Kufstein - Mathias Horfarter - Looking up Markers, Incidental Cultural Humor

Some German names are unfairly funny to non-German speakers.  Get your snicker, then read on.
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Memorial, Kufstein, Austria; M. Horfarter

With that noted, we think this is Dr. Matthias Horfarter who founded the town of Kufstein, a community around a larger fortress-castle, see page 469 ff at The Life of the Baroness von Marenholtz-Bulow, by Bertha Bulow-Wendhausen (Freiin von), at
//books.google.com/books?id=uJIWAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA469&lpg=PA469&dq=Horfarter&source=bl&ots=_WQ0FK16BM&sig=9GV_vFMPCyxrzaZKO7-kRMncI94&hl=en&ei=DZ8hS5WVH4PRlAel-dn9CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAjgU#v=onepage&q=Horfarter&f=false/. 

He was a revered Deacon,  with a discrepancy between the book's birthdate at 1895, and that on the marker, at 1896.

The passages go on about his humanity and kind deeds, and - for those willing to sit quietly and read - recreate a community, a sense of decorum and responsibility, long lost?  Or still available to us, if we but value it?

This Baroness: a person of note, see ://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D0CE6DD143DE633A25750C1A9629C94669ED7CF/

A later Baroness von Bulow, or was she merely "Sunny" - see ://www.mahalo.com/sunny-von-bulow/.  A 28-year coma, a murder charge, a conviction, an acquittal, mysteries.

Lienz Castle, Round Church? Dolomites Approach Road

Dolomites Approach Road

Lienz Area

The approach to the Dolomite Mountains is through a flat, broad valley, mountains just sloping.

Lienz Castle, region of Lienz, Austria

Some buildings are hard to identify. Is this an old church?
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Round church? Lienz, Austria

Ecclesiastical buildings reflect our dogma.  Architecture reflects dogma.  Is that so?

We were told in Linz at St. Martin's (Linz, not Lienz) that the earliest churches were indeed round, in accord with the theology of the time - all equal before God.

Then formal and formula-izedd theology took over from the basic teachings of a Founder, and took a different turn, with dogma developing and congealing, and coercing, and - in Western Christianity -  the long root, short crosspiece, Cross emerging over all others: It became a symbol of hierarchy, God, Father, Son, etc., and Rome decided who was to be on top, and no more of this equality.

So, the story went on, Churches were altered from the round to the crucifix shape. The person set by Rome to be in charge was clearly physically made in charge, at the front, the conversion of unequal cross points.  No more roundtables. Not like before, people in the round, each facing equal others, a community of believers.  Now there was a Boss.  Is that so?

At St. Martin's at Linz, you can see the old foundations in the round, four equal bays. See the ancient church at Nin, Croatia, with its round central low tower, and the four equal bays:  there Bishop Gregor was doing services in Croatian in the 9th Century. If the founder spoke directly to the people, he apparently reasoned, so should the church.  Rome said no.  And the authoritarian regime steamrolled right over and he was o-u-t out.

Do an Images search for "round church" and see many of them.

Lower Alps, approaching the Dolomites, Lienz, Austria

The absolute flat, and broad continuing flatness, of the valleys in the Alpine areas is a surprise.  Is that the result of old glaciers pushing forward and then melting back.  Have to research geology here.  The flatness is also in Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. All over?

Castle Bruck; Bruck Castle; Schloss Bruck an der Leithe; Lienz. Museum.

Again, here is our fondness for the smaller castles. See in the distance, and just stop. Eastern Tyrol region.

At Castle Bruck, the town has turned it into an art gallery (no photos), the Museum of East Tyrol; and the exhibition then was art between the wars, between WWI and WWII - paintings in oil, largely, that haunt with scenes of people looking unrooted, looking, some vacant, amid some opulence, some empty. We stayed a long time. Better a small gallery, and privacy; than being pushed to this required viewing and running to that.

The castle dates from the 12th Century, for a Count von Gorz, see ://www.viaimperialis.at/content/view/26/34/lang,en/  The area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age.

Castle Bruck, Lienz, Austria

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Schloss Bruck, Bruck Castle, Lienz, Austria; defensive high windows

Castle Bruck, view of the River Leithe, Lienz, Austria

Church view from window, Castle Bruck, Lienz, Austria


Window seats, Bruck Castle, Lienz, Austria. Schnappes for two.

The Roman City of Aguntum is nearby.  See ://www.tyrol.tl/en/tyrols-holiday-areas/lienz-dolomites-east-tyrol/lienz.html/. And at ://www.tyrol.tl/en/tyrols-holiday-areas/lienz-dolomites-east-tyrol/lienz.html/.

Daniel Widing and Roman, Schloss Bruck, Lienz, Austria



Roman goddess figures, with wings (morphed into our angels?)


Tower and Courtyard, Castle Bruck, Lienz, Austria


Up the wooden stairs (post and beam) to the tower top, Castle Bruck, Lienz, Austria

Close-up, post and beam stairs, Bruck Castle, Lienz, Austria

Countryside view, tower top, Bruck Castle, Lienz, Austria



Knights' Hall, Castle Bruck, Lienz, Austria

The Necessary, Bruck Castle, Lienz, Austria. Room with a view.

Wolfsberg - A Run from Riegersburg to Lienz

Few accidents seen, but this is one: a car being hoisted out of the steep ditch by a sling on the truck. No injuries. With all the autobahns and autostrasses, you would think the accidents would be there, at the high speeds. But no, we only saw ordinary roads with the mishaps. Driving here is on the right, as for us. One difference is the custom of zooming up someone's tailpipe when you want to pass - the one ahead will slide over into the burm area, usually paved well enough. We did not see people not allowing a passer to pass.

Riegersburg, Austria, accident, somebody's car hoisted in sling out of steep ditch.

Autostrasse, autobahn, same idea.  High speeds, but multi-laned roads with each lane supposed to allow the permitted speed.  Pick your lane, pick your speed.

