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")
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. 
