Austrian National Library

Friday, April 9, 2010 (Part 1):

We spent much of our day today at the Hofburg Palace. It's a huge complex, and on the second floor of one wing is the Prunksaal or Hall of Honor. The Prunksaal is part of the Austrian National Library. It is a beautiful, vaulted room full of old, rare books. In fact, remember Prince Eugene and his Belvedere palaces? One of the things he collected was books and, at his death, his book collection was purchased by the King and can now be found in the Prunksaal.

The walls in this room are about 30 feet tall and are filled, floor to ceiling, with bookcases and tall ladders used to reach the books stored on the upper most shelves. This room also has some beautiful murals on the

ceilings, and a collection of four wonderful globes. The globes are several hundred years old and stand about 5 feet tall. Two of them are globes of the earth. The other two are celestial globes - depicting the constellations.

Stephensdom Marks the Spot

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 8):

Vienna is a nicely laid out city. The central inner city is encircled by a series of roads that create an almost perfect circle, and almost dead center in the middle of the circle is Stephensdom, the largest and oldest church in Vienna.

Unfortunately, we arrived at Stephensdom late in the day (it was after 5:00pm), and our access to the inside of the church was severely limited. We were able to enter the church, but we were confined to the very back of the sanctuary. And so we had to be satisfied with peering into the sanctuary through several gates. We talked about coming back when we could tour the interior, but we never did. There was just too much else to do!

The exterior of this church was undergoing some serious cleaning and refurbishing. And like many monuments under repair in Europe, I was pleased to see that the scaffolding erected to support the construction

work had been draped with canvases that reflected the image of the facade beneath. Perhaps you can see some of that in the picture above. Both the base of the main spire, and the middle section of the front spire are covered with scaffolding and canvas that mimics the appearance of the church.

One of the most notable features of Stephensdom is its tiled roof. It's very colorful; surprisingly so. What I found interesting about it was that it had a very modern look, and yet this is the way it was originally designed and constructed hundreds of years ago.

A Musical Interlude

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 7):

Our evenings in Vienna (two of them) were filled with music.

Mozart was not born in Vienna, but he spent much of his life here. He performed his first concern for the Queen, Maria Teresa, when he was just 6 years old. We saw the room at the Schoenbrunn Palace where his debut royal concert took place. Mozart also spent most of his adult life in Vienna, living in several different places, depending upon the strength of his finances at any given time.

There is a house near Stephensdom that is called "Mozart's House." He lived here only briefly (during one of his more "flush" periods), but one of the rooms here is now used for performances of his works. On Thursday evening, we saw the Mozart Ensemble (a string quartet: 1st violin, 2nd violin, viola and cello) perform at the Mozart House. The room where they played was rather small, but the acoustics were very good. The walls were highly decorated with hand painted plants and cherubs. The audience was small too -- maybe 50 people. It was very intimate, just the way Mozart's work was originally performed. And Katherine and I were in the front row - directly in front of the first violinist. Obviously, it paid off to have purchased our tickets well in advance! We could literally reach out and touch the first violinist. Of course, we resisted the temptation, but Katherine commented that she felt several times as if we were going to be jabbed with the bow!

The performance was excellent - led by the first violinist, a woman. She was extremely energetic in her playing. She moved a great deal, twisting her body, bowing her head. She was really into her music! The program consisted of four pieces -- beginning and ending with Mozart - and with a Dvorak and Haydn piece in between. They also played an encore by Dvorak. It was a wonderful concert.

The Upper Belvedere

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 6):

The Upper Belvedere is the grand cousin to the Lower Belvedere. Everything here is bigger and grander. There are many rooms that bear names similar to rooms in the Lower Belvedere, but these rooms are so much showier. For example, there is another marble room here, but it's maybe four time as large as the similarly named room in the Lower Belvedere. This room was used for grand parties and balls.

Today, the Upper Belvedere is a museum, and it is most well known for its collection of Gustav Klimt paintings, including the most famous Klimt paiting of all -- "The Kiss." We toured several of the galleries, but our primary goal was to see the Klimt collection, which did not disappoint. And the audio guide provided wonderful information about the progression of the artist's work, as well as his subjects -- all women! Not surprisingly, perhaps, we learned that he was something of a womanizer.

The Lower Belvedere

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 5):

We learned during our tour of the Belvedere that Prince Eugene was not considered a physically attractive man (described as short, pock marked and humpbacked) but he was obviously quite intelligent. He never married, and when he died, his considerable fortune, properties and collections fell to a niece. Sadly, she did appreciate what she had inherited beyond its monetary value. She quickly proceeded to sell everything. As a result, Prince Eugene's many wonderful collections, and most notably his art collection, were split up and scattered all over Europe.

We were very fortunate when we visited the Belvedere because there was a temporary exhibit on display that was about the life of Prince Eugene. As part of this exhibit, many pieces of art and other collectibles had been brought back together. Also on display were a lot of maps and military memorabilia from his campaigns, as well as many portraits of Prince Eugene, his royal patrons and his friends.