What to do if dusk arrives and you are in the middle of a big wildlife reserve, no towns around, and the gas getting low.  Soon there will be a Gasthof - combination gas station right on the highway, and restaurant, and hotel as part of the complex.  Pay for the room, amd get two keys - one to the hallway where the rooms are, and one for your room.  Clean, spacious, excellent food.

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Wolfsburg, Austria, autostrasse Gasthof: Hotel as part of gas-restaurant complex

Inside the Gasthof, find a staircase down to the Ladies' and the Men's with a little slide going down the side for the kiddies.

Slide for kids beside the stairs, Wolfsburg Gasthof, Autostrasse, Austria

Good ideas.  Worldwide.

Riegersburg Castle, near Graz. A/k/a Riegensburg. Note - not Regensburg.

Riegersburg or Riegensburg.  Find various spellings, in historical sources and modern. See it at ://www.castles.org/castles/Europe/Central_Europe/Austria/austria11.htm/  It is apparently owned by the Liechtenstein family, and has been since 1822. Regensburg - close spelling - is different, in Germany.

Drive around the corner looking for this castle, and it suddenly appears and is breathtaking. Few views are so stark and so unspoiled. There it is, on a rock outcropping, built as a defense against the Turks, the Ottoman Empire, advancing from the south. See the defenses, and a discussion of the witch hunts in the area, at ://www.riegersburg.com/en/the_castle

Riegersburg Castle,(Riegensburg), Austria

It was never conquered, and, we understand, never attacked by the Turks after all.  They were halted well away.

The American Army in WWII, at its ending, fought in this area, in a swath moving south from Linz, see Fred Kohl's account of "Riegensburg" as he spelled it, at http://connections.smsd.org/veterans/fred_kohl.htm/  He was a Second Lieutenant.

Riegersburg Castle, woods vista, near Graz, Austria (some spellings: Riegensburg)

The Turks were stopped at Vienna in the 17th Century, see ://salempress.com/store/samples/great_events_from_history_seventeenth/great_events_from_history_seventeenth_ottoman.htm/  The Ottomans could not bring their largest artillery across the Balkans, so had smaller pieces; and relied also on undermining walls.  Vienna did not fall. Some 23,000 Polish horsemen and soldiers arrived to push them back.

Get an idea of the vast threat from theTurks, and their conquests before being halted at Vienna, shown on the maps of Central and Eastern Europe, including the Balkans, at ://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/351/351-15.htm/

Separating Riegersburg and Regensburg: In 1663, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I set up an "Imperial Diet" at Regensburg, Germany , to support the battle against the Ottomans, but was ineffectual - luckily, also not needed for that.  If it had gotten its act together, it might have slowed French expansion eastward, but it didn't, and France did.

Graz - The Southeastern Buffer

Graz is a World Heritage site, known for its blend of medieval strategic location, as market and military stronghold; and later Habsburg rule - seen in the architecture. Arnold Schwarzenegger was from Thal, a suburb of Graz, but that is another post.

At one time, Graz was the capital of an area including diverse cultures, including Trieste, Croatia, others, see ://www.graz.at/cms/beitrag/10045136/606777/The town square is huge.

Graz, Main Square, Austria

The Landhaus, an arcaded area, is just to the right.

With the Balkan States just to the south, for centuries there was the fear of the Ottoman Empire pressing north. Visit the armory at Graz, floor after floor of armor (four floors, we recall, all open shelving and stand-up display areas, with people guarding all around to see nothing is taken or damaged), spears, helmets, leg and body-wear, just show up when the call went out, and get your equipment.  No photos allowed.

Even though we could not take pictures inside the Armoury of the State of Styria, 1643-45.  Here is Minerva, Goddess of War and Wisdom - note the combination.  There is Mars on the other side, God of War but apparently no wisdom. That view has dominated through the years, is that so.

Graz, Austria; Minerva, Goddess of War and Wisdom. Landeszeughaus, Armory

 Fair use thumbnail from www.civilization.ca/.../images/auslzh1b.gif/. Do an images search for the racks and rows - then imagine all with people in them, heading over the hill.

For a history of the development of body armor, see ://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/body-armor2.htm/  Most was designed to defend against pikes and swords.  The coming of firearms in the 16th Century made many armor schemes obsolete.  Even by the time of our Civil War, there was no standard issue for bulletproof vests or the like.  Anything bulletproof had to be bought by the individual soldier. Two forms of armorplate were made in Connecticut, but the military did not buy. And the devices were heavy and bulky; and expensive. Finally, in the late 19th Century, there is a record of "soft armor" for bulletproofing, some 125 years after the first policeman was shot and killed. Even then, arms themselves changed so that the newer handguns got through. In WWI, the British estimate that some 3/4 of the wounded could have been saved if they had worn body armor. Interesting website.

Find medieval armor at ://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/history-of-medieval-armor.html

Arnold Schwarzenneger and Thal, outside Graz

What is best about going to someone's childhood home? The unexpected.

Here, see the fine, budget-conscious and effective means of ensuring modest speeds and mutual auto respect: put a planter with flowers right in the road, so people have to go single file to get by. Car on the right here (us) has to stop and see that noone is coming the other way. A little way down the Thal road, is another planter, on the other side. Hit one at your peril.

Why go into wavy curbs, and trees and such. Just plunk a planter. Planter in road. Planter alert!

Thal, Austria, traffic-calming. Arnold Schwarzenegger's childhood home for a while.

Famous people can come from ordinary, regular backgrounds - no stars apparently shooting across the skies. Here, find the childhood home of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perhaps there are more, but this is in Thal, a suburb of the fine, old city of Graz, Austria. We are not obsessed, and just found our way here because we like to see regular contemporary suburbs of regular cities, not just the historic old squares, cafe umbrellas, cathedrals, town halls and other Antiqua. How do people live today.  Are we so different.  No.

