08/14 - 08/15
Waking up after a restless sleep due to a storm raging most of the night, I chugged two espressos on Wednesday (08/14) morning in order to prepare for the long day ahead. Taking a gondola down from the Raxalm-Beggasthof lodge, we then got on our tour bus that would be driving us out of the Austrian Alps. After a long drive, we eventually arrived in Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria. Our first stop was the Jüdischer Friedhof Wiener Neustadt, where the male students were handed yarmulkes by the tour guide before entering the cemetery. The tour guide elucidated that out of the approximately sixty-four Jewish cemeteries in Austria, the Jüdischer Friedhof Wiener Neustadt is one of the newest cemeteries, with the first gravestone from October 1889. The Jewish community settled in the city in 1870, but they were not initially allowed to have a Jewish cemetery. Instead, the dead Jewish people were simply transported back to the communities they came from. In 1889, the cemetery was finally established. Samuel Ehrenhaft—a Jewish shoemaker—was buried in this cemetery with his wife. His shoemaker factory would eventually become a Katholische Erlöserkirche Catholic Church, which was the final stop of our tour in Wiener Neustadt.
The place we went to after the Jüdischer Friedhof Wiener Neustadt was the Dom Wiener Neustadt Cathedral, a Catholic Church that was consecrated in 1279 after decades of construction. A past bishop of the church forced the emperor to expel Jewish people from Wiener Neustadt. It was here that we found out from the tour guide that Wiener Neustadt was the most bombed German-speaking Central European city during WW2. Some of the church was damaged from these bombings. The church has Romanesque and Gothic elements, as well as a few baroque influences that were added since its construction.
The Dom Wiener Neustadt Cathedral.
On our way to the Theresia Military Academy, we briefly stopped at a medieval wall with old Jewish gravestones. Cannonballs that date back to the 1683 Turkish Siege of Vienna are affixed to the wall. We eventually arrived at the Theresia Military Academy, which is also the resting place of Emperor Maximilian I. Maximilian I thought he would be buried somewhere else, but his body was instead laid here in a more modest burial. Our class would soon thereafter return on the tour bus back to Vienna.
It was the Austrian public holiday of the Assumption of Virgin Mary on Thursday (08/15). I learned about this after trying to stop at a cafe for breakfast, only to find out that most Viennese businesses and restaurants are closed in observance of this Christian holiday. According to two articles by EuroNews and The Local Austria, the Assumption of Virgin Mary is a widely-celebrated holiday in Europe that celebrates Virgin Mary's earthly death and subsequent ascension into heaven. Virgin Mary is typically honored on this annual holiday by people attending church to hear sermons about the revered religious figure. Her ascension has been depicted in various mediums, particularly in Rubens' Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Titian's Frari Assumption.
Later that day, the class was treated to a tour of the Upper Belvedere Palace by Gretl. The Belvedere was a residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Growing up in France, Eugene of Savoy was initially destined to go into priesthood as he was the youngest son. However, he was fascinated by military history and came to Vienna to participate in the second Turkish siege. Gretl elucidated that Eugene of Savoy gained prominence in the Austrian military over time, eventually securing more land on behalf of Austria. A brilliant military tactician, he would later turn to literature, botany, and art in his old age. The Habsburgs would later buy much of his art collection from Eugene of Savoy’s niece after his death. Johann Gottfried Auerbach’s Prince Eugene of Savoy as Commander depicts the prince victorious after a battle with an anonymous black servant by his side. The inclusion of a black servant is an indication of wealth and command, which was why he was included in the painting.
The front of the Upper Belvedere Palace.
Johann Gottfried Auerbach’s Prince Eugene of Savoy as Commander.
While we looked at various paintings, Gretl explained that the period of the Enlightenment was a shift from the old focus on the Habsburg monarchy to a revisitation to the art and writings of the old world, particularly Greek classicism). Expectedly, the people couldn’t ignore the Athenian democracy that existed in Greece at that time, thus began to question their own absolute monarchs. This would eventually lead to the American and French revolutions.
Following the Enlightenment period of art, Gretl elucidated that the Romantic era’s heavy focus on emotional content and human pathos was a sharp turn from enlightenment principles, especially rationality. An example of this artistic period was Jacques Louis David’s Napoleon at the Great St. Bernhard Pass. Napoleon didn’t want to pose for the painting as he wanted the art to be iconic rather than replicative. After the fall of Napoleon, the Austrian lands entered into the Biedermeier period from 1814-1848. Pretending that the French Revolution never happened, the leaders of states carved up the map of Europe to mostly make it match the pre-Napoleonic period. The people were not on board with this, so the leaders eliminated the free press and expanded police forces to strike fear into the dissident populace. During this authoritarian period, art was made as non-threatening as possible. There were lots of portraiture, pictures of babies, and paintings of happy peasants—nothing critical of the political scenery.
Jacques Louis David’s Napoleon at the Great St. Bernhard Pass.
The aftermath of the 1948 revolutions saw Vienna grappling with its cultural identity. Vienna increased its population fourfold by 1900-reaching two million people—due to expansions of the rail system and immigration. This discussion of cultural identity led to eugenics and the commodification of culture.
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter active in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. He reassessed his career in a more artistically compelling nature between 1895-1908—which became known as the Golden Phase. Some of his most renowned paintings from this time period are The Kiss, Judith and the Head of Holofernes, and The Woman In Gold. The former two reside in the Belvedere, while the latter one now resides in an art gallery in New York. Simon Curtis’ Woman In Gold is a movie that delves into the historical background of the painting and the quest to get it returned to its rightful owner after it was stolen by the Nazis. This film does an excellent job demonstrating how difficult it has been for Austria to reckon with its Nazi past as, historically, the country has only portrayed itself as a victim of WW2 (read my full review under the Movies section).
Left to right: Gustav Klimt's The Kiss & Judith and the Head of Holofernes.
After the Belvedere tour, a few other students joined me in eating at the Stöckl im Park restaurant. I was finally able to try a traditional Austrian pretzel, which did not disappoint!
German Words of the Day: Regenschirm (Umbrella) & Kochen (To Cook)
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