20-22 August--Prague

We continued today with our discussions on the Secession movement at the turn of the 19^th century. The Secession was an artistic break from the Historicist architecture period from the time of the Ringstrasse’s inception. The Parliament building (built 1874-1884), for example, is built in a classical Greek style, reminiscent of democracy’s beginnings in Greece and Rome.

Later that day we began making plans to go to Prague for the weekend. We spent several hours looking up travel information, then took a train out of Vienna at 6. Arriving at 11 with no local currency, no map, and not able to understand the language, we wandered nervously around for a while. At this time, pretty much everything was closed. Luckily, a hotel nearby sold us train tickets and gave us a map of the city and we were able to look up where we needed to go. The Czech metro system is, in my opinion, better than the Viennese one. It travels faster and has better brakes. Upon arrival at the hostel, however, we were informed that we didn’t have a reservation and that the hostel was completely booked. In response to this I showed the clerk our confirmation email, and they sent a taxi to pick us up and take us to a hostel with free space, free of charge. Another note: Czech people are a lot nicer than the Viennese, and Prague is extremely tourist friendly. Anyways, after finally arriving, it was around 1:30 or 2 in the morning, and we all instantly went to sleep.

Destination: Prague. We got up around eight today and had breakfast at the hostel (another reason Czechs are friendlier than the Viennese—they give you food). We made our way through the center of Prague, called Old Prague. We passed through many town squares and even climbed a tower to see an amazing view of Prague. We eventually passed over a bridge named after Charles the Fourth, one of the Holy Roman Emperors who was not a Habsburg, but rather reigned during the time after Rudolf of Habsburg’s reign and the next Habsburg emperor, around 150 years later. Another interesting fact is that Rudolf II, Habsburg and Holy Roman Emperor, has his name engraved on the facade of the Bohemian museum, probably as recognition to the fact that he moved the court from Vienna to Prague in 1583. In addition, Rudolf II, who it was rumored had mental problems and never married, was a great patron of the sciences. He invited Tycho Brahe to the court to be the imperial astronomer, where he worked in cooperation with Johannes Kepler. Rudolf II was not a particularly effective ruler, as he was more interested in science and alchemy than the affairs of the state. Rudolf II also commissioned the Habsburg family crown, with which no Habsburg was actually crowned.

Our final destination was Prague’s Music Museum, which showcases the development of almost every instrument. Today, however, was a special exhibit on the Beatlemania era in the Czech Republic. This museum contained several weird memorabilia from this era, including a Beatles sweatshirt, Beatles beer, and the Beatles’ weekly magazine. Thismuseum highlighted the Czech underground youth movement and seemed to want to say to foreigners that youth behind the iron curtain resisted against authority and tried to bring western music to Prague. We saw shoddily assembled guitars, made by people inspired by the music they heard and read about the underground music scene, which featured a Czech cover band that performed Beatles songs. We toured the actual museum next, which was full of weird instruments that served as transition pointsfor modern instruments. Some of them made little sense, like a violin with a bell attached to it or a baritone horn with two bells. It was interesting to see the origins of each instrument and how they developed over time.

After the museum, we caught a concert at the Museum of Bohemian history. An octet performed the overture of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro," Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," a Bach Air, a Dvorak Humoresque, and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in its entirety.

Destination: Prague, day 2. We had to be out of the hostel by 10 today, but were able to lock up our stuff and go walk about more. We walked through the city again, this time going to the Prague castle, which is more like a church in a giant courtyard surrounded by lesser buildings. The Habsburgs had moved their court to Prague two times, once under Rudolf II whose name we saw on the Bohemian museum where we saw the concert.

After the Prague castle we made our way to the Vltava river, where we got to relax on a boat ride around Prague. I enjoyed being able to relax in the sun. We saw the Prague metronome, a giant red metronome that keeps the beat of the city.

19. August--Schonbrunn und Fussballspiel

I finally made it out to the Schonbrunn palace today. Schonbrunn used to be the imperial summer residence palace of the Habsburgs. Under her reign, Maria Theresia expanded Schonbrunn in the Baroque style to emphasize the Habsburg's claim to power. Napoleon actually lived in Schonbrunn when he conquered Austria. His son grew up on its grounds, but as his coming of age coincided with Napoleon's defeat, he didn't leave the palace for fear of being recognized. He was plagued with health problems and eventually died at age 21. I didn’t actually go into the palace, but toured the gardens

and walked around the palace’s backyard/park. The gardens themselves are amazing. They are kept up in the French style, meaning that everything is neatly shorn, there is nothing overgrown, and most of the shrubs are small, excluding the surrounding hedges. This style is supposed to impose authority on nature and keep it under control.