His family lived on the second floor of this yellow house, that shares a wall with a smaller house next door. A kind of duplex, but totally different homes. That makes sense. Why have twins all the time. With another family on the first floor of the yellow house, three small families in Thal. Like anybody else.

Thal, Austria, Arnold Schwarzenneger childhood home, near Graz

These are regular streets in Thal, regular undeveloped area views, and the street address has changed recently. New numbers, etc.  We do not want to be the ones to direct tourists this way, so look it up.  Not the same as before.

We found it by finally stopping in at a local school parking lot, and asking, but schools do not need us, either, although they were courteous, understanding and helpful.  Dan just wanted to see.

We go where he wants, so long as it is on the basic Way. And where he wants to go, usually pans out. Just don't try to figure out if it is worth it in advance.  Just go and see.

View over field,  from childhood home, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Thal, Austria


Not all is developed.  Good.


View over woodpile, from home of Arnold Schwarzenegger, another direction, Thal, Austria

It is good to grow up in the country; view from Arnold Schwarzenegger's childhood home, Thal, Austria, near Graz

Some lucky kids, like me, even Pittsburghurban, could run and go, bike or trolley, as we liked. Excellent.  Like Arnie. Only different. 

Really noice house, Arnold. We don't know what happened inside, ordinary or not, nice for your or not, but this is a nice place.

The house that shares the wall, Thal, Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger family next door in the lighter yellow house, second floor

Murzzuschlag - Brahms and Summer Respite from Vienna

A traveler going from Vienna to Trieste by rail in the old days (starting in 1844) would pass through Murzzuschlag, a fine ski resort and now housing a railway culture museum. The Semmering Railway - here is a marvel of overpasses, viaducts, a tunnel, axle changes in the mountains, all the good Alfred Hitchcock train mystery accoutrements.

We went because of Brahms - Johannes Brahms, 1833-1897.

He spent some summers there, away from Vienna; and with Mozart and Hayden already on our minds from Salzburg, Vienna and St. Gilgen, this is what we found:
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Johannes Brahms, entering his home at Murzzuschlag, Austria, now a museum

Brahms was born in Germany, in Hamburg, but spend most of his years in Vienna, as conductor and composer of both songs and instrumental works. His era is essentially the Romantic, with pulls to the more classical preceding and harbinger of later harmonies to come. See his biography at ://www.notablebiographies.com/Be-Br/Brahms-Johannes.html/ 

He also was a loyal friend to composer Robert Schumann, whose work he greatly admired; and Schumann's wife, Clara.  He was not so fond of Liszt's music.

Join in the group photo here.

Brahms and friends.

Brahms Museum, Murzzuschlag, Austria

The home is modest, with a cozy courtyard entryway.  It is now a fine museum: with his music wafting softly about, scores and memorabilia, furniture, and photographs.  Just wander about.  There are concerts there as well, and little drawing room areas, and places with earphones for the larger works.

Lullabyes.  Did Brahms compose a favorite of ours, "Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee ....?" No, that's Welsh, Ar Hyd Y Nos, see ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkdp0EjCmO0/

Brahms composed "Lullabye, and good night ...."

Hear and see it at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDGmBfy0sX0/. Turn the volume down. DOWN. Or you will be jolted awake by the lady in red. Here is a pianist, performing an Intermezzo in E Minor, at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD-HHR4Ixso/;  and a Concerto for Violin, in D Major, at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkIULqYxiPU/.  Now, picture yourself with these lovely melodies throughout the museum as you go ....

What was wrong with Liszt?  Why was Brahms not enamored? After all, Victor Borge enjoyed him. See ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aajtw30-YG0&feature=related/  See Lang Lang work it all out at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru84UVcPHDo&NR=1/  All the Hungarian Rhapsody Number 2.  Liszt is loved in Budapest, see the great, gnarled hands with fingers out to here at ://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2009/sep/11/liszt-budapest-oktogon

Hotel Design of the Trip - Neuberg and the Gesundheitshof

So you were turned away at Mariazell, and Murzzuschlag is still a distance away, and here is Neuberg. Where? What?  The Gseundheitshof Neuberg am der Murz?  Bless you. And it is nearly dark - this was taken after breakfast the next day.  Even in the darkish of the night before, it caught our eye. Of course.

Neuberg, Austria. Hotel Gesundheitshof Neuberg am der Murz,  Design Marketing Coup

Everyone is up at commercial Mariazell for a German chorale and orchestral evening.  This is Mary Day, and the hills are alive with tourists and pilgrims.  But we had the place here to ourselves, for a little while.

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 Neuberg, Austria, Gesundheitshof Hotel. The Yellow Submarine Decor wins.

Even the chef has gone home.

Not to worry.  The Innkeeper, a fine host, will just peek in the fridge and pop something together for us.

 Dining at the Gesundeitshof Neuberg, Austria

And he did, and he also served us - a little schnitzel, some noodles and fine sauce, very elegant. And the decor a relief from all the baroque and lederhosen look. Just once in a while, find somewhere totally different. No, no kickback arrangement here.  Just a lucky find for us, when we needed it.  See ://www.hotelscombined.com/Hotel/Hotel_Gesundheitshof_Neuberg_an_der_Murz.htm/

URL highjack. Please put quotes at "Austria Road Ways" on Yahoo to reach us.

A site search for our Austria Road Ways, on Yahoo (not Mozilla Firefox Google) produces other peoples' URL's.

Salzburg's hills are alive, with the sound of URL link highjackers ....

 Please put quotes around "Austria Road Ways" if you are using Yahoo.  Yahoo search engine, please stop these folks.  Thank you.

No other URL has our permission to use our name and our site. We have no financial or other arrangements with any of them.  If a site seeks to link directly, contact us.

Mariazell: From Over the Danube and Through the Woods

The context:  After Mauthausen, the Concentration Camp near Linz and also on the Danube, we needed fresh air, moving water and lovely views. Our aim was toward Graz, by way of whatever. Mariazell and Murzzuschlag, were in mind.

