Austria Road Ways Two on the Loose TRAVEL HUMANITIES PHOTOS

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

2009-12-10T20:34:00.001-05:00

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

2009-12-07T15:18:00.005-05:00

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? Or is it a more practical reason, related to resources, threats, defense.

1. We were told in Linz at another round church then modified to be rectancular, 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-ized 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.

2. There are round churches also in Denmark, four of them on the island of Bornholm, nearer Sweden on the map than mainland Denmark. DK and its Denmark guidebook for 2005 say the round shape is for defense against pirates; and there are several floors for different purposes. They were built between 1150 and 1200. So spake DK at page 217.

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.

2009-12-03T14:04:00.001-05:00

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

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

2009-12-02T15:17:00.001-05:00

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.

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.

2009-12-01T13:32:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-30T18:33:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-28T19:06:00.002-05:00

Thal

The childhood home of Arnold Schwarzenegger is in a town near Graz, too rural to look like a suburb. At the time he lived here, these connected buildings housed three families. Arnold lived with his elder brother and parents on the second floor.

Childhood home, Arnold Schwarzenegger, second floor. Thal, Austria.

A helpful biographical site, that includes childhood information often omitted elsewhere, is http://arnoldaloisschwarzenegger.com/biography.html. His father, Gustav, was a local police chief. His parents married when his father was 38, and his mother a widow of 23. Arnold served the one year required in the Austrian army, showed an early interest in body-building, and left Austria to do that. In 1968, he moved to the United States and began a business, not in bodybuilding at that time. There was an elder son who was killed in an automobile accident in 1971. Gustav Schwarzenegger died in 1972, and Arnold's mother, Aurelia, died in 1998.

Cottage home adjoining the childhood home of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Thal, Austria

The two-building, three-family complex, where Arnold Schwarzenegger grew up, looks spacious, prosperous, and quiet. In 1947, when Arnold was born, however, conditions were vastly different. The war had impoverished many, and one site says that many families, including the Schwarzeneggers, lived in difficult conditions, see http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ow-Sh/Schwarzenegger-Arnold.html

Thal, Austria, Arnold Schwarzenneger childhood home, near Graz

Sensible, aesthetic speed-control.

Many of the roads in Thal are one lane, with adequate berms for passing. On two-lane roads, expect a planter placed right in the middle of a lane, alternating sides. This forces a slow-down, to go around the planter in your lane; and a stop when opposing traffic gets there first. Drivers are expected to look where they are going.

Planter in mid-lane, for traffic-calming. Thal, Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger's childhood town

Thal is undeveloped commercially, with a big school. Views show mountains, woodpiles, pastures, orchards.

View from childhood home, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Thal, Austria

Traditional red cone-shaped roofs are common.

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

Bucolic Thal. The home street address for the Schwarzeneggers has changed, so do not rely on older guidebooks. We asked at the local school, and nobody seemed to mind giving out the directions.

Orchard view, from Arnold Schwarzenegger's childhood home, Thal, Austria, near Graz

We did ask about Arnold Schwarzenegger in Thal and in Graz, and the response was generally a shrug. Some people noted that he did not seem to remember Thal once he left, and that town and city projects could have benefited from financial help. On the other hand, if all was not happy at that time, see bios, a focus on the present makes sense, if not cents for neighbors back home. Complex area. What hold does a childhood area have on future finances.

By way of update, this is revised, thanks to a comment that the writing (casual note-taking posted nonetheless) was dreadful. Agreed. This takes more discipline, but I never thought anyone read these sites much. Now I am getting many comments, probably because of the newly fertilized gossip-value of Arnold's private life. Accordingly, I am putting a better foot forward on paper. Is that better?

Murzzuschlag - Brahms and Summer Respite from Vienna

2009-11-21T14:15:00.005-05:00

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. And the museum there is a gem - see it at ://www.brahmsmuseum.at/

Johannes Brahms spent some summers in Murzsuschlag, 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

2009-11-19T13:58:00.001-05:00

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.

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.

2009-11-17T18:02:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-16T12:26:00.004-05:00

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.

2009-11-06T15:05:00.009-05:00

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. KZ.

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

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.

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

The areas are still being labeled. Not all rooms have signs yet.
.

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

2009-11-04T05:54:00.004-05:00

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

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.
.

Detail, Plague Column (Pestsaule), Linz, Austria

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.

3. The New Cathedral, or St. Mary's, Linz.
.

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:

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,

2009-11-03T15:24:00.011-05:00

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.

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

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

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

Dan and new hiker friend, Martinskirche, Linz, Austria

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

Castle hill, Linz. Mystery column.

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.
.
........................................................

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.

.....................................................................

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/

....................................................................

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.

2009-10-26T10:28:00.047-04:00

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.
.

Aigen, near 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.

......................................................

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.

Braunau am Inn; Leonding. Hitlers Move In.

2009-10-20T13:58:00.002-04:00

Braunau: Where Adolph Hitler was Born:

Leonding, outside Linz: One of his Childhood Homes

Ordinary family-settings.

Adolf Hitler and his impact. Where did his mindset start -

1. Here, in Braunau am Inn, where he was born;

The Braunau home had been the old Gasthaus Pommer, some sources say the Gasthaus Dafner, just on the other side of the Gate here, down a block or two, a yellow house on the left.

Hitler's birthplace, marker for victims, Salzburger Vorstadt 219, Braunau-am-Inn, Austria

or
.
2. There, in Leonding, outside Linz, where the family later lived;
.
The house in Leonding is much smaller than the old gasthaus in Braunau-am-Inn.

Leonding, Austria, residence, Hitler family. Near Linz.
.
or
.
3. Perhaps in Fischlham, where he attended school for a while, and we did not go there; or
4. Linz, where his mother moved as a widow, with the family.

See a lengthy chronology and biographical information for Hitler at ://comicism.tripod.com/prophitbio02.html/.

1. Braunau-am-Inn

Braunau am Inn, Town Gate Tower, Austria

Our visit to the house and town where Hitler was born (1889-1945) was to see history, experience an ordinary town, that seems to want to move on from that part of its history but can't - and we found an ordinary family, the birth of an ordinary baby. What was in him, us, they, to lead where that life led. Genetic affinities, inclinations, or taught, learned. Both? And see now that history entrenching again, is that so, with this Nazi clothing shop opening there, see ://www.austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2008-12-18/10189/Nazi_clothes_shop_opens_in_Hitler_birthplace/

This is the Salzburger Torturm, the old gate tower leading to Salzburg. The charter for the town dates fro 1260. The name means "place with many springs" - see ://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/78027/Braunau/ It first belonged to Bavaria (the border is close), major fortifications went up in 1672 or so, then in 1779 passed to Austria.

Braunau am Inn, Fisher Fountain (Fischerbrunnen, for Johann Fischer), Austria

Johann Fischer: There is Johann Fischer-Gasse, a street in Braunau am Inn. Who is he? There is a list of six+ possibles at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Fischer/ None mention Braunau. Still looking. There is no marker abut the birthplace on the house.

There appears to be vandalism.

There is the tribute to the victims of the Holocaust, on granite from Mauthausen Concentration Camp outside Linz: "For peace, freedom, and democracy, never again Fascism, millions of dead admonish." The building is large, three stories, better kept up in earlier days, as shown in better photos from this site, at ://www.scrapbookpages.com/BraunauAmInn/index.html/
.
Street scene, Braunau-am-Inn

The family had a number of residences. We saw this first one at Braunau, and understand that the family moved elsewhere when Adolf was very small, about two years old.