Most of all, we saw the rooms he had occupied in the Lower

Belvedere, and we learned how each room was used. Many of the rooms have been preserved just as originally decorated. Additionally, adjacent to the Lower Belvedere was

an "orangerie" -- a sort of green house with movable walls and ceiling. In bad weather months, the walls and ceiling were full extended to protect the plants (including orange trees). In good weather months they were, of course, removed. It must have been a very interesting site.

Other rooms in the Lower Belvedere were (1) the Marble

Room which, of course, is made entirely of marble, (2) the Golden Room, which is all gilt and mirrors and is where one of the wedding receptions for Marie Antoinette was held, (3) the Hall of Grotesques, which had fantastically decorated (hand painted) walls with a jumble of outdoor scenes and characters, and (4) the Georg Raphael Donner room, where a set of black marble fountain statues dominate the room.

After touring the Lower Belvedere, we had lunch at a cafe at the foot of the expanse of gardens that lie between the two palaces. It was a beautiful, sunny day -- the warmest day of the week, and we enjoyed our lunch in the sun. Then we strolled through the gardens to the Upper Belvedere.

The Belvedere Palace of Prince Eugene

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 4):

We saw three palace complexes while in Vienna. they were (i) the Belvedere, (ii) the Hofburg, and (iii) Schoenbrun. The "smallest" of the three, and my personal favorite, was the Belvedere.

The Belvedere palace complex is comprised of two huge buildings, the Lower Belvedere (the smaller of the two) and the Upper Belvedere. In between, they are connected by a large series of ornamental gardens, walkways and fountains.

The Belvedere was built around 1700 by Prince Eugene, who acquired his title not by birth but as a result of an illustrious military career. He was born into a lowly (poor) family in France, where he began his military career. He offered his services to the French king, but was spurned. And so he traveled east to the Hapsburg court in Vienna and presented himself to King Leopold VI. The Hapsburgs were facing serious threats from the Turks, and Leopold brought Eugene into his military circle. From the very first, Eugene proved himself to be a masterful commander on the battlefield, and he orchestrated a series of significant battle victories, including the successful defense of Vienna from the invading Turks.

In addition to being awarded many military promotions, Eugene was bestowed with titles and property and purses. He became one of the wealthiest men of his day. And so, he built himself a palace - The Belvedere - where he could entertain and indulge his interests as a collector. And he was a collector of many different things. Among many other things, he collected art. He also collected animals and maintained a menagerie at a nearby hunting lodge that he acquired and refurbished.

Biking - Important Transportation

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 3):

Bike paths and sidewalks are equally important throughout Europe. But I had considerable difficulty adjusting. I kept walking in the bike lanes and Katherine was constantly pulling me over to the sidewalk and out of the way of the cyclists! The cyclists have the right of way, and they have their own cross walks and lights at intersections. The terrain is so flat in much of Europe that Cycling is an easy transportation option. In contrast, the car traffic is frightful. It makes crossing the street on foot at busy intersections quite the challenge.

Another Busy Day - Starting with Karlskirche

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 2):

We were now in Vienna - our third stop during this vacation week. We arrived here mid-morning and immediately hit the streets. We had a GREAT day. Today, we spent time at: (1) Karlskirche (Karl Church), the Belvedere Palaces (Lower and Upper), Stephansdom (Church), the pedestrian walkway and Mozart's House, where we enjoyed a string quartet concert.

What a truly beautiful church Karlskirche is. After Prague, I thought I had had my fill of churches, but this church proved me very wrong. We almost didn't go inside. We were on our way to the Belvedere and were walking by and just decided on the spur

of the moment to go in. I am so glad we did.

The outside of this church is quite pretty. One of its most striking features is a roman column built to resemble Trajan's Column in ancient Rome. Since I was just in Rome seven months ago, I recognized it right away.

What appealed to me so much about this church is that it is not crammed full of monuments. It is very simply and elegantly appointed. And what was also interesting

about this church was that there was a renovation project going on, but instead of creating an obstacle, they figured out how to improve the experience of visitors.

There was a tower of scaffolding in the center of the sanctuary. It rose maybe a hundred feet or more all the way to the top of the central dome where frescos there

are being cleaned. And visitors were allowed to ride an elevator up the side of the scaffolding right up into the dome of the church. It was wonderful. We also climbed several flights of steps on additional scaffolding that took us all the way to the very top most position of the dome. It was wonderful to see the ceiling frescos so close up. The detail was incredibly impressive.

A Short Flight to Vienna

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 1):

We were up bright and early on Thursday morning (at 5:30 a.m.) to travel to the Prague airport and then on to Vienna. It's a very short flight, barely an hour. So we were hopeful that that would allow us almost a full day of sightseeing in Vienna.