If you do not have or prefer not to have a car, there are cruises down the Danube, or the Rhine. It only takes a day from Passau to Linz, or Linz to Vienna.

1.  Barges, cruise boats. See sample routes at ://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/danube-a-o-danu.htm/  Here is a typical barge, and it looked like it had tourists on board.
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Barge, Danube River, Austria, south of Mauthausen and Linz

As anywhere else on the major rivers, there are castles.  Many castle-dwellers enforced toll-collecting from the river traffic. Others provided refuge from bandits; and a base for chasing them.

River cliff castle (Hinterhaus?), Danube River, Austria, south of Mauthausen and Linz

This may be Hinterhaus. Or Hinderhaus.

There is wide variation in the barges. Some of the barges are in several long segments of flatbeds carrying whatever.  We did not see the family car at the prow of this one, as we did often in Germany on the Rhine, but we think we did see a family dog.

Segmented barge, Danube River, south of Linz and Mauthausen, Austria

Changing topography: River to field to mountains, south of Linz and Mauthausen, Austria, aiming to the mountains again.

Mountain views, near Mariazell, Austria

2.  Mariazell:

The attraction is a Black Madonna.

Thumbnail, Black Madonna at Mariazell, from Kevelaer.de (see site)

Thumbnail of the Black Madonna at Mariazell, the full size seen at ://www.kevelaer.de/C1257463003B67E0/files/vv-wien-mariazell-madonna.jpg/$file/vv-wien-mariazell-madonna.jpg/.  See also www.fides.org/eng/documents/mariazell_eng.doc/   

2.1  Overview impression.

Mariazell is a town of kitsch in its appearance and catering to tourists; but also a meaningful place of pilgrimage for those venerating Mary, and the Black Madonna on display at the church.  See its history at ://respice-stellam.blogspot.com/.  The origin is given as Romanesque (year given as 1157 - that is early Gothic, we think. It sounds a little late for Romanesque for us). The legend at this site is that a monk brought a little statue of Mary with him to a new post, built a chapel around it, and miracles ensued.

This is a different kind of history from others we have seen, with earlier origins, in the mists.  Various churches then, where the Mary was housed, evolved into a big Baroque curlicued basilica seen now. Spoiler:  Baroque gets tiring for us. We are not fertile soil for Baroque. See one, be impressed.  See dozens, and think, oh, dear.

2.2  Watch your timing.

The guide book says never never go to Mariazell on her Name Day.  That is September 8, we now know.  Of  365 day-choices in a year, we happened to be there on Name Day.  No room at the Inn.  Or this one.  Or that one. Nowhere. The other one wanted a fortune, and this is a very commercial-oriented place. Read the account of the Pope's visit in 2007. See ://www.catholicnewsagency.com/austria07/mariazell.htm/.  For centuries, there have been moneymakers there. We don't even see at that official kind of site what Mary is supposed to have done there.  Do your own search for other Black Madonnas, in Guadalupe, Spain; or Czestochowa, Poland; as examples, and see more veneration-oriented situations, with room for even the people seeking a modest accommodation.

2.3  Don't trust us.

You may love Mariazell. But we walked around, in this town in the mountains with nothing else, and looked at pictures of the Madonna, and it seemed trumped up. Build the Basilica and they will come. We moved on into the sunset. Are we getting a little jaded? How to tell which pilgrimage sites are bona fide, and which have been given clerical and economic-interest resuscitation? How is a devout person to know?  For our experience, see Medjugorje, in Bosnia.  Visions of Mary, but not a Black Madonna. Miracles. The Church has disavowed it, found nothing "miraculous", yet it thrives for tourists.  See Bosnia Road Ways, Medjugorje/

For more on Black Madonnas, see , see Everyman's overview at ://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-black-madonna.htm/.

2.4  Of more interest now, after Maria Plain at Salzburg produced, as far as we could see, no sign of the painting that originated the pilgrimage activity there; and Mariazell similarly produced no history that said "come here" other than the Program of the promoters.  We finally looked up Wikipedia:  someone is said to have been healed of gout, and someone else won a battle. See://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariazell_Basilica/  Is that it? 

So we turn to Black Christs.

The Black Christ.  This does not take a religious person to be interested.  It is, for many of us not dogmatically inclined, important for how people find inspiration.  Or make it.  Preserve it.  And it becomes part of them.

In addition to an ongoing interest in the world's Black Madonnas, then, despite our whatever response at hokey Mariazell is the Black Christ at Italy Road Ways, Black Christ, Lucca, Italy.  A Black Christ.  Now, that is to be explored, visited. Vetted. What happened to all those Black babies in the arms of the Black Madonnas.  Is this the only one?  Enjoy the voyage. As anything important to someone somewhere. Vet it. Enjoy as myth or incorporate as belief, a worthy topic either way. Heritage, compass, or history. You pick.

For anyone who has not seen a Black Madonna, do make every effort to see at least one - we had seen several of this small triangular type, so the photos were enough. And it was getting dark. Not good to be in the mountains in the dark.  Off to the next town.

See the Black Madonna at  ://www.kevelaer.de/C1257463003B67E0/files/vv-wien-mariazell-madonna.jpg/$file/vv-wien-mariazell-madonna.jpg/  See also ://www.lourdes-france.org/index.php?id=515&contexte=en/.

Mariazell, Austria. Street view, on Mary's Name Day

Vet. vet.  Then decide on your own.

Mauthausen KZ. Konzentrationslager. Concentration Camp, near Linz. Matthausen.

Mauthausen Concentration Camp.  

A must, for any tourist or any tourist family, with a head and a heart.  For those with national-victim interests, there is information as to Spanish, Gypsy, Roma, Romani, Jewish, other ethnic groups who were kept, and who died there.