One of the members of my program is a big soccer fan, and today the Vienna Rapid club was playing Aston Villa from England, so we got a group together to go to the game. The game itself was sold out, but we were hoping we could scalp tickets off of people at the stadium. Armed with me as interpreter, we tried unsuccessfully to find someone that would sell us four tickets. Five minutes before the game started, though, we managed to get tickets in the Visitor’s section, meaning we were sitting with all the crazy British fans screaming obscenities and trying to start fights with the Viennese supporters. The game itself was a lot of fun to watch and it ended it a 1-1 tie. After the match, we were let out of the stadium last (so the british fans don't start riots, I guess) and were escorted out with at least twenty police officers. Soccer is obviously an important part of Viennese life. Vienna's team isn't even that good, yet there were probably a good 15,000 screaming Viennese supporters.

Das deutsches Tagewort ist 'möglich.' In English it means 'possible.' Ich glaube, dass es nicht möglich ist, alles in Wien zu sehen, wenn man dort nur ein Monat bleibt.

18. August-- Biedermeier, Secession, Belvedere

At the Congress of Vienna from sep. 1814 to June 1815, the powers of Europe re established the pre-Napoleonic borders of Europe and attempted to squash out any more revolutionary ideas. For the period of time from 1813 to 1848, Prince Clemens von Metternich tried to silence any revolutionary action. The result of this effort was that people began withdrawing into their homes and gathering away from public areas to speak and gossip in private. This era is known as the Biedermeier period, so named because 'Bieder' means simple, and Meier is a common last name. An ideal Biedermeier lifestyle would consist of a simple, suburban lifestyle, caught up in your own world and not paying attention to what is going on around you, gemuetlichkeit, and the idea of locking everything up to keep it from others. In this world there was also a double standard, and women would often follow the three K’s: Kinder, Kueche, und Kirche.

In class today we also learned about the Ringstrasse architectural movement. This movement followed the deconstruction of Vienna’s walls. These fortifications had in the past proved necessary for Vienna’s defense during the Turkish sieges of 1529 and 1683. As Vienna was expanding, the walls were needed less and less (they didn’t stop Napoleon from taking Vienna), until they were done away with completely by emperor Franz Joseph in the mid 19^th century. The destruction of the walls in 1857 created a large amount of land that was bought up by a new emerging social class: the Ringstrasse Barons, who were attempting to mimic the lifestyles of the old aristocracy. To accomplish this, they built many new buildings on the area that the walls used to occupy, called the Ringstrasse. These buildings, built in classical greek and Roman styles, were supposed to compare its commissioner with these bygone rulers and empires. The Parliament building, built in the classical Greek style, recalls democracy's Greek Roots. The University was built in the neo-Renaissance style, referring to the new advent of learning that accompanied the Renaissance. The Rathaus, in neo-Gothic, according to Parsons, the "free burgher cities of medieval Flanders." The Secession movement, of which Otto Wagner played an important role (see Kirche am Steinhof), was a rejection of this architectural idea and asserted that every era should have its own art.

Today we got to tour the inside of the baroque Belvedere Palace. Before, we had only viewed the outside and the gardens, but today we were able to go inside and see its art and architecture. As I wrote previously, the Belvedere was a gift to Prince Eugene of Savoy for finally driving the Turks back in the late 17^th century. Now, the palace is home to a large collection of art and sculpture. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside. The palace houses a large collection of art from the Biedermeier period, depicting scenes from family life or scenery.

This building also houses many works by the famous Art Nouveau artist and later Expressionist Gustav Klimt. Klimt, who lived from 1862 to 1918, was good friends with the expressionist painter Egon Schiele. Klimt was the son of a goldsmith, and his early works for the Vienna Secession demonstrate this. Many of Klimt's works deal with the so-called "feminine mystique," the idea that one can never truly understand what goes on in a woman's head. One of his most famous works, der Kuss, depicts a couple locked in an embrace and enveloped by a shimmering gold shroud. The man in the painting is giving the woman a kiss. Through this painting Klimt teases the viewer through his representation of the "feminine mystique" by painting the woman's face in such a way as to obscure her feelings. On the surface, it seems like she is enjoying herself, but subtle hints like the way her hand seems to be pulling away his arm and her facial expressions make us doubt ourselves. I think Klimt wanted us to never know and always be guessing, to keep with the theme of the female mystique.

17 August--Haus der Musik

I can’t believe there are already only 10 more days until class ends. Time has gone by so fast here. Today we experienced an important part of Viennese culture: Music. From Mozart to Strauss and Schubert, many musicians came to Vienna over the years and contributed to the growth of Viennese music culture.

