also, on a less personal level, Klosterneuburg could not compete with the huge palaces of other European monarchies at the time. A French representative coming from Versailles to Klosterneuburg would probably not have been very impressed, but a French representative coming to Schonbrunn would have been forced to view the Habsburgs as a powerful and wealthy rival. This palace then, is only one of the many instances in which the Habsburgs used art and architecture to convey their power and advance their absolutist monarchy.
I spent quite a bit of time over the month hanging out in front of St. Charles Church. The plaza was beautiful and a great place to read and write while enjoying a cup of coffee. The best thing to do at St. Charles plaza though was to people watch. I think I saw Viennese do more interesting things in this one place than anywhere else in the city. I got to see children playing, couples on dates, friends hanging out, and I even was able to sit by the pond looking at a rainbow while an accordion player played in the background.
Despite all of these wonderful times, there were two instances that truly stuck out for me. The first was the night that the class went to see the Mozart performance at St. Charles. While we were outside waiting we say a group of men cheering on their friend who was swimming in the pond with a snorkel and a animal floaty. We asked them all what they were doing and apparently it was a bachelor party. This was quite surprising since in America a bachelor party normally does not include having to find a bunch of items at the bottom of a man made pond. Apparently a common practice for bachelor parties in Austria is actually a day in which a grooms friends get to assign the husband-to-be a list of tasks that he has to accomplish. To me this sounds like a lot more fun than what is considered a normal bachelor party in the United States.
My second favorite experience involving the pond in front of St. Charles was when a group of Austrians brought a raft and started to have team races across the water. They would invite strangers to participate and when they all finished they would cheers and drink together. I am not sure if this is a normal occurrence, but I was glad that I got to witness some Viennese letting their hair down and having a good, if extremely silly, time.
There is always the possibility of confusion when traveling to a country that speaks a different language. Most of my experiences with problems because of language were because I did not speak German. Whether that means not being able to read a menu, understand a sign, or answer a strangers question it did make life a little bit harder. Thankfully though, despite many Austrians prefacing talking in English that they did not speak very good English, most Viennese spoke excellent English. Because of this I had very little problem getting around although there were of course times when language was an issue. There was one instance in which a language misunderstanding caused a lot of confusion and quite a bit of amusement and I thought it was a great example of what it means to be an English speaker in a German speaking country.
One day I was with three other students at the cafe at the Kunsthistorisches enjoying an absolutely fabulous lunch. The setting was obviously beautiful and the waiter was one of the best I had had while in Austria. He was nice, friendly, and very helpful. Our food was delicious and, in true European style, we were able to sit and talk for an hour after we finished while we enjoyed our coffee. When it came time to pay Karl offered to pay the whole bill with his card since he did not have any cash on him and the rest of us would just pay him back. So, after we asked for the bill Karl handed the waiter his card to pay. The waiter asked if we would like to leave a tip so Karl turned to us and said "Nine?" and we all agreed and responded "Yes, nine." After this the waiter looked extremely affronted from several seconds but then his face cleared and he asked "Nine euro?" Karl told him yes and the waiter went off to go run the card. We all were wondering why the waiter had looked so put out when we gave him a nine euro tip. To us it seemed like plenty, especially in a country that does not normally tip as heavily as Americans do. When we started walking down the stair Karl just started randomly laughing. When we asked him why he said. "The waiter thought we were saying no tip. He thought we all looked around at each other and said No? No tip sounds good." At that, the rest of us started to laugh as well.
Although this was only a one small instance of miscommunication but I thought it was funny and a good representation of how even the most basic words can get you in to trouble.
The Naturhistorisches museum has a much more elaborate facade than any other natural history museum that I have seen. However, on the inside it is almost exactly the same as any other natural history museum and it is because of this similarity that I wanted to write a blog post about it.