How to get there.  From Linz, make a quick visit to one of Adolph Hitler's childhood homes, in the suburb of Leonding.  See Leonding, a Hitler Residence.  Then, with that very normal-looking family home in mind, in that nice suburb, drive further to a nearby town, Mauthausen.

It is there, at nice Mauthausen, that you will find there one of the most horrendous fruits of that nice suburb: the Nazi concentration camp at Mauthausen.KZ. The KZ stands for Konzentrationslager. Learn the initials, because that is all that many signs will tell you. See KZ and you may drive by.  Think Concentration Camp, and turn where it says. You need to see it, lest we forget.

Mauthausen. Entry gate, KZ concourse, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Austria

Men, women and children were transported here from 1938-1945.  The objective was to work the people to death, or kill them by other means, or ship them to slave labor locations for war materiel elsewhere.
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Mauthuausen. Gas chamber, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen KZ, Austria

Other camps may have been primarily labor camps, or slave factory facilities, for war materiel and needs of the military.  Here, an inmate was not primarily to be productive; he or she was there in order to be killed, one way or another; or sent out to the labor camps and slave facilities. Sent to Mauthausen meant not expected to leave. The quarry where the rocks were split and pounded did produce rock for roads and even the creation of the camp itself, with its 100 steps of death up and down; but the impression is that the quarry was another means to kill rather than supply rock elsewhere. is that so? We recall seeing no railway lines to support rock transport. Were those just torn out? Perhaps. The rock had to go somewhere. Once the camp was built, however, Mauthausen - that began as a place for criminals - then quickly expanded into a receiving and extermination facility for political enemies of the state, those whose ideas were dangerous (including Spanish from their civil war), or ethnic "undesirables" - Jews, and non-Aryan ethnic minorities, or simply the conquered. 

It is easy to drive by. The signs say only, Mauthausen KZ, or just "KZ."  That is for Mauthausen Konzentrationslager, but we never saw the KZ written out. Are you supposed to pass it by.

Mauthausen. Group Memorial, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen KZ, Austria

How do ordinary people become evil.  Read, for a start, at ://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=104278469/  See also Hannah Arendt's "The Banality of Evil". Book about the Eichmann trial - he tried to show himself as just another cog. And the Milgram Study on pain infliction (do a search - people will do as they are told, when also told by the authority that this is a matter of orders and they are not responsible for what happens).  The trouble with this site is that you need a subscription to continue.  Must be a better way.  This just squelches momentum. How to reward research monetarily another way?

 Mauthausen. Plaques in Gratitude, British and then American soldiers' liberation

See the liberation of Mauthausen at ://www.scrapbookpages.com/Mauthausen/KZMauthausen/Liberation/index.html/  The main photo at that site is a reenactment, however, but at the request of Eisenhower. Scroll down for the photographs as events occurred.

 Mauthausen. Barracks on concourse, Matthausen Concentration Camp, Austria

Rick Steves, tourbook writer, has a fine overview of the sobering sights from Nazi years.  See ://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/germany/nazigerm.htm

 Mauthausen. Floor oven, incineration, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Austria

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Read on your own - Nazi Chronicles at ://www.andrewcurry.com/portfolio/USNewsBadArolsen.html/. How difficult it has been to document, to follow through on information as to specific individuals. Camps and other facilities were in over a dozen countries, with victims speaking every tongue and dialect recorded. Even the term "delousing" was, or often was, a euphemism to get people to go in and be gassed instead.

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 Mauthausen. Another gassing facility, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Austria

These facilities are underground, in cellars.

Mauthausen. Immobilizing equipment, interrogations, executions Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Austria

Gallows, garroting.

 Mauthausen. Holding area, Mauthausen KZ, Mauthausen, Austria

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The areas are still being labeled. Not all rooms have signs yet.
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Mauthausen. Double crematory ovens, with memorials, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Austria

Crematory ovens were in different rooms, some opening on both sides for efficiency - push out from the far side one metal rack gurney when the process was complete, and push in another from the near side, behind it.

Mauthausen. Pool outside walls, family recreation for administrators, or drownings? No idea. Am re-reading brochures. Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Austria

What was this pool for.  In Buchenwald, see Germany Road Ways, Buchenwald,  there were play facilities - and a little bear zoo outside the wires -  for the guards' and officers' families.  Is this a swimming pool, recreational spot, or was it for torture, drowning, winter freeze.  Our materials in English gave no clue.

Mauthausen. Memorial, death by malnutrition, exhaustion, disease, overcrowding, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen, Austria

Mauthausen also provided sturdier inmates to the war production facilities, as well as received those too weak to be useful there, see the Shameful History of Rocketry, the use of slave labor to get our "progress", at://www.content-tv.com/NewFiles/opinon4p.html

Mauthausen. Two-decker crematory oven, Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Matthausen, Austria

Not all the crematory ovens are in one place.  Perhaps the heat was too much hazard.

Mauthausen. Main guard house, entry, Mauthausen KZ, Mauthausen, Austria

Continue your visit at

I.  The Fodder Site, Mauthausen or Matthausen. Where extreme polarization leads.

The photographs shown here do not repeat there. Also find additional narrative. See there

• the lovely view of the countryside,
• the walled concourse inside, foundations of barracks, 
• memorials (Mother Germany, and Italian), then 
• more showers, 
• more gassing facilities.

II.  See also the experience of one ethnic group there, the Gypsies, Roma, Romani, at Mauthausen.  The photographs there are also different from those here, or at the Fodder Site.  Find

• the specific memorials to the Roma, especially the Sinti, among the Zigeuner
• a crematory oven, 
• a view of the cliff area over the quarry, both death traps. Do go to the site - for example, find there that people were pushed over the cliff, and called "parachutists" - or shot in the back outside somewhere, and brought back in to be finished. 

We welcome further or corrected information.  The signs are not in English, and the English map-diagrams were sketchy.  Work continues, to get the area up as to repair and reconstruction, and up to tourist-speed, language. The museum section, and interior displays, were excellent, however.  It is the walking around and figuring out functions that is difficult.