2. Leonding, near Linz
.
Where after? Immediately to Leonding? Find there a usual suburb, churches, winding streets. Leonding is Linz, where the Hitler family moved in 1898. See its story of renovation and preservation (it is again a residence) at ://www.fpp.co.uk/Hitler/house/SouthBend0702.html/

Leonding, Austria. Church across street from Hitler family house

Leonding residence, Hitler family, Austria. Front door - no markings. We thought it was a museum.

This is a plain doorway - the people use the side door, away from the street.

Back of Leonding residence, Hitler family, Austria

So: The side entrance makes clear that the Leonding home is not a museum, no markers, and is a private residence. We had gone to the front door to ask when the next tour would be, and the price of a ticket. We would not have disturbed them if we had realized.

Hitler attended school in Fischlham, the family moving there either before or after Leonding? Our interest does not obsess that far, to make a whole trip focusing on Hitler. No thanks. A few glimpses of background is enough to get the idea that these were normal folks, doing normal things, give or take.

3. Is there a value to seeing. Yes.

History gets remote. For young people, it is all words and monuments. A visit personalizes a life. How to get a young person, a child, to appreciate the enormity of what happened in the past: help it come alive.

There is no better way to absorb history than going there and involving every sense, including common. Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem in 1897, where the refrain included the phrase, "Lest we forget." See Recessional. * That idea is our start.

An organized trip would put Braunau on the Inn (River) at an earlier time slot, near Salzburg perhaps. We decided at the last minute from Kremsmunster, and did a run to it.

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* Recessional, refrain (this, the third stanza)

Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet.
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

See ://www.poetry-online.org/kipling_recessional.htm

Kremsmunster and Kremsmunster Abbey - Codex Millenarius; Library and Treasure

2009-10-19T08:57:00.004-04:00

Kremsmunster Church, Abbey, Museum and Library.
Kremsmuenster.

Grieve for Gunther.

Kremsmunster Abbey. This was founded in 777 by Tassilo, a Duke of Bavaria, and it was also funded by Charlemagne, see ://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08701a.htm/; Go here instead of to the Abbey at Melk. This is less touristy, equally beautiful, there is a family history to its founding, the death of a loved one, that is moving to anyone who has lost someone (all of us) and we received personalized attention. We had individual time with the guide after the German presentations. Here: Overview, founding (death of Gunther), museum treasures (Codex Millenarius), Grand Rooms, Renaissance Stoves, cobblestone patterns,

Kremsmunster Abbey, Kremsmunster, Austria

Kremsmunster was an accidental stop-off for the night, without much clue from the guidebooks, and the Hotel Schlair (no kickbacks here) was the first we saw coming in - central, friendly and excellent. Kremsmunster is northeast from Gmunden and the lakes district, and where a fine old Abbey looks down from this cliff-side. It appears to be the only attraction for the town. Munster or muenster - means church, we think.

1. Kremsmunster Overview.

Kremsmuenster looks similar to other monasteries, abbeys and churches, with a baroque exterior.

The church is dedicated to Christ and Saint Agapitus.See ://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Kremsm%C3%BCnster_Abbey/4#Abbey_church/ Is Agapitus the 15-year old who was martyred and later sainted, then was demoted in 1969 as apocryphal, see ://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1158/. Agapitus. Acapitus. He was indeed beheaded during persecutions in Antioch, buried in Palestrina, Italy.

Kremsmunster is dedicated to St. Acapitus could make sense because of the age of the boy at his death. Kremsmunster was founded by Duke Tassilo III, after his son, Gunther, was killed by a wild boar during a hunt. The Duke then had a vision, and followed it.

2. Kremsmunster Founder. And the Crypt: Son Gunther. Cenotaph (memorial for someone buried elsewhere) is here.

Kremsmunster Abbey, crypt cenotaph of Gunther, son of Tassilo III, killed by a boar. Tassilo founded the Abbey in 777 ACE

Gunther and the boar. The boar is very sorrowful.
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Kremsmunster Abbey crypt, cenotaph of Gunther, son of Tassilo III, founder; and the boar, grieving

3. The Kremsmunster Abbey Church - built over the older parts.

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Kremsmunster Abbey Church, with monk, Kremsmunster, Austria

Interior of the church: we thought we could read the identification of these remains, but cannot.

Skeletal remains, full body, Kremsmunster Abbey Church, Kremsmunster, Austria. Trying to identify. Saint? Dignitary?
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4. Kremsmunster Abbey Treasures, Museum

Photos: We have some, shown here; but the guide then asked for no further. Do an Images search to find more. There is a vast number of display cases, artifacts.

4.1 Treasure. Gilded book. Is this the actual Codex?

This, and the Tassilo Chalice, were in the treasures room of the museum, but we are not sure if this is the Codex Millenarius, or is the Codex upstairs in the vast Library.

Kremsmunster Abbey, treasure book (is this the actual Codex Millenarius? Or is it upstairs in the Library?

4.2 Treasure: Codex Millenarius. Is this the gilded volume above?

Is the gilded book the Codex itself? We saw other volumes in the upper floor Library, so perhaps the Codex itself is there. My queendom to know German.

The Codex at the Kremsmunster Abbey is a four gospel volume plus illustrations, and is described as Carolingian, thus at the time of Charlemagne. It may have been made at the Abbey at Mondsee. Or here. Sources vary.

Codex means a form of organizing manuscripts (manu-script, or hand-written) so that the pages are bound together, with covers - like "book" as opposed to scrolls. The term Codex is not for any book, however, and not for printed books, but only used for late-antiquity to medieval handwritten works. The word means block of wood, for the shape perhaps, see ://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Codex

See a "facsimile" of this Codex at ://www.adeva.com/faks_detail_en.asp?id=86/ It apparently is in a now-lost dialect, the Bavarian-Austrian form of Vulgate, says the site. But a portion is in another form, a Vetus Latina (what is that?), suggesting that there was a predecessor version then put into Vulgate - think of the opportunities for error, for change, for insertion or omission, or mistaken letters in all these manuscripted copies. Do we know what we think we know. Is anybody's dogma a house of cards.

We were told that there were copies made by hand from this Codex and that those are in other libraries, but it is not clear which one is the source of "facsimiles" - photographs - see ://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Facsimile/

Is that online offer really a facsimile of this particular Codex? Our understanding was that there is no photographic set of each page of this particular Codex at all. No money to do it, inadequate staffing for library, etc. as anywhere else. Someone please win the lottery and put this whole thing online.

4.3 Tassilo Chalice.

Tassilo Chalice, Kremsmunster Abbey (highlighted to show decoration, Kremsmunster, Austria

This is copper and silver gilt, from the 8th Century. The value is not in the metal, but in the workmanship and age. It was created on the occasion of the marriage of Tassilo III, founder of Kremsmunster, and his wife, Luitpirga, both featured in portraits of equal prominence on the chalice itself there at the base, beside each other. Exact year? The Abbey was founded in 777? Other icons show Mary, John the Baptist, and the Queen Theodolinda of Lombardy (sometimes Theodelinda), although that could be uncertain. See ://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Tassilo_Chalice Also, the church would not feature a female on a chalice in that way, as things developed, is that so? Experts? To your research.