So much in Vienna is totally different from America that it was interesting to find a place that, despite its outer appearance, was so set up so similarly to an American museum. I have to preface everything I am about to say with the fact that I am a History major and an art lover. I am not very interested in Geology, Zoology, Paleontology, or Marine Biology so I do not have as much knowledge about all of the exhibits in Natural History Museums as I do about exhibits in Art or History Museums. However, despite my lack of knowledge about the subjects addressed in the Naturhistorisches museum, it seems to me that these exhibits are almost the exact same exhibits that one sees in American Natural History museums. You have your dinosaur bones, your rare rocks, your stuffed animals, your plant specimens, and your marine life samples. Indeed, there were only two items that I found in the Natural History Museum that I had not seen elsewhere. The first was an actual beehive with a passage way to the outside through which the bees could enter and exit. It was actually a truly fantastic display in my opinion. The second unique item was of course the Venus of Willendorf. The fact that this small and unassuming statue is actually from sometime between 24,000 to 22,000 BCE blows my mind. I cannot believe that something that old could still exist and that people that long ago created it is absolutely incredible to me. Even being in the same small, dark room with something that old sent me into a state of historic euphoria. So, on one hand the Naturhistorisches museum was very much like any other natural history museum you could find back in the United States but like all other museums, no matter their location or theme, there were still unique and worthwhile exhibits to go see and experience.
While in Vienna I saw two extremely different movies in two very different settings. The first movie that I saw was Dark Night Rises in an English movie theater. The second movie I saw was The Magic Flute at the outdoor film festival.
Going to a movie in a non-American movie theater was a very interesting and new experience for me. When someone suggested that we go see the Dark Night Rises I thought it was a great idea since I had not seen the movie yet and a nice relaxing night also sounded very appealing after the first hectic week. What I did not take into account was just how different an experience an Austrian movie theater would provide as opposed to an American theater. The first difference that I realized was the movie tickets for students were only about six euros. This was about a four euro discount from the regular ticket price. Compared to the $11.50 student price I have to pay in America, which is only about a dollar discount, this was amazing to me. While this was my first experience with the pretty sizable student discount in Austria, it was thankfully not my last. The next change that I saw was that we had assigned seats. This was extremely new to me, at least in a movie theater setting, and it also seemed very impractical since we were not given a choice of seats and there were only about five other people in the whole theater. The seats themselves were also quite unusual to my American movie going self. They were not stadium seating, which would have made it very difficult to see the screen if there had actually been anyone sitting in front of us, and they were also surprisingly nice and squishy. This last discovery was actually quite nice since often times in America this is not the case.
While we were watching the movie two other things become obvious very quickly. The first, was that there was absolutely no airconditioning. Given the fact that I had been in Austria for a week already and experienced the fact that they definitely did not believe in central airconditioning, I am not sure why this surprised me. I guess I can blame it on the overly airconditioned movie theaters back home. However, the lack of air in the theater made the whole experience a little difficult since it had to be about eighty degrees in the movie theater. My second discovery while watching the film was that no one else in the theater laughed at all during the movie. The Dark Night Rises is obviously not the funniest movie, but it did have some one liners that made our group laugh but when I looked around, all the Austrians were just staring up at the screen without a smile on their faces. This lack of response from the audience is a very interesting difference from American audiences who laugh, cry, and often yell at the screen.
My second movie experience in Austria could not have been more different from my first. I went with a group of other students to see The Magic Flute at the open air film festival outside the Rathaus. There were dozens of different booths with a wide variety of foods, beer, and wine, all of which were absolutely fantastic. After getting something to eat we were able to sit down with a glass of wine and watch The Magic Flute. The atmosphere was great, the weather was beautiful, but I had absolutely no idea what was happening in the movie. The fact that it was in German and had no subtitles I am sure had at least something to do with my lack of understanding but given that it was an opera I am sure that there were parts that even native German speakers probably could not understand. The setting and staging of the movie did not help at all either. It would go from three women singing on fake Alps to a man dressed in yellow who drove a yellow car filled with bird cages. In short, the movie totally baffled me. Despite my lack of understanding however, this was one of my best nights in Vienna because it was such a wonderfully Viennese experience to have.