Mauthausen. Display example, major concentration camps, other Nazi locations, WWII Europe, Mauthausen KZ

Linz - Downtown: Plague Column (Pestsaule), Alter Dom, New Cathedral

Linz - Downtown.  The Main Square; Plague Column (Pestsaule), Cathedrals.

Linz Uptown, for us, is the Linz, Castle hill area, a drudge up the cliff stairs from the river, but a milder walk coming the back way.  Find there old St. Martin's Church, Martinskirche, the Roman ruins and the castle-palace.  

Here, meet Downtown: The city was heavily damaged during WWII, but the huge main square was retained in the reconstruction. It is a commercial center, and it is wise to mark carefully where you park. New streets have few landmarks.


1.  Plague Column. 

Where to find refuge from the Plague. Plague recurred in cycles, over centuries.Many towns and cities have these large Plague Columns, often with Mary at the top, erected in gratitude for survival from the last wave of deaths, and beseeching deliverance from the next one. A pestsaule. Plague column. Votive memorial.  This one made in 1714. See ://www.tripwolf.com/en/guide/show/138370/Austria/Linz/Pestsaule/

Plague Column 1690 (Pestsaule), Linz Main Square, the Hauptplatz, Austria

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In the 14th Century, it is estimated that there were some 25 million deaths from Plague in Eastern and Western Europe. See ://jhmas.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/XXVIII/1/15/. Towns on waterways were badly stricken, since rats arrived easily by ship.
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Detail, Plague Column (Pestsaule), Linz, Austria

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We, in the US, are hit with plagues seldom; but look at the expressions of those of the past who confronted, without recourse. No vaccines, no easy knowledge.

It was Vienna, however, that  figured out the quarantine idea, and used it well. See the Austrian Sanitary Cordon implemented in the 14th Century, at ://jhmas.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/XXVIII/1/15/  Vienna, Austria:  Salute.  You figured out important matters to control plague. 

 Linz, Austria, Hauptplatz (Main Square)

The success of the quarantine idea, and the Austrian Sanitary Cordon (some disagreed, saying the plague ran its course anyway), led to international cooperation and increased diplomatic contacts in shipping and other health issues.  Sanitation became an issue, not just a luxury.  Cholera, other epidemics, were approached in a new way, at least in concept. Topic in itself.

2.  The Alter Dom, or Old Cathedral, Linz


This was finished in about 1678 - green stone outside, pink marble columns inside.

Alter Dom, Old Cathedral, Linz, Austria

More modern buildings nearly hide it, except for its high onion dome. Zoning, where are you? See a more aerial view at ://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/linz-alter-dom.htm/ Anton Bruckner was organist here in the 19th Century, see ://www.answers.com/topic/linz

We like the older churches, before dogma crusts everything, better than the repetitive and uberfussy baroque.

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3.  The New Cathedral, or St. Mary's, Linz.
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Modern Gothic, comparatively.  The New Cathedral, or St. Mary's, was begun in 1862 and finished in 1924.  Excellent modern stained glass windows. This is Austria's largest church. Gothic. The usual turrets and buttresses in flight. Go in and find a delight:

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 St. Mary's, the New Cathedral, Linz, Austria: Modern stained glass

 Modern stained glass, St. Mary's Cathedral, Linz, Austria

 The New Cathedral, 1924, with modern design stained glass, Linz, Austria

Now, those are windows to revere.

Linz - Uptown: Castle hill, St. Martin's Church and the Fresco; Romans, Castle,

Linz, on the Danube, is the capital of Upper Austria. Settlements there date back to the Neolithic era - Stone Age - say, 4000 BC. The name comes from old Celtic for "bending",  term used also by the Romans, and the river does bend there.  Go uptown, literally: there is a cliff, with the river beneath.

Linz Downtown is, for us, the Hauptplatz or Main Square area, and its Cathedrals and Plague Column, see Linz, Main Square area.

Uptown:

The Castle Hill.

On any cliff-hilltop area people found refuge from invaders  for centuries. If you decide to walk up the Linz cliff area, from the Main Square, be prepared for endless stairs, and stairs, and stairs. At the top, castle, gardens, old church.

A.  St. Martin's Church, from the 700's.  Its fresco, legends, and architecture.   


1.  History.  Charlemagne behind it.


Here is the 8th Century St. Martin's Church. Charlemagne ordered that it be built. See ://www.destination360.com/europe/austria/linz/. Handy building materials: Roman rubble.

St. Martin's Church, Linz, Austria, 8th Century. Martinskirche.

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But there is more of interest here than old architecture. To pin it down, we need a better photo of the wall fresco at St.Martin's there, but there may be a connection between the representation there, and the Black Christ at Lucca, Italy.  FN 1

2. Legend at Martinskirche - The Golden Shoes

See the fresco inside the church.

There is a story that is reflected inside Old St. Martin's: The Golden Shoes.

Legend tells of a miracle: That a poor man passed by Christ (the Christ here is on the cross), and Christ gave him one of his golden shoes. Was the man a Jew? Perhaps. In the town, the man was accused of theft, and they hauled him away to be hanged. On the way to the gallows, they all passed Christ. Christ gave him the second golden shoe, and the man was exonerated.

The legend is not included in guidebooks or sites we have found. The golden shoes theme of the fresco may or may not be so. See ://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/linz-st-martin-church-martinskirche.htm; ://www.linz.at/english/Tourism/1146.asp/

 Fresco, Christ with golden shoes, inside St. Martin's Church, Linz, Austria.

Golden shoes are visible there, we think, barely. We took our photo through the gate grate, angling the camera in and shooting blind because the church is lock-boxed. Gate shut, but door open so you can at least see. Getting in takes a guide, arranged from elsewhere in advance. Here, someone from the tour that just ended, gave an overview of the guide's guiding. Totem pole hearsay.