Theodelinda: Who? Here, a Wikipedia here, at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodelinda/, so watch out. It does cite the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia, however). Theodelinda: Queen of Lombardy, a ruler who chose her own husband and favored founding churches dedicated to John the Baptist. That fits with the Lombardy background of Luitpirga herself, and with John the Baptist on the Chalice itself. Why the "uncertain" designation as to Theodelinda?
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5. Kremsmunster Interior: The Grand Rooms

Which is which? Of these two Habsburgs, Rudolph I (1218-1291) has a full face, and Rudolph II (1552-1612) is more angular, so this is our guess. The costumes are not that different.
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Rudolph I, Habsburg.

Rudolph II, Habsburg

Rudolph II is the "Iron Man" of Prague, ruler there who is featured in the statue of that name. See Czech Republic Road Ways, Iron Man. Look on a map, and see how close Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary are. Histories entwined. See also ://www.answers.com/topic/rudolf-ii-holy-roman-emperor/

The need to budget crosses all boundaries. Here, instead of vaulting the ceiling, it is flat and only looks vaulted.

Trompe l'oeil non-vault, painted ceiling, Kremsmunster Abbey, is flat but looks vaulted

6. Kremsmunster Interior: The Renaissance Stoves

Keeping warm in drafty places. The Renaissance stove replaced the medieval fireplace, as much more efficient.
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Renaissance Stove, gilt, ceramic, multi-cherubic, Kremsmunster Abbey

Stoves in most of the big rooms. Sometimes a duct would carry warm air upstairs, such as to the library, where the risk of fire was too great for a stove there itself.

Kremsmunster Abbey, Renaissance stove, ceramic

7. The Kremsmunster Library.

The Library is off limits to cameras. Here is a fair use thumbnail from ://www. ibiblio.org/jewel/foar.old/index.html/ It was built in about 1680, and houses - according to this Kremsmunster Abbey site, ://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Kremsm%C3%BCnster_Abbey/5/ - some "160,000 volumes, besides 1,700 manuscripts, and nearly 2,000 incunabulae" What? Incunabulae are early printed books, before 1500 or so, and not from the separate type characters as in Gutenberg who lined those up, but probably the single block of wood on which the entire page was carved, see http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Incunabulum

Think three main sections, with arches separating them and becoming slightly smaller as the eye goes on through. There is a secret door to get in to it, secret at least on the library side. Once in and the door shuts, where did the door go? It takes pressing and moving a particular book before the whole thing swings about again.

Renaissance libraries - see Beautiful Libraries In The World, at ://www.slideshare.net/chulee/beatiful-libraries-in-the-world-1195836127458309-5/ Click on the slide show until you see Kremsmunster and it is near the beginning. Then get some tea and see all the others. A feast. Renaissance libraries are stunning.

8. Kremsmunster Abbey Courtyard

We preferred the quiet memorial to Gunther in the crypt beneath the church, to the ornate Baroque here. Personal taste. We do not know who these people are at the arch entering the courtyard. Wings and swords, wings and swords. What religion have we wrought?
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Baroque gateway, Kremsmuenster Abbey, Austria

Cobblestones. Naturally rounded stones, of a regular size, massed together for paving. Watch the cobbles. Rounded may mean the sides of a rectangular stone also; arrange for water run-off, or for patterns. Cobblestones were sometimes used for ballast on ships, then used for the streets of the port upon arrival.
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Kremsmunster Abbey, patterned cobblestones in Courtyard, Kremsmunster, Austria

St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang, Wolfgangsee (Lake)

2009-10-19T06:21:00.000-04:00

Take the lake country route from the Salzburg area northeast toward Linz. Signs make sense if you remember that "See" means lake or some such (as in Mondsee, see the town there where part of Sound of Music was filmed, earlier post here).

First up is Wolfgangsee, the lake, and St. Gilgen, or Sankt Gilgen.

There are different spellings for the translated English or the original German language name. For researching, choose the German. St. Gilgen is is the birthplace of the mother of Mozart, Anna-Maria Pertl. See the house where she lived, and St. Aegidius Church (a/k/a St. Agyd) with patron saint St. Giles, but we can't figure out why. See Giles at://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=121.He lived in the 13th Century. Perhaps it was the Abbot Giles instead. See ://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=186/. That might be closer - 8th Century.

And who was St. Gilgen? The saint is not listed there.

The town is close to Salzburg and full of tourists. First mentioned in 790, it has a history of fairy tales, tales of the bravery of oxen who saved the day by swimming across the lake to an island with people holding on to their tails (from Gilgen to Gilligan's Island?), and read about pilgrims on the way to St. Wolfgang. See ://www.wolfgangsee.at/en/0-00-0-137270/detail/geschichtevonstgilgen.html/

Wolfgangsee, Lake, St. Gilgen, Austria. View from beach.

Sometimes the only way to distinguish lake pictures is by the shape of the mountains. Double check for us.

At St. Gilgen, find a cemetery with moving memorials to the Austrian soldiers from WWI and WWII. It is a jolt to see the helmets of the then-enemy, and the tributes, because of our associations with those helmets. Visit here to get a view of human beings, families, grief, hope dead, even if we disagree with what their leaders hoped for.

Propaganda is part of any country's nationalism. Slant the virtue persistently homeward; slant the evils outward. And family love for its fallen soldiers crosses all boundaries. Take time in the World War I and World War II cemeteries in Germany and Austria, France, Italy, Belgium. Aim for the Axis cemeteries, the Nazi sections. Our own cemeteries. Ask: How are any of us get persuaded to join bandwagons. What is the process, what are the techniques of mind-shaping. Teach how to spot propaganda. Get that on the curriculum in your local school and church and media. Skillful PR. How to defend.

St. Gilgen is colorful, and exuberant, perhaps because of all the cafes.
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St. Wolfgang.

Next up is St. Wolfgang.

Wolfgangsee, dock, resort, St. Wolfgang, Austria
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Frescoes decorate the chalet hotels, and homes.

Chalet hotels, frescoes, Sankt Wolfgang, Austria

Wolfgang had a stellar career, and was Bishop of Regensburg (now Germany) among other accomplishments, in about 1000 AD, was a Benedictine who studied in Trier, Germany, and preached among the Magyars, see ://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2049/, finally entering the Abbey in Mondsee.
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St. Wolfgang, Austria, Church (the tilt: how else show the steeple and the window with the Saint in it?_

Read his biography, scant as it is, and see how far people traveled in those days - the Austria-Germany-Hungary connection in particular goes far back. But what did he do at St. Wolfgang? Wikipedia, bless its heart, says he built a church here (he was about to enter the monastery at Mondsee) - and decided upon the location by throwing an axe down the mountain. He promised the Devil the first being that entered it, if the Devil would contribute, but, poor Devil, the first being was a wulf. Love the stories of places. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Wolfgang_im_Salzkammergut/ Watch for a later post here showing an axe in a rock - are they connected?

Wolfgangsee. Same lake. Here is a traditional Austrian resort, where the elite meet and greet. We also went.

There is a tunnel under a very narrow neck of the lake to get here from St. Gilgen, but we did not notice it and the map symbol for tunnel was so short it did not even look like a road, so we went the long way around the whole lake. Here a GPS would have saved time.

