08/18 - 08/19
On Sunday (08/18), I dedicated much of my day to work on my movie project. I had spent the previous few weeks collecting photos and videos that relate to my chosen movie subject: heights. From St. Stephen's Cathedral's south tower to Austrian Alps, I had a variety of places that I needed to selectively decide whether to include in my movie. By the end of the day, I had spent a good few hours editing the videos and writing my script, so my movie was coming along nicely.
Despite spending much of my day working on the movie, I still made sure to leave my apartment and visit somewhere new. Taking a long train line to the Nineteenth District of Vienna, I arrived in front of the Karl Marx Hof public housing complex. Having briefly learned a bit about this public housing project during one of our previous tours, I understood that this was one of the products of the Red Vienna period. From 1918 to 1934, the Social Democratic Party of Austria ruled Vienna unilaterally. The party funded substantial construction and educational projects across the capital city in order to counter the economic and housing crises. Though this era would end following the rise of Austrofascism and the subsequent ban on the Social Democratic Party in 1934, the success of Red Vienna indubitably contributed to present-day Vienna's prosperity and international title as the "most livable city in the world."
The Karl Marx Hof public housing complex.
As I was accompanying a student to the Karl Marx Hof that was focusing on public housing for her movie subject, we talked to some of the residents of the housing complex. One person in particular talked about how much they enjoyed living there, especially since it is a very family-oriented place. We then went to the Exhibition Red Vienna museum within the housing complex, which is interestingly directly across from one of the local kindergartens. While we were inside the museum, we learned more about the Red Vienna period, including about the Karl Marx Hof. The construction of the housing complex began in 1927 during Red Vienna. This massive housing project was designed with its residents as top priorities, thereby including laundromats, kindergartens, and even a library within the complex.
The Exhibition Red Vienna museum.
The kindergarten opposite from the Exhibition Red Vienna museum.
Though I also spent much of Monday (08/19) working on my movie, I also allowed myself to get lost in Vienna for a couple hours. Taking a train line to the city center of Stephsplatz, I walked strolled around the busy plaza. Having gone inside St. Stephen's Cathedral many times already, I instead allowed myself to follow other tourists into a couple shops. After buying a couple streets, I took another random train, which this time took me to the Volkstheater station. I walked around the area for a couple minutes, looking at the various buildings in the area. Before leaving back for my apartment, I purchased a delicious falafel dürüm from a random Turkish stand.
When I returned back to my room, I came to the realization that many of the buildings that I passed near the Volktheater station where some of the Ringstraße buildings that Gretl had described during our first city tour. Some of these buildings that I saw included the Austrian Parliament Building, the Wiener Rathaus City Hall, and the Burgtheater. Remembering what Gretl taught us, the Ringstraße replaced the old city walls that Emperor Franz Joseph had demanded to be removed in the mid-nineteenth century. Many of the buildings that were constructed along the Ringstraße followed the historicist architectural style. I personally enjoy this type of architectural design as it emulates some of the styles of the past, such as Gothic, baroque, and classical styles.
In the case of the Austrian Parliament Building, the neoclassical architectural style seemed to be quite intentional. As the classical style has its roots in Greek architecture, the architects of the Parliament likely wanted to evoke Ancient Greek democratic ideals. This was because, according to Steven Beller's A Concise History Of Austria, the country was going through a period of liberalizing reforms at the time of the Ringstraße's construction, most notably the 1867 December Constitution granting various rights and liberties.
The Austrian Parliament Building.
German Words of the Day: Feiern (To Celebrate) & Nationalität (Nationality)
Provided by: Transparent Language