3.  Theme -  An echo of Lucca's Black Christ here at Martinskirche?

From another St. Martin's, in Lucca, Italy, same era?

Look up other St. Martin's churches. We find one at Lucca, Italy, same era.  And we find a reference, to the Holy Face, or "Volto Santo", at JSTOR research site.  Go to the Iconology of Pictorial Folk Art, at at ://www.jstor.org/pss/901801/ There may be another story, about the inspiration for the theme - from another St. Martin's, in Lucca, Italy, where there is a Black Christ, a large wooden statue said to have come ashore in a crewless boat, centuries ago, and now venerated.

Is the costume here like the king's clothing on the Black Christ statue there. FN 2. See it yourself. Fair use thumbnail photo of the large wooden statue, the Black Crucifix, from  www.://wstgemma.com/gallery/photos/volto_santo.jpg

Now, look back at the fresco, our photo here.  It is faded, as old unrestored frescoes are, but it looks like Lucca's in shape, with the robe  Maybe not. Have to go back. FN 3, on our hunt so far, for the theme of the Black Christ.

4.  Architectural evolution:  Martinskirche, Linz

Evolution is not just for species.  It is also for beliefs, and architecture that promotes those beliefs.

Our hearsay tourist told us the guide said that many of the earliest churches were round, to reflect the equal standing of all Christians, a roundtable concept, no man better than another, and women freely participating and leading. As dogma grew, however, the Church decided it needed Leaders, and then Followers would stand somewhere else, and women were barely allowed in at all. So the architecture of St. Martin's still shows, outside, the foundations of the earlier round church, the shape changed into the rectangle, the cross shape of dogma. True? Experts, help out here.

 Round foundation, Old St. Martin's Church, Linz, Austria

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Look at the foundations of old St. Stephen's in Linz. The original structure was round.

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 St. Martin's Church, Linz, Austria: Round foundation, for the equality of all believers.

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 Dan and new hiker friend, Martinskirche, Linz, Austria

B.  Castle hill = Castle; Roman Ruins; and, who are these people?

 Castle hill, Linz. Mystery column.

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Usually columns hold things up, or support great figures. Who are these? Linz.

Roman ruins, Castle hill, Linz, Austria


Castle Gate, Castle hill, Linz, Austria



View to Postlingberg Mountain and monastery, across Danube, from Castle Hill, Linz, Austria

There is the Postlingberg mountain, monastery on top, see ://www.travelwebdir.com/travelarticles/Linz---The-Capital-of-Upper-Austria-1840.html

Footnotes follow on research issues from St. Martin's, Martinskirche.  And copyright.
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FN 1  Religious themes as keys to history, not presented as faith-based.

Why bother looking into whether the Black Christ at St. Martin's at Lucca, Italy, inspired the fresco here at St. Martin's at Linz?

Any visit to Europe is laden with history, invasions and people's religions.  For millenia, theology under-girded people's wars against each other, and theology still does. So to discuss an old religious wall fresco and to explore what it means is a matter, to us, of finding roots of current issues.

Second, as to a possible connection between this St. Martin's and the St. Martin's at Lucca, Italy, as to themes, there are many Black Madonnas. But the Lucca Christ is the first Black Christ - an ancient one, not newly ethnic - we have seen. What others are there, with the blackness shunted aside, as with the Black Madonnas. This one takes a return visit - to get a better picture. If the Martinskirche Christ is not black at all, and I think I would have noticed, but the fresco is very faded, then is the golden shoes theme still there.

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FN 2   Copyright:  Competing interests. Society's interest in paying researchers and creative people so they will do it;  vs. spread of ideas.

How to justify having to pay to see something before you know what you are buying. Squelches spread of ideas. Instead, let the government pay the author as people show interest, click by click, out of a pool. Let the knowledge out.

Finding Martin:  Other source:  Google on St. Martin - stories and legends at http://books.google.com/books?id=iqHPHTKTyKIC&pg=PA298&lpg=PA298&dq=legend+of+Christ+and+the+golden+shoes&source=bl&ots=ctWT21_ygZ&sig=s5o6I_xiteja0EP_MykgY8ADEK0&hl=en&ei=t47wSrzkOcLNlAfno4z6CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=&f=false/

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FN 3.  Theme of the Black Christ?

THEME OF THE BLACK CHRIST. 

Looking up the story, we checked St. Martin's life for a story inspiring use of the golden shoes idea.

Martin lived in the 4th Century, and is known for giving half his cloak to a beggar (half counts as a whole?) and the remaining half became a treasured relic when he became a saint. See ://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09732b.htm/  Look up "Golden Slippers" and find something else - a spiritual. In heaven, going to put on my golden slippers. Stories have legs. See ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh,_Dem_Golden_Slippers/

 However, JSTOR requires payment to read their material, even before you know you are interested in it. Here. You pay and let us know. FN 2 on copyright.

Black Christ of Lucca, Italy. Is the fresco here at St. Martin's at Linz, derived from the Volto Santo, Holy Face, from St. Martin's Cathedral, at Lucca, Italy? See ://www.stgemma.com/gallery/eng_volto_sancto.html/  Note the black face. There are many Black Madonnas - why not Black Christs? And are there golden shoes on this figure? Somebody go back to Linz and look closely and compare.

Aigen, Near Rohrbach - Any Music? On to Linz. Here: Aigen - Axe - Schlagl.

Aigen im Muhlkreis

1. No sound of music here.

We were looking for more on the von Trapps (pick any theme, any time, at breakfast); and this remote Aigen came to mind because of an odd website, now lost to us reporting on an ancestral home here.  So we aimed that way from Braunau am Inn, where Hitler was born (pick any theme, any time, at breakfast).  The Sound of Music von Trapps, or their forbears, were not and had not been in this Aigen, apparently.