To study this, we went to the Haus der Musik, a museum dedicated to the science of sound in addition to housing a museum about a few of the influential composers who passed through Vienna. There were entire rooms dedicated to the composers that had contributed to the Viennese classical music scene: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mahler, and Strauss. It was interesting to learn how each composer had altered the public’s perception of music. Mahler, for example, was the director of the Viennese Philharmonic and is largely responsible for much of our modern concert etiquette, like dimming the house lights at the start of a performance or not letting latecomers in until a piece has finished. Schubert aided the growth of Hausmusik, where individuals would gather in somebody’s house where the piano was the center of the party. This growth of Hausmusik accompanied Metternich’s reforms to transform Vienna into a quasi-police state, when Austria feared another ‘French revolution’ would happen in Austria. At this time, there were 52 piano makers in Vienna, compared to 1 today. We also saw relics from composers and conductors past, like Leonard Bernstein’s tux and Richard Strauss’s baton. The museum of sound wing of the house dealt with how sound is perceived by the brain. It also allowed us to superimpose sounds from everyday life, like a U-bahn station, a park, a baby crying, etc., to create a sort of dissonant choir. There was also one wall with several earpieces, through which one could hear different sounds a human body might make, from coughing to grinding teeth all the way to farting. In another room, you and another individual could compose your own waltz by throwing dice (not quite sure how that one worked). After, you even had the option to buy the score to the piece you had just written (but it cost 7 euros).

We also had the opportunity to watch the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform several pieces—via DVD of course. It was really interesting to see how little they needed the conductor. At one point, he even turned around and began conducting the audience. I appreciated being able to see such professionalism and musicianship, coming from an orchestral background myself. After this video, we got the opportunity to conduct the orchestra…with an infrared baton, of course. The orchestra would play exactly as fast as you conducted them. You could choose from a selection of pieces, including An Der Schoenen Blauen Donau waltz, the Radzesky (?) march, and Hungarian Dance no. 5.

This place is dedicated to the composers and their music that helped put Vienna on the map, culturally. Coming from a musical background, I was excited to see the composers who had shaped the face of music to what it is today.

Deutsches Tagewort: schmecken--expression of taste. "Mir schmeckt diese Speise nicht, aber ich esse sie trotzdem"

16. August--Bike excursion

Today was day 3 of a three day weekend. After getting up around midday, I went grocery shopping. Here the milk containers only come in 1 Liter sizes, meaning I need to buy at least one container every day. People go grocery shopping here every day, and the food here does not have preservatives in it. I left a loaf of bread in a cabinet, and now it is completely moldy. Delicious.

Today we decided to try out Vienna’s public bicycle program. Without any real plan in mind (this seems to be a recurring theme in all of my day trips), we took the U-bahn to the Danube canal, to one of the many locations. Apparently, the rental process is supposed to be easy, but we spent a good forty five minutes trying to figure it out. Apparently you have to create an account with your credit card, which is then accessed every time you use it to unlock a bike. I am glad I set up a temporary bank account for this trip. I don’t like the idea of my debit card information being easily accessible on some random European computer terminal. Eventually, we figured it out and hit the streets. We made our way to the bank of the Danube and then crossed over to the Danube island. The Danube island separates the two sections of the Danube. One is used more for shipping and transportation, and the other is used for recreation. We biked along the island for a while and stopped at a café for a snack. We continued along the Danube until we came to another U bahn station, which we took to the bicycle return station. Vienna's public transportation system makes going anywhere in the city easy. Our tickets for the U Bahn also counted towards the streetcars and buses, so we were not short of transportation options. I think it would be more of a hassle to have a car in a city like this. Gas here is around 1.2 Euros per liter, which works out to about 5.6 dollars per gallon. This price is insanely high for me, coming from America. This is probably why Europe has a lot more smaller cars than America. I have not seen many parking lots in my walking tours of the city, so I think it is more convenient to travel by U bahn or streetcar.

After we had returned the bikes, we went to Karmalitermarkt, a marketplace. Because of the rain, however, many places were closed. I did manage to get some fruit there, however, getting some much needed vitamin C. Later that night we tried our luck at the Siebenstern brauerei, this time with success. I tried the chili beer, which was a mistake. It actually tasted like chili, and my mouth was burning for the next ten minutes.