St. Wolfgang, Austria, traditional dress

When St. Wolfgang is being elegant, and old school, it is very elegant, and very old school.
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The promenade borders the lake.

Wolfgangsee, lake view, St Wolfgang, Austria.

Traditional Dress - Dirndl, Alpine Suit

2009-10-18T21:29:00.000-04:00

Traditional dress comes out on Sundays.

We did not happen upon any place in Austria where people wore traditional dress during the week, at normal activities. However, the national allegiances came out on Sundays - the tradition of attending the church, and then the promenade along the lake, or the riverway, or having chocolate and coffee, or a pastry, in the main square.

Women: The dirndl. Expensive, in the shop windows at over $200-$250.00, converted from the Euro. See this House of Bavaria, that also sells in Austria, at ://hausofbavaria.com/dirndl/Index.htm#alise/

Dirndl, child at Mondsee, Austria

Dirndl, elderly lady at St. Wolfgang, Austria

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Men wear, at such occasions, sometimes heavy white wool knee socks with bloused gray or loden green knickers, and gray or loden green jacket with a pleat at the back, and green piping at the lapel and cuff, and silver buttons. Or the long trouser instead of the knicker. We also saw lederhosen, but all this was on Sundays. Alpine hats are common, with or without the rest of the garb.

Some look fake. Look twice at the elderly gentleman in the traditional garb at the cafe, accompanied by someone youthy and gaudy and not at all in that same picture. No elegance at all in him or her, no sense of whatever. As anywhere, some seem to enjoy playing the part for tourists. Is that so? Fine. Enjoy.

Chalets and Chalet Architecture: Style as Workhorse

2009-10-14T08:17:00.002-04:00

Chalets and Chalet Architecture.

Chalets are working architecture, built for practical purposes and perfected over time. Some are decorated up, but others simply stand and serve through cold and wind and rain and snow, etc. This Alpine style, the eave, the front design, is also seen in Basque country in Spain, but without the geraniums and cutesy. Just a practical, distinguished design.
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Chalet insulation. Try ivy. This one is the Champion of the Ivy League. Variations abound.

Chalet with Ivy, Lakes district, Austria

Is that a good idea? Must be if they do it. Issue: How would this chalet roof and walls, with heavy tangle of vines, manage the added weight snow and ice accumulation on it. The climate here in winter, at the lakes, must be enough warmer so snow melts and falls off easier. Or just let it freeze over?

At home, we took ivy off the brick and wood both because we were told the roots invade the walls, weakening them and letting the wet in and Rot. Is that a myth? The Ivy League schools ripped theirs down, didn't they? This one looks happy enough.

Protruding top eave.

The top eave can extend a distance, or be close to the wall, depending on the need for snow and wind protection. This one is at Maria Plain, Salzburg.

Chalet, large protruding eave, Maria Plain, Salzburg, Austria

The protruding eave is usually to ensure that snow gets deflected, or drifts can be blown enough away from the front and door below, that people don't get snowed in. If they do, they have those little balconies to use. A sheltered place to get out and look around after the storm.

Even shimmy down. Perhaps to yodel to a neighbor? That's silly. Scratch that. Yodeling is apparently mostly in Appenzell, and we did not get there. Did Liechtenstein instead. Choices.

Chalet side view, Maria Plain, Salzburg, Austria

Sometimes there are wide, heavy aprons down the sides of the eave roof for additional drift protection.

Chalet, side apron at eaves, near Altdorf, Austria

Hot fun in the summer. Orientation.

Chalets in summer offer a different use for the little balconies. Add sun umbrellas. Chalets are often built to face the maximum sun especially in winter, unless prevented by a street location, so summers get glarey. See them on a hillside, and they look like sunflowers, all faces one way. No, they do not rotate as the sun sets.

Chalet with sun umbrella, Lakes district, Austria

Commercial Use Chalets

Chalets can be huge. Many stories.

Chalet, hotel, 5 floors (including under eaves) and fresco, Lakes district, Austria

Decoration.

Facade painting, bright colors, fresco, sgraffito, flowers, or nothing at all.

Chalet, St. Gilgen we believe, Austria

Kloster Mondsee, St. Michael's - Run, Maria. Run. Sound of Music.

2009-10-10T00:23:00.000-04:00

Mondsee is an easy drive from Salzburg, on a lake, and with a former monastery there: An Abbey, Benedictine, Kloster Mondsee. Its church is St. Michael's, where Maria of "Sound of Music" fame was, in the film, married.

The exterior of Maria Plain's church, see Maria Plain, Salzburg, was used for that external part of the Event. They do resemble each other from the outside. But the interior of this church was used for the ceremony. It is larger and grander. The town has a fine promenade, and big lots for buses on the Sound of Music tours. See ://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/mondsee.htm/
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Mondsee, Austria: interior, used for "Sound of Music" wedding ceremony

This used to be a monastery. That concept - monks and poverty and service - must have gotten lost in the money. Baroque combined with Monastery gets us asking, what happens to the message of the monks when all the senses are overwhelmed by everything else. Applicable to any religious system. Where is the focus being forced, when surroundings attack. Grandeur is addictive, not inspiring. Ask and see.
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Too many putti, Mondsee, Austria

Oh, dear. For anyone who sees beauty in the plain, this is frightening. So many horrid little putti, flying around everywhere, disembodied plumpnesses. What has happened, that serious theology, the human condition, reduces itself to pinchy bottoms, naked chubbed boybabies all over. At least, give us some little girls up there. Wings would fit them as well. What do dozens on dozens of stylized cherubs add to anything.

Check their history - see Hatpins Collection Tour, Winged Baby Cherub. Scroll down to the discussion. They are not Christian in origin, just adopted. And distorted during the Renaissance.

Gilding lilies, St. Michael's, Mondsee, Austria

A matter of personal taste, clearly. We looked, clicked some photos - as though we could forget - and left. Baroque is lovely where there is some restraint, some respite. Not here. Garage sale on gilt.

Austere exterior, St. Michael's, Mondsee, Austria. A little more austerity inside, a little softness outside, would help.

The sound of let-down.

Salzburg, St. Peter's: Hermitage, Probably Not Catacombs. Maximushole.

2009-10-09T00:58:00.000-04:00

Above the cemetery at St. Peter's, at Salzburg Castle area, are ancient rooms, caves, passageways, shelves, that are commonly called collectively "catacombs" and whose oldest section dates from the Third Century.
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However, these were more likely hermitages, and cave churches, even places of refuge. See://www.showcaves.com/english/at/misc/Maximus.htmlClimb up and through. There are ancient stairs, and well-enough repaired. These probably were hermitages at the beginning.

Cliff Catacombs, St. Peter's, Salzburg, Austria

Interior, Gertraudis Chapel, Cliff Catacombs, St. Peter's, Salzburg, Austria

In any religion's treasured settings, we are drawn more in the old ones, before the fancy took over.

The Maximushole, Catacombs, Salzburg.

There is a warren of little ways to go behind those window openings. People were smaller. Here's proof.

It is tempting to see these as catacombs, but this is not underground, and there are not the layers of shelving as in Rome areas where wrapped bodies would be laid for a lengthy time, and then the bones removed to ossuaries elsewhere. There are some shelves, short and shallower than we would need for our bodies, and there is one known grave up there - for Maximus - but no other proof of catacomb activities.