My first impression of Thomas Frankl was that he was not like any Holocaust survivor I had ever seen before. Not that I had seen a Holocaust survivor in person but almost all of the interviews that I had seen depicted survivors in a serious light. This was not the case for Thomas. He came into the room full of life and energy despite his advanced age. He told us the stories of his and his families Holocaust experiences. Theirs was an exceptional experience, especially since the members of his immediate family all survived. While he was telling us this story, Thomas Frankl made jokes, showed us pictures, cried, and laughed. The fact that he did not express his story in a completely serious or a completely comedic manner, to me at least, made the experiences of his family seem more real. Yes, they were obviously victims of horrible crimes but that was not all that they were.
I was unable to go to the Adolf Frankl gallery but I did look up all of his pictures that I could find. I had seen a couple of them in the handouts that Thomas had given us, but those did not begin to do justice to his fathers pieces. Each one is more disturbing than the last. However, despite their disturbing nature, these are some of the most powerful paintings I have every seen. Through them you can feel the tiniest of fractions of the horrors that Adolf and the millions of other victims of the Holocaust had to see and go through. While obviously we can never truly understand that horror, I do believe that it is important to at least try to do so.
My first impression of the Belvedere was not a good one. They do not let you take pictures! For the beginning of the tour I was so resentful that they would not let me take my camera in because it was such a beautiful palace. I got even more upset as I realized that there were not even many objects in the rooms that could be damaged by flash so I truly could not understand why we were not allowed to bring cameras in.
After I, somewhat, got over the fact that I would not be able to document the Belvedere to my hearts content, I was able to appreciate how beautiful Prince Eugenes palace was. The room that I was most struck by was the magnificent ballroom. It was so easy to imagine all the parties and people that used to be in that room. Also, the collection of bust by Messerschmidt was one of the strangest exhibits I have ever seen. His mental disorders were clear in his art but what I was most impressed by was that even at his craziest, Messerschmidt still had such an impressive talent with sculpture.
The other art exhibit in the Belvedere that I was most struck by was of course the Klimt exhibit. I actually like his earlier portraits better than his later works. I am sure that this would have distressed or angered Klimt since this was not the style he was most known for or most proud of. There is something about his portraits of the rich women he did before moving into his more modern and groundbreaking style that I just find captivating. They are all so lifelike and yet they seem to glow from the inside.
Until I came to Vienna the only work I had ever seen of Klimt's was The Kiss. While I liked this painting, I was never as impressed or enthralled as most other women seem to be. During her discussion of The Kiss Dr. O asked us all some questions that I dont think anyone had ever considered about this painting before: What kind of kiss is it exactly? Was it a tender kiss? Was it a passionate kiss? Was the woman enjoying it or just tolerating it? While I found this a very interesting question, there were several girls in our group who actually got quite offended by this. They talked about how for so long this had been a picture which to them personified the beauty of love and passion and to have that called into question seemed to hurt their long held beliefs about The Kiss. In the end, I came to the conclusion that maybe The Kiss is just a kiss. Nothing more and nothing less. I also think, that maybe Klimt painted the piece the way he did so that discussion and opinions like these would arise. Just because one person sees one thing in a painting while another person sees something else does not mean that either of those people are right or wrong and that is the beauty of art.
I was extremely impressed by the Kunsthistorische Museum. Most museums seem to focus largely on the art or artifacts that the building houses and while the Kunsthistorische Museum does indeed have a fabulous collection, I believe that the building itself can be considered art. The exterior of the museum to me at least, is much more beautiful than any of the more modern looking museums that the United States seems to favor. I believe that the dome, statues, and sandstone of the exterior give the building and all it houses a truly regal appearance, which I am sure is what Emperor Franz Joseph I was aiming for in its construction. The inside of the building is even more impressive than the exterior. With all the marble, gold, and paintings, you feel more like you are in a palace than in a museum. I was especially fascinated by the wall paintings done by Klimt. They seem out of place, because the museum from what I saw tends to not house such modern art, and yet, because they are an expression of Austrian art and talent, the paintings also seem to be a perfect fit.
Once we actually started our tour of the museum and the art, something became very clear very quickly. Catholic and Protestant art are as different as the two religions themselves. This is something that Kathy had asked us to look at but even without this prompting the differences between the selections of the two styles were so glaring that I do not think anyone could have missed them.