I recently read an article in the New York Times about an art exhibition in Vienna featuring propagandist works from North Korea. These paintings depict North Korea as the happiest place on earth. I thought this was strange because the artists themselves were forbidden to leave Korea. I think the fact that Vienna is considered a neutral nation is one of he main reasons why these paintings were exhibited here. This would never have happened in other countries like the US. I think exhibitions like this are good because they show what the country is like on the inside--or at least how the government wants the country to look like, in which case one can infer the situation for people on the inside.

15 August-- Kunsthistorisches Museum Part II

I knew today I was completely over my jet lag, because I woke up at 12:30. The internet wasn’t working today, meaning that I had an excuse that I hadn’t posted my blog on time.

Today, I went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum again. This time around, I was looking to see if I could spot the differences in Protestant and Catholic art. This is easier said than done. Most of the art in the museum was Catholic art, meaning it was difficult to sort through all the baroque art to find something that wasn’t Catholic. The Holy Roman Empire was considered ‘holy’ because the leaders worked with the Pope and the Catholic Church and considered themselves defenders of the Catholic faith. Therefore, there are not many Protestant paintings present. Most of the protestant works I found were portraits. In this museum there is a large collection of portraits by Rembrandt. These are portraits of individuals not of royalty or religion, but of merchants and ordinary citizens. Because Protestants did not know if they were to be saved by God, they would work hard to succeed (material prosperity is a sign of divine favor). This resulted in a new class of individuals with enough wealth to commission art for themselves. Normally, an artist would be commissioned by the Church or by the current rulers, but Protestants began being able to commission works for themselves, opening up a totally new market for artists.

(<--Protestant art)

(Catholic Art-->)

If I had the ability to summon Ocean’s eleven and steal a painting, I would definitely steal Anthonis van Dyck’s Capture of Samson. I really like the interplay of emotions on Samsom’s and his wife’s faces. Even though I am not religious, I can appreciate this work. It also is an example of one characteristic of Catholic art that was very prevalent at this time: that art should be easy to understand. For catholics, paintings should convey a clear, direct message so the illiterate peasants who came to the church for mass would accept whatever the Church said as reality, because they could convey ideas to them in a way that they could easily understand. In this painting it is so easy to read the sorrow on Samson's face as he gazes at his traitorous wife. The artist of this painting did an excellent job conveying the sadness on both figures' faces.

14. August-- Kirche am Steinhof

Today was Saturday, the second weekend and marking roughly the halfway point of the trip. Tired from yesterday, I decided I would take it easy today and go look around the Kunsthistorisches Museum again, because the first time I had forgotten my camera. On the subway, coincidentally, I ran into Kathy and her gang (her partner Louise and her longtime friend Hans-Joerg). They invited me to come with them to another church, which I accepted.

We went to Steinhof, a psychiatric hospital with a long history. Otto Wagner, who is known for his contributions to the Jugendstil architectural movement, designed many of the buildings in this complex around the late 19^th and early 20^th century. His architectural style reflects the saying ‘form should fit function.’

Our first stop was a museum dedicated to the mistreatment and murder of those deemed “unusable”

by the 3^rd Reich—mentally handicapped individuals who were sent to camps or killed in Steinhof itself. This museum showed how the line between racism and science was blurred, with disastrous results. We saw propaganda against the mentally ill,

and the bogus scientific charts used to determine if a person was worthy of marriage or reproduction.

In the Steinhof complex, we went next to the Kirche am Steinhof. This church is built in a very modern style and constructed in a way to keep control of mentally disturbed patients who would cause trouble in the church. It is very open, leaving little to no space that is not immediately visible. This is useful when patients go to the church so the guards can keep an eye on them. Also, the walls, which lack the ornate designs found in other churches in Vienna, are purposely made easy to clean up to a certain height. The floor gradually slants upwards to draw attention to the altar, something that is unique to this church alone. The back of the church is around 25 centimeters lower than the front of the church. A short wall separates the altar from the rows of pews, something that would not be found in other churches, and there are no columns or anywhere someone could possibly hide. There are even open confession boxes, once again so the guards can keep an eye on the patients.

This church was built with only stones, glass, and gold. There are no paintings, but rather intricate mosaics and stained glass images around the church. The mosaic at the front of the church shows Jesus and many saints around him. Those on Jesus’s right are all patron saints of the mentally ill. Emperor Franz Joseph, who had commissioned the church, refused to visit it, and instead sent Franz Ferdinand to see what it was like. He hated the modern architectural style and asked Wagner why he hadn’t built it in the old baroque style of churches To this Wagner replied that people don’t use outdated weapons for war, they change them over the years, and the same thing goes for churches.