This is also a cave church. Two of them. Services were held here. See ://www.showcaves.com/english/at/misc/Maximus.html/ See the whole complex at ://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/salzburg-st-peters-cemetary-and-catacombs.htm

St. Peter's and the Monastery that was there, are the beginning of Salzburg. The church here was consecrated in 1178 ACE.

St. Peter's Monastery, from the Catacombs above, Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg Old Town; Marzipan Globe; and Mirabell Gardens. A Pieta. The Human Condition.

2009-10-05T18:17:00.006-04:00

An old world Old Town section. A central place to walk. An amble. What better. Statues, chess, and nonconjugal love in the old days. The human condition, in several stops. Salzburg's Old Town is barred to traffic (pedestrianized, as they say), so its series of focal point squares unfold one after another in a human-contact way.

1. Commerce.

Here at a square called Kapitelplatz is a man truly on the ball. Is that just success up there, or something else. Either way, it looks commercial.

Golden (Marzipan?) Globe, Man on the Ball, Salzburg, Austria

Is this supposed to be an ad for those marzipan balls, in nougat chocolate, hedonistic globes, called Echte Salzburger Mozartkugeln, invented by one genius Paul Furst in 1890? It must be. Eureka. See ://myaustria.info/provinces/salzburg/salzburg.htm/The Marzipan Global Initiative? Each one takes 14 steps and 14 1/2 hours. Enjoy. See Mozart himself advertising one, believe it or not, at Austria Road Ways, Mozart in Vienna.
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2. Skills.

Amble further, and second-guess an outdoor life-size chess game.

Life-size chess game, Salzburg, Austria

All moves known, no secrets; no cheating possible. A rarity in our relationships.

3. Grief.

Then, find Pieta by Anna Chromy, see ://www.annachromy.com/en/austria/index.shtml/ Ultimate grief.

Pieta, Anna Chromy, Salzburg, Austria

This removes mourning from context, as the painting, The Scream, removes fear from whatever situation it was in, see Edvard Munch and the painting at http://www.edvardmunch.info/edvard-munch/the-scream.asp/. And this Pieta is the more powerful for having no distraction, like a dead body nearby, or pushing a dogma on people. Crawl in, lures the heavy, heavy, empty robe. After the first death, there is no other. Who said that?
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4. Love In The Open, Despite Them.

And lovely gardens, Mirabell, see http://www.igougo.com/print.aspx?ReviewID=1172397. This was built by The Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau for his mistress, Salome Alt, in 1606. See ://www.salzburger-schlosskonzerte.at/en/schloss_mirabell.htm/.

Mirabell Gardens, Salzburg, Austria; built by Archbishop Wolf Dietrich for his mistress, Salome Alt, and their children.

They lived openly together for 20 years, and had 10-15 children, depending on the site you read. When he was imprisoned for something else by the Pope, at Hohensalzburg, Salzburg Castle, she lived out her days in the town of Wels, see ://www.stadtmarketing-wels.at/stmwels/site/207600147905904795_207556931684943559~207594782418010082~119718484253868689_308473294351171996,en.html/
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Situational ethics? Or just chutzpah. See ://www.answers.com/topic/situational-ethics/ Our own day's C Street House follows suit, but in secretive deed, if not as mouthed for others. See ://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062504480.html/ What goes on behind the fences. Power defines the dogma and where it shall be applied or not. FN 1

Looking back, exploring the vast squares of Old Salzburg is like the walking in Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Be the gallery walker. March along, faster, slower, contemplate, skip this, focus on that. Be seated here. Now, resume.

Bum bum ba-dee bum.
Bum bum bum bum ....

See and hear Esa Peka-Salonen directing the richness of it at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_98452AxFI/. Ah, here comes Salome. And how are the children, my dear?
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FN 1 Arch and Salome. Who else comes to mind.

Heloise and Abelard. See ://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aah/index.htm/. These two are more famous because of the thwarting and violence involved, is that so. Or would they have split (she never wanted marriage anyway) or tired like anybody else, if the drama had not intervened. See Helen Fisher's Anatomy of Love, ://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s49793.htm/

Arch and Salome were happily fulfilled over the long term, however, it would appear. Conflict with the Other Life of the Archbishop? Dogma, dogma everywhere, and to what purpose, pray tell. Cast a cold eye on rule, on law. Moralist, pass by. Our culture and its belief systems - tainted, ain't it?

Theological digression.

No. Not at all. Not really. Nobody is authorized to enforce anything against anybody else in the moral realm, unless it is a "law" passed by the State. Is that so? Where is the Commandment to go after other people; or any Blessed is the enforcer who chases others according to his own view. No way. Deity law, deity enforce. People law, people enforce.

Enjoy, Salome. RIP.

Castle basics: Salzburg's Windows, Doors: Water, Storage, Defense,

2009-10-04T05:10:00.007-04:00

Salzburg's Egress and Ingress; Storage, and Some Water Along The Way

Observe. Observe.

The watchword of the Traveling Guideless.

There are many little arch doorways leading somewhere - always a way out, or a way for someone silent to tiptoe in? Escape sudden treachery, or admit a someone, perhaps? Watch for the little doors, the little passageways and staircases.

Plain doorway, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

This is a doorway through which one slips.

Even the plain and small doors are balanced, aesthetic. Where people in armor are a problem, requiring a doorway that must protect against them, this little size door would be useful, but a wooden frame would not be used. This one looks like a fast shortcut door during a recess, a fast escape perhaps,or a welcome, but handy rather than affirmatively defensive.

Defensive and protective doors. Easily spotted. Sensible. If only one unarmored person is to be let in, as is possible here, use the little door at the lower right. Keep the big one shut.

Door within a door, homeland Security at Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

This door within a door is a door at which one knocks.

Short, square, reinforced iron door, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

This door lets one in on secrets, perhaps.

A treasure behind, requiring a broad opening for the heavy chest? Or just storage, rodent-proof. Locks and bars. A key to the value of what is behind.

Chapel window, double-barred. Defense reminder or later prison use? Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg was never overcome, but there are reminders of its defenses, just in case. Salzburg was "secularized" after 1816, Napoleon had been there; and parts of it were used over time as a prison, and for army purposes, see ://www.visit-salzburg.net/sights/hohensalzburg.htm/.

So these bars could represent later modifications, not earlier defenses.On the other hand, the ruler at his prayers would need to be protected, so this needs more research. Purpose in construction. Find it out.

With all the gold coming in with the salt trade, there would have been need for reinforced iron doors.

The unpry-able, fireproof reinforced door, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

This door is a warning in itself.

Behind the black door was kept a .... GAARGH.... silence....

Then we see the flights of fancy.

Fancy, swirly-strong door, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

This door bespeaks vanities. The pattern, the skill, the decorations to die for.

Then this one. This is a door through which one swishes.

Official, rank-infused, depth-authoritative door, Salzburg Castle,Salzburg, Austria

And a very serious door. This is a door which one fears.

Serious door. Defense or treasure-protecting, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

Always a need for an ironmonger. A blacksmith. See ://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/medieval-blacksmiths.html/. An armorer. See ://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-life/medieval-blacksmith.htm. By the time of the Renaissance, design and pattern overcame defense needs, but those also required skilled metalworkers. No recession.

And the most basic necessity: Water and wells and Pumps. Let an enemy sneak in and throw a body or cats and dogs or even ox parts down a well and the well is poisoned, if noone notices in time. No purification tablets.