2.  The Axe of St. Stephen is in the area. 

It wasn't.  What is here, at the not von Trapp Aigen. What is here if not the von Trapps?  See the Axe - of St. Stephen, no less.  At nearby Rohrbach. The good citizens began building a settlement, but the Devil wrecked it. So St. Stephen saved the day.
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Rohrbach, Austria: The Axe in the Rock. St. Stephen hurled his Axe to locate a church site

The axe in the rock. We prefer this to more on the von Trapps - we learned that there were many families of wealth, including Jewish families, who had exciting, brave, inspiring lives. We know there must be many more whose courage and suffering remain unknown, see Mauthausen KZ, Concentration Camp. But this little find was ours, on the roadside, not in the guidebooks, but prominently located. What was that all about?

Axes and trees

• The coat of arms of Schlagl Monastery includes two axes. That is reproduced at the Rohrback parish church, we see now at ://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stadtpfarrkirche_RO_O%C3%/96_Wappen_Schl%C3%A4gl_2.jpg/

• The coat of arms for the district of Muhlkreis also has axes, and trees - see ://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/at-o-aig.html/

• Saint Stephen, say the folk at St. Stefan here, appeared here after the good people's efforts to build a church at Place A failed - the Devil broke it down.  So Saint Stephen told them to build their church where his axe landed, and he hurled, and they did.

• This axe story sounds like the 10th Century Saint Wolfgang who threw an axe into the air in the Lake District of Austria, it fell to earth and that is where, he set up a church - but that is at St. Wolfgang, on the Wolfgangsee, farther south.  See overview at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_of_Regensburg/. See Germany Road Ways, Regensburg. Wolfgang stood at Falkenstein Rock where he had been living as an ascetic and tired of that, understandably.  See ://www.weissesroessl.at/en-st-wolfgang-austria.htm/.  The church at St. Wolfgang is that very one that was ordered to be built, at that place. See St. Wolfgang. 

• More on Wolfgang.  Look at the details of his life and where Wolfgang went, at ://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15682b.htm/.  We still see no connection to that Wolfgang on the route here, between Aigen-Rohrbach to Linz, except that the little corner up there is also near the German border, and he spent many years in Germany. It must have been Saint Stephen appearing here. See ://www.boehmerwald.at/en/bohemian-forest/sights-bohemian-forest/buildings-monuments/churches.html/.  Everywhere the builders went, the saints were sure to go. Which came first:  the desire for new construction, or the justification for it.
  

Small lesson. No idea what a roadside scene means? Patience, grasshopper. Make a note, and look it up later.


3.  The Schlagl Monastery:  More trees and axes. Is this the same cluster of legends as in the St. Stephen story?  Or different? 


3.2.  History: First settlement of record was in 1242 - Provost Heinrich of the Schlagl Monastery, after efforts to establish a monastery there in the woods, failed since 1204, he opened monastery grounds to settlement. No mention of throwing axes.

This original Schlagl monastery (Schlaegl derives from baume Schlaegl, to cut down trees, says ://www.almesberger.at/en/region/culture/schlaegl-monastery/). Schlagel is even further up in the corner than Aigen now is located, or Rohrbach, and is at the very tip where modern Austria and Germany and the Czech Republic meet and greet.

In 1362 - town charter. Then there were several horrendous fires. Starting up a brewery at the monastery ensured economic success in the 1500's.

3.2  Old legal systems: something called "robot" and "heriot." 

By heriot, if a serf died, the lord could seize his best cow. If the serf's wife died, he could seize the second best cow. That remained in effect until 1708. See ://region.austria.info/at/guide/152785sy,en,OEWE/objectId,RGN222at,_area,provinces-and-regions,_site,us,curr,EUR,season,at1,selectedEntry,home/home.html/

3.3 Watch for old vestiges of Iron Curtain blocked roads.

Are the roads open or not, the ones that do show on maps, see FN 1.   Look at any map. The reasonably paved roads stop at Aigen, if you can even find that named, and you will be left with unpaved little white ribbons, "secondary roads", on the map that circle back on themselves, and none cross the Czech border.  A reminder of the old Iron Curtain days. You can't get there from here. Yet, this is a populated area, looks even suburban in some places. Commute to Linz?  Not hard.

Checkpoints, customs. There are little red circles with a white line through horizontally - halt. And little red circles with a little capital F in them interspersed at possible border crossings - old checkpoints?  Still there?  They may represent the usual border customs stops, where one country is not part of the EU.  But the Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004.  Maps not up to date?

4.  Learn "Detour" in every language you anticipate enjoying.

Not knowing German for "detour", I went on through one and then, miles later, had to turn back at a bank of bulldozers.  UMWEG.  UMWEG.

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FN 1 

Where is Aigen in all of this? We bet you could not find it on your map.

This Aigen is Aigen im Muhlkreis. Aigen in the Northeast corner, the Muhlkreis region. Muhlkreis in the old days included parts of Austria and Germany, both, and perhaps even part of the Czech Republic.  Those boundaries meet in this area, with bumps and bulges.

The von Trapp Aigen.  There is an Aigen southeast of Salzburg, known as (and probably is) the "real" von Trapp family home, and one that was not used for the movie sets because of local protests, NIMBY's seeking privacy.
Find the location of Aigen im Muhlkreis at at ://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Map_at_aigen_im_m%C3%BChlkreis.png/. This section of Austria is seldom in any guidebook. It is in the far reaches of Austria, near the Czech and German borders, where was located, some other sites said, hush, the really old, "real-real" von Trapp family ancestral home.  Not a place where, like the Salzburg area Aigen, the family lived for only 15 years. So we went. Why make certainty a criteria for a destination. Just see what happens.

So, we went there from Braunau - lovely drive, rural farmland, toward Rohrbach and looked.  No Von Trapp. We asked at the oldest hotels and shops, and current proprietors got on the phone to the long-term folks, and, no, no Von Trapp, no recollections of any holding land up there, anything. Next to go:  spend time at the land records if you know German. We wanted to get to Linz by night, so we did not even try. Also, we knew little German, only the basic tourist words, and this is off the usual track.