After the tour, we tried to find a Heuriger for dinner, with no luck, so we settled on a Biergarten instead. I had Schweinsbraten and was a little adventurous in trying the Zipferl Rot Bier. I’m still not sure what that was, but it was good. On the way back, we were asked to show our tickets on the Strassenbahn. That is exciting, because it never happens.

13. August

Today we meandered through the Viennese countryside on our way back from the Alps. On our way back, we stopped by Schloss Forchtenstein, owned by the Esterhazy family in the 16^th century when the Burgenland was a part of Hungary. Back then, Hungary was twice as big as it is today. In 1920, the Treaty of Versailles made Hungary smaller and gave control of the area that this castle was in over to Austria. From one side of the castle, you can actually see Hungary.

The interior courtyard of this castle is lined with paintings of Roman emperors and Holy Roman Emperors. This goes along with the idea that the Holy Roman Empire saw itself as an extension of the old Roman Empire. Also in this courtyard is a statue of Paul I, whom Emperor Leopold elevated from count to prince.

This castle houses the largest personal weapons collection in all of Austria. We saw the glass beads used as ammunition for the cannons and the different steps in making a rifle. Mortars from this era needed 7 kg of gunpowder and fired what was pretty much a basketball shaped rock. Many of

the weapons were produced there, with the others coming from defeated enemies. We saw glass grenades and the bags used to carry them. Carrying a bag of glass grenades while charging into battle or riding a horse does not sound like the smartest idea. Armies in this time were private regiments funded by the government. There still was no national army. We also saw the chair used for executions. Here, executions were done with the unfortunate individual sitting upright in a chair. The executioner would swing a large sword horizontally, and hopefully decapitate him on the first blow. There were many marks on the chair where the executioner had missed. In addition to this, there was a piece of paper describing how much various executions would cost. The castle also has armor from the 30 Year’s War, when tall soldiers would get paid more than shorter ones. It was interesting to see all of these old weapons and to see how the armies we have been reading about were outfitted.

This castle also has one of the deepest wells in Austria, at 142 meters. It took 10 years to complete and is made with the blood and sweat of Turkish POWs. You get an almost perfect echo. We all sang Happy Birthday to Amanda and dropped a coin in the well. On the way back, we stopped by the Liechtenstein Castle, which was closed for renovations, but we could still see the façade.

12. August--Alpine Adventure Day 2

Day 2 in the Alps and the day when the serious hiking happens. This is for me the highlight of the trip, the part I had been waiting for ever since I got here.I was a little worried about the weather, because I had forgotten to pack my rain jacket and it had been storming the day before. The weather, however, was amazing. Sunny weather, minimal clouds (in the distance). You couldn’t ask for better weather. Breakfast was provided a the hotel, and we hit the trail around 10. We hiked from hut to hut, stopping along the way for pictures and food. We didn’t have to pack much because we could refill water or eat something at any of the huts. Along the way we saw some amazing scenery, but little wildlife, unfortunately. I'm glad I had actual hiking shoes, as there were some pretty significant climbs and descents

Our final destination was the Habsburghaus, which we arrived at around 1:30 or 2. I was usually at least 10 minutes ahead of the group I was with. I was glad to get out of the city and into nature, something I haven’t seen much of since I left the Boy Scouts.

Definitely the highlight of this trip was getting lost in the Alps. We started out from Habsburghaus and were trying to take a different route back. Mike Wasserman and I walked faster than the group, and were soon about 20 minutes ahead. When we realized that we had no idea how to get to the hut that everyone else was headed to, we decided to just follow signs back to Ottohaus. After a while, Ottohaus stopped appearing on the signs, and further on, the signposts themselves disappeared. We somehow got back on a path, and decided we needed to go up. When we got to the top of this path, we realized we were back where we had stopped for lunch. We had backtracked to our original path instead of going forwards. In total, we did about an hour of extra hiking, bringing our total mileage to around 14 miles.

11. August--Eisenstadt, Alps Day I

Today we had to be packed up and ready to go by 8:30 in the morning. We went by bus to Eisenstadt, the city that the Esterhazy family of princes lived in and where Haydn worked as court composer. Originally a medieval fortress, the Habsburgs conquered the town in the 15^th century.

In the Esterhazy family, Nicolaus I was the main patron of Joseph Haydn. At this time there was no private music market, so composers had to be attached to some sort of commissioner. This began to change with Haydn, as he accumulated a large amount of wealth after he was dismissed from his position. In Eisenstadt there are 14 Haydnorgel that the master himself played on. For a few weeks in September every year, these organs, situated in various chapels around the city, are played, and you can wander from chapel to chapel, listening to Haydn’s music.