No water, no survival. No need for doors. Fortresses have been abandoned for lack of water, even without enemies around. Look at Salisbury, England. Old Sarum - perfect location, high, defensible, but inadequate water. Move the whole enterprise.

Pumps are not necessarily plain, although their purpose is. Every castle needs water in order to sustain a siege, and for convenience and cooking and some sanitation. Look for the pumps. We should teach the mechanisms and principles, in case our fancy hydraulics fail.

Pump it up. Castle courtyard, Hohensalzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg Castle, the Archbishop, and the Turnip

2009-10-03T22:06:00.001-04:00

The Turnip and the Renaissance Stove, The Archbishop and Salzburg Castle

Prince Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach, detail, coat of arms, with the turnip. Coat of arms on stove ceramic tile, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

Prince Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach, born 1495, died 1515, sports a turnip on his coat of arms. Here it is shown on a Renaissance stove ceramic design. There are some 57 other turnips in sculptures, friezes, tucked about. See ://www.visit-salzburg.net/sights/hohensalzburg.htm/. Turnips got respect back then, more than now, see ://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Turnip/

Salzburg Castle, Keutschach turnip coat of arms, on Renaissance stove (side view)

Why the turnip? This site says that the Archbishop, as a child, was neglecting his duties picking turnips in a field, and someone threw some at his head. See ://www.dirninger.com/salzburgcity_guide/seiten/haupt5.html/. This City Guide is an excellent resource for anything in Salzburg.

We recall another account (looking for it): something about the Archbishop thought so little of the ruler (which one was that?) that he threw turnips at his head, or some such. Checking. It is not at this site, see ://www.travel-library.com/holidays/europe/austria/salzburg/ Why is the origin of the turnip motif so hard to find?

Renaissance stove with turnip, fully monty, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

There are many glamorous Renaissance stoves, ceramic wonders, at Salzburg Castle, and elsewhere in Europe's grand places and plain ones in humbler. See more at Europe Road Ways, Themes: Wood-Burning Stove, Renaissance Stoves.

Hohensalzburg, Festung, another Renaissance Stove, Salzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria

Hellbrunn Palace - Salzburg. Sounds of Fountains. Schloss Hellbrun.

2009-09-30T14:25:00.002-04:00

HellBrunn

Hellbrunn is a lovely yellow palace-residence that was the setting for the Von Trapp home in Sound of Music. The grounds show off the gazebo, and lovely and odd things in unexpected places. The palace was the summer residence of one Prince Archbishop Markus Sitticus, Salzburg's Archbishop in the 17th Century.

Here, the walled conch.
.

Walled conch, Hellbrunn, Salzburg, Austria

One "n" or two for Hellbrun or Hellbrunn. Find both, Schloss Hellbrun using one "n", others use the double. See http://www.isabeau_austria.tripod.com/hellbrun/hellbrun.htm/; and http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g190441-d208872-Reviews-Hellbrunn_Castle_Schloss_Hellbrun-Salzburg_Austrian_Alps.html/

This is a fine stop before getting into mainstream Salzburg. The theme is surprise.

Fountain Merman #1, Hellbrun Palace, Salzburg, Austria

Another theme is feet, or substitutes thereto.

Hellbrun Palace Merman #2. Salzburg, Austria

Some feet move not, neither do they run.

.
Hellbrun Palace, Salzburg, Austria. Firm footing.

.
Dan Widing at Hellbrun Palace, Salzburg, approaching footed column Salzburg, Austria

Beware of antlers springing squirts.

Hellbrun, near Salzburg. The banquet table,

Archbishop Sitticus,

Archbishop Sitticus (is that the inspiration for the sitting?) is not the same Archbishop who fathered 10-12 children with his mistress, Salome Alt.

That was Archbishop Wolf Dietrich, who built for her the Mirabell Gardens and her own palace, the Schloss Mirabell. See http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g190441-d208872-Reviews-Hellbrunn_Castle_Schloss_Hellbrun-Salzburg_Austrian_Alps.html/ Was it Wolf''s fall from prestige that enabled Markus to take over as Archbishop?

Staying at Maria Plain, Gasthof - Near Salzburg

2009-09-27T16:46:00.004-04:00

The Best Place to Stay At Salzburg Area
But a Heritage Lost

Gasthof, Guest house, Maria Plain
Staying at the Gasthof at Maria Plain, where part of Sound of Music was filmed, does not make clear how it operates or what it does as a pilgrimage center. Apparently, from the Gasthof website, it is commercial now, and enjoys its place in a nature sanctuary. See ://www.mariaplain.com/en_willkommen.phtml

Is it still primarily that, or has the Gasthof function become predominant, or is it a conference center (many people wandering the paths, in ones and twos, mostly women).

We saw no priests or monks outside. There were services and even a wedding at the basilica right there.

But we got confused about the role of the historical miraculous painting that started it all centuries ago.

See the dominance of that painting at ://www.salzburg.info/en/sights/churches_cemeteries/maria_plain.htm/ The painting is Maria Plain's reason for being. A painting of madonna and child survived a fire in Regen, Germany; miracles ensued; the painting was brought here, returned there, a copy put here, pilgrimages continued, but where is it. It was not at the altar (there is a baroque Assumption there, see http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Plain_Altar.jpg), but another - looking to us like a Black Madonna, was in a side buildings. A tiny chapel, off the track. Why?

Wedding, Maria Plain, party outside our Gasthof window

This is the commercial enterprise side: a perfect destination setting for a wedding, art shows, conferences. It is not easily found. A few tiny signs. Have faith, and U-turn and follow. Advertising for Sound of Music sites will not list this. No wonder. Narrow road, contemplative place. Tourists instead are sent to Mondsee, where the interior of the church of the marriage was filmed. Exterior close enough. They'll never know. But we were told by an Information booth attendant on our way in from the highway. So there. Secrets will out.

Woman, grieving the wrong person (thief) crucified. Is anyone paying attention to the religious message here?

There is a walkway with meditational gazebos. These also give mixed messages. We were not there for religious reasons, but wonder what happened to the miraculous painting, the roots here. Dogma takeover?

Our favorite message (as a divorce lawyer) in the mundane area is in the dining room, where patient young women wait, cook, clean.

Print, dining room: Says husband to wife, you do not work for heaven! As she tends the brood and is inflicted with him.

The Gasthof advertises as a hotel, see ://www.mariaplain.com/en_kontakt.phtml. The website shows the Black Madonna, fair use of these thumbnails from the site to show this is the same Black Madonna referenced earlier - and the photo gallery omits it entirely.

Black Madonna, Maria Plain, Salzburg, Austria

Still, there is no reference to the Black Madonna in the text, and even the pilgrimage link gives no clue of the historic, miraculous past that is part of the place. Pilgrimage for what, pray tell.

We happened upon the Gasthof, and just went in and asked about a room.

Old door, outbuilding, Maria Plain

Lots of these.

World's Most Creative Woodpile, Maria Plain, Salzburg, Austria

A window through a woodpile. Why didn't we think of that?

Wine at Maria Plain. Good. This is a fine Gasthof

This is a gracious Gasthof indeed, and we recommend it highly. Courtesy, and welcome.
.

Gasthof doggie, Maria Plain, Salzburg. Austria

Fetch, doggie. Nice little Austrian variety border-collie type sheep herder perhaps. Go behind the old doors. What is there? Behind the woodpile? Where's the portrait? Did we just miss it? Wagwag.