Catholic art seemed to be all about bold colors, huge paintings, and depictions of the divine while Protestant art seemed to focus more on earthly subjects and use dark and drab colors. I think that the two artists from the Kunsthistorische who best illustrate the extremity of these styles are Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt.
Peter Paul Rubens was so in demand that he had a workshop who helped him with his often gigantic pieces. His subjects appear to be mostly great lords, saints, or other divine beings. Although the figures are painting extremely well and most are anatomically correct, there appears to be very little else about these paintings that could be considered realistic. Like Catholic churches, these paintings seem to be more about praising God through lavish art and bold, beautiful colors than about actually depicting scenes from everyday life.
Rembrandt on the other hand occupies the total opposite side of the artistic spectrum. His paintings all tend to be created with extremely dark colors and they almost all portray scenes or portraits that I can only describe as overly realistic. That is not a necessarily bad or a good thing, but it can be a very depressing thing when one looks at the self portraits Rembrandt did. It is very clear that his earthy living has paid a heavy toll on him both physically and mentally. Instead of lifting the viewer up and reminding them of heaven, Rembrandt, and Protestant artistis in general, ground the viewer.
The differences between Protestant and Catholic art seem to accurately illustrate some of the core differences between the two faiths with Catholics often being much more interested in the saints and the divine and Protestants being interested in less fantastic and lavish religious practices.
I just wanted to include some pictures of other paintings I found interesting:
Since I have done quite a bit of traveling with my family I have pretty much always known that there are a lot of other countries who have citizens that are not necessarily the biggest fans of Americans. We tend to have a stereotype of being stupid, loud, and obnoxious. Even knowing these stereotypes, I have never really considered myself to be an overly loud person. I laugh when something is funny, raise my voice when I get excited, and will yell my friends name to get their attention if they are far away. Until I went to Austria I thought that these were relatively normal things to do.
These actions which I consider to be so normal were distinctly abnormal in Austria. My first experience of this was when I was out with maybe three other students walking down Mariahilfer Strasse. It was sometime in the early afternoon so we were not disturbing anyways sleep and yet while we were walking, an older woman turned around and told us to calm down and speak softer. Until she said this I had not even thought that we were being very loud. We were not yelling or screaming, instead we were just talking, laughing, and enjoying ourselves. Immediately I felt ashamed because I do not like disrespecting other peoples' cultures. Everyone else just laughed it off and said that it was fine because we were American tourists so what else could these people expect from us? It was at that point that I realized that if I was going to hang out in any sort of group of students I needed to get used to getting glares and set downs since most of the other students did not seem to care to try and adapt their social behavior.
It was never more obvious that the group had chosen to embrace the American stereotype than when we were at restaurants, on the U-Bahn, or going out to the bars. We were loud, we were obnoxious, and I am sure that all the Austrians thought we were rude. Sometimes I would try to quiet people down but after awhile this seemed a fruitless endeavor so, unless it was a truly ridiculous display of Americanness, I simply decided to embrace my wonderful, although loud, classmates since they were just trying to embrace Vienna and enjoy everything that it had to offer.
I have went to a Catholic school all throughout high school. I went to religion class four times a week, mass once a week, chapel once a week, confession once a month, and I had at least three teachers who were priests or nuns. Given that I am not actually Catholic, I thought that I was pretty well versed in Catholic practices, Catholic churches, and what extreme Catholics are like. Klosterneuburg proved me wrong.
When we first arrived at Klosterneuburg I was amazed by the beautiful architecture and grounds of the monastery. I had always known that Catholics enjoyed their lavish and extravagant Churches, but from what I had seen in the United States, I thought that monks, priests, and nuns lived in less ostentatious places. This is obviously not the case in Europe and is especially not the case for the Augustinian canons who live in Klosterneuburg. This extreme different in living quarters was only the first of the many differences that I learned existed between the priests I knew back here in California and the canons.
Probably the most easily identifiable difference between canons and regular priests is the outfits that they wear. While both groups tend to wear the black cossack, the Augustinian canons wear something called a sarozium, which looks like an extremely long and extremely thin white tie. When we asked Dom Ambrose, the first canon we met who was actually an American, why they wore these, he told us that the practice stemmed from the fact that canons used to wear a white cossack and a white rochet all day long. Over time however, the white habit became black and the rochet was trimmed down into the modern day sarozium. This outfit seems to be much more practical while still showing that the canon is dedicated to serving God not only in Church but in the outside world as well.