In addition to the Esterhazy castle, we also visited the Kavalierenkirche. This church was inspired by the Stations of the Cross and features life-sized replicas depicting Jesus’s suffering or something like that. We also visited the mausoleum where Haydn’s remains are kept. His skull was stolen some time ago and replaced with a fake one, and it was only in 1954 when all of his remains were reunited.

Our tour guide for this city was pretty bad. Professor Stuart kept interrupting to point out facts she should have mentioned. She could have given us a tour way better than the tour we got from our guide.

After the tour we hopped back on the bus and took off for the Alps. It was cool to finally get out of the city and enjoy the scenery, even though the weather was pretty rainy. We took the Seilbahn up to our hotel in the Raxalpen. The hotel itself was old and reminded me of the house in Haderslev. I couldn’t wait to start hiking, so a friend and I decided to brave the rain and hike to the next hotel, Ottohaus. At this house there is a female cat named otto, named after the hotel. After staying at the Ottohaus for a while and playing a game of chess (which I won), we left, pretty much running through the rain, which by now was on the verge of storming. For dinner, I had Wiener Schnitzel and, you guessed it, Kaiserschmarrn (mit Rosinen). Kathy told us that the word Kaiserschmarrn is made up from Kaiser-(emperor) and schmarrn- (nonsense). So Kaiserschmarrn is imperial nonsense, or something like that.

10. August-- Kunsthistorisches Museum

Today was our tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The building itself is neo-Renaissance and meant to be a sort of temple for the arts. It is positioned directly across from the Naturhistorisches Museum. These two museums mark the entry into the Museumsquartier, a collection of several museums to which we get free entry. The Museumsquartier is considered a trendy place to go, and is very different from museums in the US. It even has its own shopping area. The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) has its own café, where you can order sweets and drinks. I enjoyed a Sachertorte before going into the museum.

At the beginning of the museum is a statue of Theseus killing a centaur. This is in the neo-classical style (after the Baroque period). This statue was made for Napoleon to glorify his victories, but when it was finished Napoleon had already lost power and never picked it up. Luckily, Francis I of Austria—Napoleon’s father-in-law, bought it.

Our first artist we saw was Albrecht Duerer, the so-called “Leonardo of the North.” Apparently, he was a jack-of-all-trades like Leonardo. He was trained in medieval paintin methods of mysticism, but was also a Renaissance man. Many of his paintings show his mastery at painting the human body contorted—not just idly standing or praying to god. In his Martyrdom of 10,000 Christians, for example, he depicts individuals being killed in a number of different ways, demonstrating his skill and knowledge of anatomy. His Allerheiligenbild is an example of a Gesamtkunstwerk—a work of art that extends beyond the boundaries of the canvas. In this case, the frame was designed by Duerer as well, but when Rudolf II—the commissioner—dispatched his servants to get the painting, he told them to carry it by hand so the painting wouldn’t be damaged by the jostling cart. When they arrived to pick up the work, however, they had to leave behind the frame because it was too heavy to carry.

Next on the list was Pieter Bruegel, or “Peasant Bruegel.” He would disguise himself as a peasant, go into the village, and observe the peasants in their everyday life. He was a genre painter, painting everyday life, and a moralist as well. His Carnival vs. Lent depicts a battle-like scene between the penance of Lent and the gluttony and debauchery of Carnival. His Kinderspiele shows many groups of kids in a village playing rough “games” like fighting, pulling each other’s hair, seeing who can take the biggest crap (seriously), and other similar games. The countryside, by comparison, is quiet and peaceful.

We saw works from several other artists, for example Peter Paul Rubens, from the Netherlands. In the early 17^th century he set up a workshop for artists that greatly influenced the direction of art in the area. Jan Vermeer’s The Art of Painting shows the subtlety of painting. Jan Steen’s die Verkehrte Welt depicts a party scene at the second before drinks are spilled, people trip and fall, and the shit basically hits the fan. We also saw paintings by Velasquez of several Habsburgs, which all looked sickly and victims of inbreeding.

After our tour, several friends and I went to a coffeshop and tried to blog. There we experienced something rare in Vienna: good service. We ended up eating dinner there, and headed back home full and a little less behind on our blogs.