Maria Plain: Salzburg Area. Pilgrimage Site, and "Sound of Music"

2009-09-26T15:48:00.001-04:00

The Hills Are Ali-i-i-i-i-ive!

With the sound of ...

Indeed. Mmm-m-m-u-u-u-s-i-i-i-ic!

This is the lovely area that used to be a major pilgrimage site, and either a convent or monastery. Maria Plain on the Plainberg. Look the other way, to the basilica, where a miraculous portrait of Mary that survived a fire centuries ago used to be the magnet for the place. This drew the faithful, see ://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/maria-plain-shrine-of-our-lady.htm/, but now is so downplayed that someone could stay there and never even realize. The facade of that church was used as the facade for the marriage of Maria in "Sound of Music". Enjoy. But note the absence of the portrait reference, except for a thumbnail or two, at ://www.mariaplain.com/en_wallfahrten.phtml

Our Lady of Maria Plain, distant view, Haltestelle, Austria

Get closer and it becomes very familiar:

Basilica, Maria Plain, Wallfahrtskirche, Salzburg, Austria; with chapels, monastery

Any shrine or place of interest undergoes spelling changes in translation, so also look up Wallfahrtskirche as you look into the history here. It was consecrated in 1674. Benedictine monks managed the shrine,we understand, but Maria Plain is not listed among Austria's religious houses - this is just a Wikipedia reference, but it is a start. See Salzburg section at://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_religious_houses_in_Austria.

But look over the hi-i-i-ll, and you will ss-s-ee-e-e-e...

Salzburg? Say not so. Yes, just over the bucolic horizon is the gritty city with the castle on top.

Maria Plain, Wallfahrtskirche, Black Madonna?

2009-09-26T15:06:00.004-04:00

A painting of the madonna and child survived a fire in Regensburg, Germany during the Thirty Years' War. It was brought to Maria Plain - miracles were happening - and the attraction of this portrait and the pilgrimages were the reason for founding Maria Plain, see ://www.visit-salzburg.net/surroundings/mariaplain.htm/. This is a shrine, now apparently mainly a hotel site? once managed by Benedictine Monks? English language sites are not clear.

My camera failed, so I am left with recollection, and it is hard to find images of the Madonna, the copy that was made after the painting was returned to Germany a few years after its arrival at Maria Plain.

English language sites are not as helpful as the German language sites. Here, for example, is a clear picture of the portrait, a little bigger than a thumbnail, but I can't find a thumbnail. Fair use of a small portion of the entire site.

The site has German narrative, and is at ://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0764803344.01._AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/sacred-sites.htm&usg=__vbSdlr9cUK_7E1LlEocJ9m0v_Bw=&h=160&w=105&sz=8&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=tKiiTdDV0NwX7M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=64&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMiracle%2B%2522Maria%2BPlain%2522%2BSalzburg%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG/ A copy and paste here: Air quotes?

Gnadenbild „Maria Trost".
Von einem unbekannten Maler geschaffen, ist es nach der Brandschatzung des Ortes Regen in Niederbayern 1633 fast unversehrt inmitten des Brandes erhalten geblieben.
Zur Würdigung des Marien-Heiligtums und der Krönung des Gnadenbildes schrieb W. A. Mozart die bekannte »Krönungsmesse«.

Blick zum Hochaltar mit dem Gnadenbild und den Seiten-Altaren, bzw. Blick zum zwei-geschossigen Musikchor und Orgel. (Klick auf "Bild wechseln")

The basilica of Maria Plain, we were told by a guide at Information as we entered Salzburg's area, was used (facade) as part of the movie set for "The Sound of Music".

Again I do not recall the portrait in the Basilica itself, but in a side building. Instead, the Assumption of the Virgin is at the altar. Is that so? Camera! Camera! Why here, now!

Several points here:

This looks to our unschooled eye like another Black Madonna. These recur in Europe and elsewhere. See those we have seen at Europe Road Ways: Medieval and Earlier Black Madonnas; and a study at ://www.interfaithmarianpilgrimages.com/pages/blackmadonna.html/ Many theories.

Why is this dark-skinned Mary being downplayed, and the Assumption being played up instead? Dare we ask. Here is a fair use thumbnail - from http://www.mariaplain.at/

Here, finally, is a thumbnail, but barely recognizable, and from another German website.

Maria Plain, Black Madonna? Salzburg, Austria

Comparing accounts of the story:

The painting was from Regen, Germany, says that site, but survived that fierce fire - Regen, Regensburg the same? It was brought here in 1652, to the Grimming family estate on the Plainberg. It was returned the next year, and a copy made and kept here. Then the original was brought back. See ://www.salzburg.info/en/sights/churches_cemeteries/maria_plain.htm/

We saw one in a side chapel, skin tones definitely dark, but I do not recall it at the main altar where only the Assumption is shown - service going on, so no photo taken, but here is Wikicommons at ://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Plain_Altar.jpg/

Fair use thumbnail from www.panoramio.com/photos/original/11786609.jpg/; I am sure I would have noticed if a black madonna had been up there. But could be mistaken. Someone go look.

The shrine is listed as minor at Basilicas in Austria, at ://www.gcatholic.com/churches/data/basAT.htm/

Basilica, Maria Plain, Salzburg, Austria

Which is the miraculous madonna? It could not be the Assumption one. It has to be this Blackish one. Then why is it not the focal point of the church?

There was no dogma about an Assumption until dogma defined it as late at the 1940's-1950's? See ://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus_en.html/ Can that be so?

This is not our field, but the Assumption has been in art for centuries, we think. Its history gets convoluted and bootstrapping, at ://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/190/Assumption_of_the_Blessed_Virgin_Mary.html/ We would prefer the original or a copy of the miraculous portrait up there.

Where is the other portrait? At the altar, or at the side building? Shall we add this one to the list of Black Madonnas?

Salzburg - Cathedral (Dom)

2009-09-26T14:06:00.000-04:00

Salzburg Cathedral, the Dom, Austria; view from the Castle

There has been a Christian Church on this site since the 8th Century, with a Romanesque structure from the 12th Century then burned, and a replacement built in the grand Baroque manner to help offset the Reformation efforts at simplification and refocus, completed in 1628, see photos of the interior and crypt at ://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/salzburg-cathedral.htm/. Mozart was baptized here.

Kufstein - on the Inn. Fortress. Mural Towers.

2009-09-23T16:59:00.001-04:00

Mural towers are those set in walls of castles or fortresses. Some began as free-standing fortresses, or tower houses in the old rectangular shapes familiar in Scotland and Ireland, for example. Others show a rounder, later shape, as here in Kufstein, one of the largest fortresses in Austria. See ://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/article/Austria/Austria-Kufstein/1389.

Kufstein Castle, Kufstein, Austria

Kufstein is not the resort that nearby Kitzbuhel was, and to a degree, still is (do an Images search for this old glam), but Kufstein boasts a huge fortress, strategically where the Inn River flows into Germany. For those anticipating a fairy tale set of spires in every castle, this is a contrast - a work-horse, a real defense, and still impermeable until it opens each morning up the cliff. There is an incline to get there - unless you hoof it.