The next thing I learned about the canons that truly baffled me was that they do not take a vow of poverty. For years I have thought that this was a fundamental part of joining any Catholic order, but it appears either I was misunderstanding (or possibly not maying attention) in class or my teachers were only teaching us about the way that the priests who worked at our school operated. Instead of taking this vow of poverty, canons instead, from what I understand, take a vow of common property. This means that everything that they have belongs to all of the canons regular. This vow actually makes a lot more sense to me than the vow of poverty that most priests take.
After we left the actually canonry and went to the wine garden I was able to experience one more difference between Augustinian canons and the priests back home. Canons drink like fish. I never saw or heard about any priest I knew in the past drinking alcohol, except of course the wine in the Eucharist but at that point according to Catholic tradition it is blood and not wine. The canons at Klosterneuburg were a totally different story however. They love their wine. They even make their own, although Dom Ambrose the whole time was complaining about the fact that he does not actually like Austrian wines. It was also at this wine garden however, that I noticed a very large similarity between Catholic priests and Augustinian canons. They both tend to be so firm in their beliefs that they are unwilling or unable to bend at all in an argument or discussion. This makes a great deal of sense to me because I know that if you did not have such firm ideas you probably would not have the drive or desire to join a Catholic order.
I had my very first slice of Viennese cake today. I have been hearing all about how wonderful it is from every person who had been to Vienna before. I though that they must have been exaggerating because, yes cake is delicious but really how can cake be special enough that it is the second or third thing people tell you to experience in Vienna? Admittedly, I went into the experience somewhat doubtfully but I was proven wrong very quickly. The cakes here are fantastic! They are the perfect amount of sweet and savory as well as the perfect balance between rich and light. These are the balances that I think American cakes have yet to achieve but that Viennese cakes seem to excel at.
After my first trial of Viennese cake, which is an experience I believe will lead to a very devoted love of Austrian desserts, I was able to see the Stephansdom for the first time. Dr. O gave us a fantastic tour of the church, but the first thing she said that really struck me was actually a question: "What was your first impression of this cathedral?" This is no doubt a very simple question. However, I also think that it is a extremely useful question to use when first approaching a building such as St. Stephans. As soon as she said this I had to think back about what exactly my first impression had been and it can be summed up in one word: Amazing. I realize that this is a pretty bland word to try and use for such a complicated building, but it is the truth. The architecture amazed me. The paintings amazed me. The history really amazed me. And yet, what is odd is that I did not feel overwhelmed by the church despite all of its details and gothic styling. Instead, for some reason, despite the ugly stain glass windows and the grandiose scale of the building, I felt welcome. This sense of ease only increased by every story that Dr. O told us about the different parts of the church. Getting to learn about how the church became a cathedral, why Frederick III was buried there, how Master Pilgrim felt unwelcome, and why bell fell from the tower, while actually standing inside the building was a perfect way to experience history.
I think that my favorite stories as well as my favorite aesthetic aspects of the cathedral were those involving Master Pilgrim. His pulpit is truly extraordinary. The level of detail and obvious skill that went into making the giant stone structure was truly astonishing. Also, I really appreciated the way that every part of the pulpit was thought out. Everything from the toads being blocked by a terrier to the three and four pronged wheels that looked like they were ascending and descending the pulpit were well planned and full of religious symbolism. Even though I am not exactly religious, I do still think that it is a shame that we often do not build or design today with the same thought, care, and symbolism that so characterizes art and architecture of the past. I also really enjoyed the story of the organ case resting on the back of Master Pilgrim. Since he was not Viennese, apparently many locals made fun of him, especially when he was creating the organ case which them claimed would never stay up on the wall. Apparently, at least according to the story, Master Pilgrim then said he would hold the case on his back. Since the organ case is still standing after five centuries, I think that the Master got the last laugh.