Deutsches Wort des Tages: Autobahn. In English 'Highway.' Auf den deutschen Autobahns kann mann wohl sehr schnell fahren

9. August

Today was Stephansdom part deux. Before, we had just climbed the stairs to the top of the South Tower, but today we toured the inside. Directly across from the cathedral is the Haas Haus, completed in 1990. As a very modern building, the Haas Haus contrasts very strongly with the gothic/romanesque Stephansdom. Many today feel that the Haas Haus takes away from the Stephansdom and that it attracts more tourists than the cathedral does. I like the juxtaposition of the old cathedral next to the new, modern building. Both are works of art, they just come from two different time periods.The cathedral was built in the mid 12^th century in the Romanesque style (an early medieval style), and in the early 14^th century the city decided to rebuild it in the Gothic style. Around 1500, the Renaissance was in full swing, and interest in completing the improvements was waning, so the front 2 towers of the cathedral were left in the old Romanesque style. Dr O, our tour guide, gave us an easy way of identifying which sections of the cathedral were gothic or Romanesque, and how old the gothic style is: the simpler the gothic, the earlier it was built. In 1945 the cathedral caught fire, and large sections of the roof caved in. Citizens rushed from their houses with buckets of water to help put out the fire. I think it is amazing that not much was seriously broken. The townspeople went in and took out everything they could, and supported, reinforced, and covered everything else.

(picture on left: border between gothic and romanesque styles on the interior. Gothic style is more patterned, romanesque is simpler)

In the construction of the interior, one name is especially important:Master Anton Pilgrim, a mason from the Czech Republic. He is famous in the cathedral for two items: a pulpit, where sermons were read, and the organ loft. The pulpit is an extremely intricate work, sculpted out of only three stone slabs. The banister consists of wheels with alternating three and four spokes, 3 and 4 representing humanity (the four directions, the four seasons, the four elements, etc) and the divine (the holy Trinity, etc). Also, on a side note, I would like to point out that there are 343 steps in the South Tower. Coincidence? I think not. Frogs (symbols of evil and disease) are carved along the topof the rail, but are prevented from reaching the top by a small dog, the symbol of fidelity (that’s where Fido comes from). Originally, Master P’s organ loft was scoffed at and nobody expected it to stay up. He responded to this by saying he would hold it up himself, and carved his face at the base of the organ loft, and the loft is still structurally sound today.

For me, the main appeal of this church is all the stories, legends, and symbolism it has accumulated over the years. In a chapel on one side there is a Jesus statue with a horsehair beard, which is said to grow and shrink depending on the weather. Across from this is a statue of Mary which is said to cry if Vienna is experiencing hard times. By the entrance are two iron bars mounted on the wall that were used as the standards of measurement. This was used to settle arguments in which one citizen would accuse another of shortchanging him in the marketplace. The defendant would use these iron bars to determine if he was right, and if he was the accused would be escorted to the jail down the street. I can see why the city values this church

Detsches Tagewort: Krieg: Es bedeutet eine grosse Schlacht, in der viele Nationen teilen mit. Auf English bedeutet es 'War.' Und ein Satz mit dem Wort: Niemand wusste, wovon der Krieg stammte, aber es war ihnen klar, dass sie einander töten wollten.

8. August

Today was day 2 in Bratislava. We woke up early for a weekend, around 9. Like in Vienna, nowhere is open on Sundays because everyone is religious, so we had trouble finding breakfast. All the tourist shops were finally open, though, and we looked through several shops before realizing we had to move it if we were going to make our ferry on time. We arrived at the harbor after only going the wrong direction once and managed to catch our ship back to Vienna. Again we enjoyed the ride, and this time it was not dark and overcast, but rather sunny and warm. I would have liked to spend at least another day in Bratislava to explore some more, but this trip was definitely worthwhile. We knew we had crossed into Vienna when we were waving to people on the shore, and a woman flipped us off. I am not quite sure why the Viennese are as rude as they are. It might be just because we are tourists in a large group that always want to split the bill, probably any waiter's nightmare.

Later that night was our opera night. We saw die Fledermaus at the Theater an der Wien, where the play originally had premiered in 1874. Upon arrival, I immediately searched out the Papageno Tor, a sculpture of the bird-catcher Papageno from Mozart's Magic Flute over the doorway. I was surprised at how this sculpture was so hidden from the public, facing a side alley of the theater.

For the occasion, we all got dressed up and had a glass of champagne outside the theater. The opera house itself was smaller than what I was expecting, but still very impressive. It was not as ornate or decorated as some of the buildings we had visited. I particularly enjoyed the music, composed by Johann Strauss. The operetta itself was very entertaining and fun to watch.