Round forms offer superior defenses, better viewing than flat sides, and were used in the Holy Land. Crusaders brought back the idea, says this site about the emergence of British round castles about the 13th Century. See ://www.castles-of-britain.com/castlezl.htm/ The round form deflects missiles, and better withstood battering rams and boring through. Had to be placed right. All the windows would have been added later, as defensive needs lessened.

Kufstein is so high on the cliff that an incline now gives entry, if you can wait until the next day to see it. There is a road on the far side but it dead-ends also until the next day. So, enjoy the evening in the town and the view. This is a working town, not geared to the tourists or cutesy.

Kufstein Castle, Kufstein, Austria, with incline

The one-site towns are good for transit times. The famous spots can get predictable and, for the penny-wise, smaller places offer better prices on hotels. Go some places for a stay; go to others for the fine focal point, a look at the non-tourist world amid the Tyrol's mountains, enjoy, and move on.

These old fortresses are mammoth. Without the incline, even with the covered walkway that was the traditional way up, look at the effort to get there. The covered walkways protected from snow, and gave some safety to people getting away from invasions below, until somebody could set fire to the roof overhead. We did not walk up this one, or take time to tour, but in others the stair under the walkway roof is a long step, slanted up, stone on the sides, but dirt inside; and long enough for two full strides before the next step up, and slanted strideway; not little steps one by one. Easier to get up fast, not so likely to trip, easier on the knees. Who knows this one?

Kufstein Fortress, Kufstein, Austria

Note the patterned shutters - those windows all added later, once the need for defense lessened. The shutters are often red and white, in waved or chevron patterns, even hourglasses.

Innsbruck - Recreation; WWII Slave Labor

2009-09-23T12:20:00.000-04:00

Austria and Germany, and other places, housed and fostered slave labor conditions during World War II. Innsbruck was one of them, see ://www.dpcamps.org/slavecamplist.pdf/. Pull up the pdf and do a search or find, at the upper slot, for "Innsbruck" and it will appear with SS Sonderlager and as one of the "Entities Owned or Controlled by the Nazi State or SS that Exploited Slave Labor."

Read all the slave labor locations, and find many included in today's tourist and sporting spots. Where the plaques in memorial? Are they there? We were in Salzburg and Innsbruck and saw no reference, in guidebooks or on buildings. Mauthausen, near Linz, as a large death camp, does do tribute, but where else?

This resource is the Slave Labor Class I List, from the Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks), Special Master's Proposal, September 11, 2000. Plug in your favorite photo opportunity site. Does it appear?

It overshadows the lovely town square, the skiing,

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Vienna - Mozart, Composers, Musical Tradition

2007-09-06T18:24:00.004-04:00

Dan Widing with Mozart, Vienna, Austria

Mozart was here. And so many more. Imagine the era ...

Beethoven, hear part of his Third Symphony at http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0oG7lKOam9OnjsArYtXNyoA?ei=UTF-8&p=beethoven's%20third&fr2=tab-web&fr=yfp-t-435-1-s
Haydn, who was a chorister here as a child, under harsh conditions, then played in assorted musical ensembles, and as an adult, began to compose; he moved to the Plsen, the Czech Republic, and later became a friend of Mozart, performed string quartets with him. Marriage, unhappy. Found solace elsewhere. Ultimately to England. Hear the second movement of the Surprise Symphony at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv4R5Vltpsk; see also http://www.vienna.cc/e/music/haydn_biography.htm
Schubert, who was born and also died here, see http://www.wien.info/en/music-stage-shows/city-of-music/schuberts-birthplace,. Hear the Marche Militaire: and sing along -- March Militaire by Schubaire, by Schubaire da da de dum da de dum ...
Strauss, and the Vienna Woods, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poAb0MhEvmk
Brahms (visit the museum in Murzzuschlag), hear his Lullaby (Lullaby and Good Night) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t894eGoymio and
Schoenberg, a video on his life including in Vienna, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsIMq0Xm6fI -- and for a change of pace on music, hear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt1n1MIyVy0&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=AVGxdCwVVULXcU4eUYP1JnEFrWTpl5B1Wj

See ee the years of their residence and activities in Vienna at http://www.aboutvienna.org/composers/musiker.htm/

Biographies are at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mn200/music/composers.html

Vienna - Schonbrunn Palace, Orangerie

2007-09-06T18:11:00.007-04:00

Schonbrunn Palace
Orangerie

Mozart made his first public appearance here as a child prodigy. In the Orangerie Gardens, to the rear, he engaged with his rival, Solieri, in a musical duel. The film, Amadeus, brought much of that era to life, with creative changes; read a more historical essay at http://www.mozartproject.org/essays/brown.html

Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

This was an isolated in-and-out visit to Austria, from the Czech Republic (our focus that time - Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland) and we were on the way to Bratislava, Slovakia.

Suddenly, there were road signs to
Vienna, only some 70 km away (50-55 miles). Go!

Then this urge hits, first, veer off to a gas station and call your credit card company for these fast changes in plan, because they might not recognize where you are and freeze the account.

Have all your credit card call numbers handy. We also call the credit card people before we leave with the country list we anticipate, but there are always changes, as here. Once in the unexpected country, there are always the ATM's, but those may be are subject to the same freezes if there is no advance authorization.

Schonbrunn. World Heritage site, see http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/wh-austria.html As a structure, it stands for the greatness that was, the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire. Gardens, massive structure. It was known in the 14th Century, with the structure as it was then, as the Katterburg. It belonged to the monastery of Klosterneuburg. In the 15th Century, it became a manor estate; and then part of the Habsburg dynasty -- a hunting park, a pleasure garden. The name means Schone Brunnen, for fair spring, see http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/things-to-know/palace/early-history.html.

Schloss means palace - Schloss Schonbrunn.

For an overview, see http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Austria/Bundesland_Wien/Vienna-320332/Things_To_Do-Vienna-Schoenbrunn-BR-1">www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Austria/Bundesland_Wien/Vienna-320332/Things_To_Do-Vienna-Schoenbrunn-BR-1/.

Orangerie, Gardens at Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

The Orangerie: vast areas of plantings, toparies, meticulously groomed gardens. Large staircase for lounging, and watching, wide drives for your carriage.

The property was known as The Katterburg, in the 14th Century, and was the home of prominent persons until being taken over by the Habsburgs (Maximilian II) - it was then a house, watermill, stables and pleasure garden, game park and exotica. The Katterburg then passed to Rudolph II, a figure who governed in Prague, among other accomplishments.

Names of royalty tend to blur unless listed for reference: So the Schonbrunn list becomes:

Maximilian II
Rudolph II
Emperor Matthias
Emperor Ferdinand II

1683 - Turkish troops occupied Schonbrunn

Leopold I
Makeover upon recovery of the estate. 1688 est. (architect: Fischer von Erlach)
Dower residence of Wilhelmine Amalie (who?)
Emperor Charles VI 1728
Maria Theresa, gift from father Charles VI. She was married to Emperor Franz Stephan.
Hiatus as residence
Emperor Franz I/II (Both?)
Napoleon, Emperor of France (used part as headquarters 1809 or so)
Color becomes known as Schonbrunn Yellow
Franz Joseph, born 1830

See http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en/things-to-know/palace/architectural-history-iii.html. Also sections i and ii.

Lunch at Schonbrunn: if you choose the plebe place, and get sausage (hot dogs to us), you will find them delicious and each with a little tag identifying the maker, tied between each link. Do not eat that.