Today was the first time I really got a chance to see what I think is probably the largest difference between America and Vienna, which is the fact that everything is closed on Sundays. I had gotten a chance to see a little bit of what this might mean when most stores and banks were closed by five or 6 during the week, but I do not think I was at all prepared for a full day of that. You cannot go to the grocery store. You cannot really go shopping. You cannot go to a pharmacy or drug store. Even some cafes and restaurants were closed. It was a strange feeling coming from some place were almost all stores are open seven days a week and some are even open 24/7. Not being able to go get a late night snack or even lunch food from a Safeway or Ralphs whenever I wanted to was very strange. However, although I thought it out of the norm and somewhat inconvenient, I also believe that such a system is probably better for the Viennese. They appear to actually expect and value time off of work. As opposed to America where work is from nine to five, or in many cases even longer than that, it would be a nice change of pace to live in a society where working adults have the time and energy to engage in activities and enjoyments outside of their careers. This is a freedom that I envy and that I wish the United States would practice more.
Although pretty much all the stores are closed, the museums tend to be open on Sundays and closed on Mondays. Because of this, I think it was a great time to go the Wien Museum. This was the first museum I was able to go to while in Vienna and it was also my first experience with Dr. O since I was unable to do the bus tour. I am glad for both of these facts because I think that the museum was a great introduction to the history of Vienna especially with Dr. O's guidance.
While the whole museum was great, especially getting to see some original stain glass and statues of past rulers, I believe my favorite part of the museum was getting to see the different representations of Vienna throughout history. Being able to see how Vienna transformed from a Roman settlement to the capital city of the Babenbergs and later the Habsburgs and eventually into modern Vienna was absolutely fascinating. I loved getting to see the buildings, structure, and size of Vienna change and grow according to who lived there, what it was used for, and what art style was poplar at that time. Whatever else Vienna may or may not be, it is a city that is always changing in one way or another.
We started out today by taking a walking tour through Vienna. This was also the first time I got to ride the tram instead of the U, which I really enjoyed since you get to see so much more of the city while you travel from one place to the next. The public transportation here in Vienna truly is fantastic! I wish we had something even close to this back home.
We started our walk in the Museum Quarter which I had been to before during the night, but never in the day time and wow does the time of day make a difference there. During the night it is all people, many of who appear to be Viennese, hanging out and socializing. During the day however, it seems to be mostly tourists and it was not nearly as busy although I think that it is much more beautiful because you are actually able to see all the architecture.
Something else that I really enjoy about European architecture in general and Viennese architecture specifically, is that quite a bit of the time it is extremely symmetrical. Personally, I believe that this makes buildings a lot more beautiful, but that could also largely be that asymmetrical buildings really annoy me.
On this tour we also went to the Hofburg for the first time. Through the reading and class, I already knew that this was the seat of the Hafsburgs. What I did not know however, and what I found extremely interesting was that this was where Hitler addressed the Austrians after the Anschluss. Because I found this so fascinating, I decided to do a little bit of research about it. The first thing I was able to find was actually this really interesting website of pictures of Hitler and the Nazis at the Hofburg and other places in Vienna next to pictures of what those places look like now (http://www.thirdreichruins.com/vienna.htm).
This is a video of the speech given. It is absolutely crazy to me how excited all of these Austrians seem! I also had to look up a translation of the speech in English and it goes as follows: Germans! Men and Women!
Within a few short days, a radical change has taken place in the German Volksgemeinschaft, whose dimensions we might see today, yet whose significance can only be fully appreciated by coming generations. In the past few years, the rulers of the regime which has now been banished often spoke of the special “mission” which, in their eyes, this country was destined to fulfill. A leader of the legitimists outlined it quite accurately in a memorandum.
Accordingly, the so-called sel-sufficiency of this Land of Austria, founded in the peace treaties and contingent upon the mercy of foreign countries, was to perform the function of preventing the formation of a genuinely great German Reich and hence block the path of the German Volk to the future.
I hereby declare for this Land its new mission. It corresponds to the precept which once summoned the German settlers of the Altreich to come here. The oldest Ostmark of the German Volk shall from now on constitute the youngest bulwark of the German nation and hence of the German Reich. For centuries, the storms of the East broke on the borders of the Old Mark in the turbulent times of the past. For centuries into the future, it shall now become an iron guarantor of the security and freedom of the German Reich, and hence a safeguard for the happiness and peace of our Great Volk. I know the old Ostmark of the German Reich will do justice to its new task just as it once performed and mastered the old.