7. August

The weekend is finally here! But it doesn’t really feel like a weekend, because this program is almost like a vacation, just with extra work. After getting up at a reasonable hour, several friends and I went to the Schatzkammer to see some of the more ornate and elaborate relics of the Habsburgs. We saw garments from the Archduchy of Austria, when Rudolph IV ordered the forgery of documents known as the Privilegum maius which elevated the Duchy to Archduchy and increasing the Habsburg’s power to rival that of the Elector rulers that chose the Emperor. We also saw Rudolf of Habsburg’s crown, scepter, and orb. The cross on the orb represents the four directions—north, south, east, and west—and the orb itself represents the earth. Combined, these two objects symbolize the fact that Austria has the right to rule the world. This ideal empire is again idealized by the AEIOU philosophy (Alles Erdreich ist Oesterreich Untertan). In addition to the objects themselves, the museum pointed out the small details and symbolism of each artifact that made it significant.

This museum also contains a number of artifacts said to come from biblical times. Contained in an ornate gold reliquary is a nail that supposedly pierced Christ’s right hand on the cross. There is also several pieces of cloth said to be from the table cloth at the Last Supper, Jesus’s loincloth, and his sweat rag. As I look at this collection of random objects, I ask myself why anyone would want Jesus’s sweat towel, for Christ’s sake, and my audio guide tells me. Relics back then were a sign of power (for Catholics, not Protestants, but the world was pretty much Cathoic back then), so authority figures would collect these relics to legitimize their claims to power.

(picture on left) This is a picture of the symbol of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The necklace depicts interlocking fire irons and flintstone. Each link represents a member, and the golden fleece itself is hung from this necklace, indicating how each member has a duty to support the order and how the order would collapse if one link were to "break."

After the Schatzkammer we went down to the Danube canal and caught a ferry out of Vienna to Bratislava. I was a little apprehensive about leaving Vienna, but the boat ride soon alleviated my fears and I managed to enjoy the scenery of the Danube. On our way we saw small fisherman’s huts and castles that may have stood as a lookout for Austrianson the Danube looking for war. One thing we noticed as soon as we arrived was how much more friendly everybody was towards us. The clerk at the first hostel we went to, for example, told us his rate was 80 euro per night, and seeing our hesitant looks, kindly recommended us to a cheaper place and in addition pointed out areas of the city where we could enjoy the Slovenian culture and night life. Much of the city's activity was concentrated on only a few streets, which we didn't always follow. The architectural style was not as extravagantly baroque as Vienna is, but there was an elegance in the castles and churches we saw.

6. August

We got to sleep in early today! We were able to sleep in until 1, at which time we headed out for Klosterneuburg, monastery and site of Babenberg power in the early 12^th century. It was expected to rain today, but luckily we were spared until our tour at Klosterneuburg was finished. The myth of Klosterneuburg dates back to medieval times: Leopold and his wife Agnes had just been married, and at the conclusion of the ceremony a gust of wind picked up her veil and carried it out into the countryside. Nine years later on a hunting expedition, Leopold found the veil in a tree. As thanks he decided to build a monastery there. In 1485 Leopold was named a saint and later the Patron Saint of Austria. Until 1827, the monastery was the law of the surrounding area, with its own court and jail. It was renovated several times in the baroque era. The original plan was to create a large, Escorial-like palace in the Baroque style, but this was never fully realized for monetary reasons. The monastery’s baroque construction gives it solidity and stability. The floors are several feet thick, with a layer of dirt for even more stability. Students studying architecture come to this area to study the building style because it is such a prime example of Baroque architecture. There really is nothing like this construction style in the United States (to my knowledge). Perhaps the solid construction is the reason why so many buildings survive today.

Klosterneuburg is inhabited by Augustinian Canons, several of whom gave us a tour of the monastery and church. They were very hospitable and friendly and greeted us with glasses of champagne and mimosa. It was funny to see these religious figures on cell phones and talking about the cars they used to own. We got a private tour of the surroundings, monastery, and church all attached to Klosterneuburg. During this tour we were able to visit the Verdun Altar. This altar, made between 1170 and 1181 by Nicholas of Verdun, comprises 51 enamel scenes from the Bible. Several of its scenes have distinct Byzantine, Greek, and Roman influences.

After the tour we visited a Heuriger, and had a chance to talk with the Canons. Of the 48 Canons, 9 are from America, something I found interesting. They say that there is nothing like the life they live now in the States and prefer it to practicing in America. One, Dom Ambrose, is completely against socialization and downright hates Obama. According to him, socialism is the reason the Viennese are so rude in general (especially waiters) because they are all paid the same no matter what, and they don’t get a large enough tip to improve their service. Also, a certain percentage of the population needs to be employed at any given time, so many people are safe from being fired. We also covered other hot-button issues in our conversation like gay marriage, the war in Iraq, and the church’s role in the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Not surprisingly, Ambrose was very conservative on these issues. After several hours and a few pitchers of wine the canons called awful, we left.