I am speaking on behalf of millions of people in this magnificent German Land, on behalf of those in Styria, in Upper and Lower Austria, in Carinthia, in Salzburg, in Tirol, and above all on behalf of the city of Vienna, when I assure the sixty-eight million other German Volksgenossen in our vast Reich listening this very minute: this Land is German; it has understood its mission, it will fulfill this mission, and it shall never be outdone by anyone as far as loyalty to the great German Volksgemeinschaft is concerned. It will now be our task to devote our labor, diligence, shared dedication, and joint strength to solving the great social, cultural and economic problems; yet first and foremost to make Austria ever grow and expand to become a fortress of National Socialist willpower.
I cannot conclude this address to you without calling to mind those men who, together with me, have made it possible to bring about this great change- with God’s help154-in such a short time. I may thank the National Socialist members of the government, with the new Reichsstatthalter Seyss-Inquart at their fore. I may thank the innumerable party functionaries; I may thank above all the countless anonymous idealists, the fighters of our formations who have proven in the long years of persecution that the German, when put under pressure, only becomes tougher.
These years of suffering have served but to strengthen me in my conviction of the value of the GermanAustrian being within the framework of our great Volksgemeinschaft. At the same time, however, the splendid order and discipline of this tremendous event is proof of the power of the idea inspiring these people. Hence in this hour, I can report to the German Volk that the greatest orders of my life have been carried out.
As the Führer and Chancellor of the German nation and the Reich, I now report to history that my homeland has joined the German Reich.
I think that the most interesting parts of this speech are the first and last lines. The fact that he addresses this mass of people who were so recently considered Austrians as "Germans" is incredible to me and the fact that they seem to be happy about it is even more astounding. This seems to go along with my post about The Sound of Music however, where there was a substantial portion of Austrian citizen who truly did want to become apart of the more successful Germany at this time. I found the last line important as well because Hitler refers to the fact that Austria is his homeland. I think this is a fact that is often forgotten since Adolf Hitler is often, at least in America, more associated with Germany than with Austria. I wonder how Austrians view having Hitler as one of their citizens. Do they ignore it? Do they think of his as German? How do children learn about it in school?
Unfortunately today I got a migrane half way through class so I ended up having to go home so I missed the bus tour with Dr. O and the wine garden. However, I took this time to re-watch the Sound of Music. This was the first time I had really watched at this movie from a largely historic/ cultural perspective instead of simply as a very entertaining musical. Looking at the movie in this way led me to appreciate The Sound of Music in a very different way then I had in the past because I noticed a lot more of the historic and cultural details. Also, watching the musical this time around I started to ask questions about the plot and setting, which I had not done in the past.
My first question was just how closely the plot of The Sound of Music was to the story of the actual Von Trapp family?
Going off of, http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/winter/von-trapps.html, http://www.trappfamily.com/story, and http://www.the-sound-of-music-guide.com/von-trapp-family.html, these are the facts that I have learned about the actually Von Trapp family who were exceedingly different from how they were portrayed in the movie.
Maria was not a governess to all of the von Trapp children. Instead, beginning in 1926 she was actually only a tutor for one of the children although she apparently fell in love with all of the children.
Maria was reported as having said that she did not love Captain Von Trapp when they married. Instead she married him because of her affection for his children. She did however say that she fell deeply in love with him after their marriage.
Georg was not at all like his character in the movie. Instead, he is said to have been a kind and caring parent to his children. Maria and his children were apparently quite displeased by the negative way he was portrayed in The Sound of Music.
Maria also was not entirely like her character either. Unlike the continuously sweet Maria played by Julie Andrews, the real Maria actually did have a temper, which she lost quite often although she supposedly always recovered her good humor quickly.
The ages, sexes, and names of the real von Trapp family were changed for the film.
The von Trapps did not sneak over the Alps on foot in order to flee the Nazis. Instead, they traveled by train through Italy, where Georg was actually a citizen, and eventually ended up in America.
Max, a fictional character, was not the one to arrange for the family to perform. Instead, this job belonged to Father Franz Wasner.
I found all of these facts about this real family just as fascinating as the story of the von Trapp family that was created for the film. Although I must admit that I still have a very large soft spot for the watercolored family that is prone to random dance and musical numbers just because I have always been a very large sucker for musicals and happy endings.
Next, at one point Rolfe mentions that Austrians should be Germans however, the Captain obviously does not believe this. I know that there were Austrians who had ideologies similar to both of these men but I began to wonder just how many wanted to become Germans, how many did not welcome Germany, and how many were not particular one way or the other.
While researching the real von Trapp family, I found out that one of the aspect of Georg that they did get correct was his dislike and distaste for the Nazi regime. Similarly to in the movie, the real Captain also refused to fly the Nazi flag on his house and he did indeed decline a naval command. From the reading, I have come to understand that that Georg was not alone in his thinking, but obviously, he was also not unopposed.
The debate about whether or not Austria should be apart of Germany was not a new one that developed after World War I. Indeed, since both modern countries' lands had been apart of the Holy Roman Empire, both countries speak the same language, and both countries share some similar cultural aspects, it makes sense that this would be a topic often discussed. Over time, there have been times when there was strong support in favor of uniting the two spheres while at other times there was strong support against doing so. During the time in which The Sound of Music was set, many Austrians appear to be in favor of becoming apart of Germany. According to Beller, this was in large part due to the failure of the Austrian government and economy to bounce back as strongly as Nazi Germany appeared to be doing prior to World War II. Such "Austrian national ambivalence allowed the phenomenal economic success of HItler's Germany to have a powerful effect on the thinking, and loyalties, of ordinary Austrians." So, it appears that Rolfe was correct, at least to an extent, that many believed that Austria would be better off with the Anschluss.
I also found some other facts about the real von Trapp family that I just thought were interesting:
They declined a request to sing at Hitler's birthday party. After coming to America, they settled in Vermont where they started a music camp called the Von Trapp Family Lodge. This lodge is still open today although it now is a very beautiful resort.
Today we did not really learn about the history of Vienna or Austria in the classroom. That does not mean however that I did not learn a lot about (at least modern day) Viennese culture and what it means to be an American college student traveling abroad.
The first thing I learned about traveling today was that I hate jet lag. Any type of situation where I end up waking up at 5:45 in the morning is not exactly one I am a fan of. However, waking up that early did allow me to actually start exploring Vienna - or at least its grocery stores. I have been to Europe before so I have some experience with the smaller scale on which these stores are designed. However, most of these stores were located in England, Scotland, or France, which are all places I have at least a basic knowledge of what different foods are called. Here in Austria it is a totally different story! Even just looking at the vegetables and the different kinds of jam I was totally out of my element. While I was expecting this feeling when trying to speak or understand German I do not think I ever considered that my lack of German/Austrian knowledge would effect my food.
The second thing that I learned today is that somehow I either look exceedingly American or I just give off an "American" vibe. Without even opening my mouth to speak English somehow all these Austrians know to speak to me in English even when I am not doing something that is very touristy. In one instance I literally only opened the door for a woman and smiled at her. Is that a telling American trait that I am not aware of? I wish I knew how they did this because it really is quite impressive to me and I think it also really shows just how many tourists come to see Austria.
Third, Austrians do not have air conditioning. They also do not have ice. This seems absolutely crazy to me but then again I am thinking like an American. This also made wandering around the city a little bit more difficult then it would have been otherwise, but it still was wonderful. Several other students and I spent hours just wondering around exploring Vienna. Something interesting that I noticed was that e appeared to be the only ones truly bothered by the beat and also that we seemed to sweat much more than the native Viennese. It was a great experience to begin to get a feel for Vienna and I cannot believe that we get 28 more days here!
Finally, I learned that I absolutely LOVE Kasekreiner! It was so wonderful and delicious and I cannot wait to get to try more new foods while I am here.
German Word of the Day:kämmen - to comb
Sie mussen ihr haar zu kammen. (Which I think means "You need to comb your hair")