This is the third European airport I've been in on this trip. They are all quite similar and relatively manageable. We've had no difficulty finding our way around and there are always a lot of agents around willing to give a helping hand. The airport seemed very quiet this morning. It's quite different from the hustle and bustle that we experienced on Easter Monday.

We took off on time. Thank goodness. We were just minutes (literally) before Air Force One was to touch down. President Obama was arriving in Prague for a meeting with Russian President Medvedev to sign a nuclear arms treaty.

Pictured here is one of the several ancient "gates" to the city that still exist. This particular gate sits on the east side of the Charles Bridge below the Prague Castle.

Farewell to Prague

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 (Part 10):

On our last night in Prague, we stayed close to our hotel. We had dinner at an outdoor cafe on the Town Square, and then we strolled around the Square one last time. Our visit to Prague coincided with a fair that was taking place in the Square. Every year, at Easter, this fair takes place for the two weeks surrounding Easter. The square was taken over by booths selling all kinds of goods (a lot of souvenirs) and food.

There was also a stage set up in the middle of the Square. We enjoyed watching singing group perform there on one night, and on our last night, there were a number of children's dance groups performing. They were fun to watch. I'm not sure what they call their style of dancing, but it had "river dance" elements.

Retracing Our Steps

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 (Part 9):

As you may already have realized, our "itinerary" in Prague was not what we had originally planned. Because of closings on Easter Monday and the added twist of running our of money on Tuesday, we seemed to be constantly retracing our steps to catch up and see some of the sights that we were unable to see precisely along the schedule we had planned.

One of the places we had planned to see on Tuesday (before we ran out of money) was the 13th century Strahov Monastery. In particular, this Monastery is know for its "Philosophical Hall" -- a massive library with floor to ceiling bookcases and a beautiful ceiling fresco. So, after lunch on Tuesday, we started our hike to the Strahov Monastery. It is located on a hill, east

of the Prague Castle, and I was huffing and puffing by the time that we got there.

We immediately asked for directions to the Philosophical Hall. Upon entering the Hall, there was an entry fee to be paid. And if we wanted to take pictures (which of course we did), there was an additional fee. The woman selling tickets did not speak much (if any) English. She was trying to communicate something to me about taking pictures, and I misunderstood here. I thought she was simply confirming that I wanted to pay the extra fee. As I realized later, she was trying to talk me out of making that extra payment.

We proceeded into the Hall only to discover that they were in the process of performing a total renovation. All of the books had been removed and the room was covered, floor to ceilin

g by scaffolding. We couldn't see a thing! Since I'd paid for the privilege, I took a picture of the scaffolding. The trip was saved from being a complete waste of time because there was another room - the "Theological Hall" that was still open to viewing, and we enjoyed that.

The Flashy Spanish Synagogue

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 (Part 8):

The next synagogue on our tour was the Spanish Synagogue, and we actually had to walk several blocks to get there. This was the "newest" of the synagogues that we saw -- only several hundred years old. It was also the showiest. It was very beautiful with very colorfully painted and tiled walls and ceilings. There was also a very pretty chandelier, in the shape of the Star of David, in the center of the room.

The Spanish Synagogue is now a museum for items from the 20th century life in the Jewish Quarter, with primary emphasis on the Nazi occupation and impact. There were many photos, registration lists, etc. from World War II.

During the Nazi occupation, all the synagogues were closed (obviously), and the Spanish Synagogue was used as a storehouse for furnishings (e.g., pews) and items of worship taken from the others. It is not known why the Nazi's stored such items instead of destroying them. It is thought that they might have been planning a museum about the exterminated Jews, once the Nazi's achieved their goal of destroying the entire area.

As in all the synagogues, pictures were prohibited. BUT, I noticed that dozens of people were taking pictures in the Spanish Synagogue and no one was telling them to stop. So I snapped a few myself! Isn't it beautiful?

What is an "Old New" Synagogue?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 (Part 7):

From the Klausen Synagogue, we next walked a short block, past the Quarter's own Town Hall, to the Old-New Synagogue. I still have not figured out what's behind this name, but this was clearly the oldest of the synagogues that we were in. And it is preserved to appear as it was in the earliest years of its use. Everything here is very old, including the benches along the perimeter of the room and a banner that hung above the cantor's stall in the center of the room. One particularly interesting feature here was the windows.

In the 15th and 16th centuries (and probably for many more years after that), women were not permitted to worship in the synagogues. These houses of worship were intended only for men. In this synagogue, special windows were built at street level to allow women on the outside to view and listen to the services. The windows were wider on the inside than on the outside - the idea being that sound from the inside was captured in the window openings and channeled to the outside.

The Klausen Synagogue

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 (Part 7):

From the Ceremonial Hall, we walked several paces (again everything is very close here!) to the Klausen Synagogue. Here, there were displayed many items associated with Jewish worship. These items included Torah covers, guards and pointers and candlesticks. Also depicted were items associated with various Jewish holidays and daily life in the Jewish community.

We saw lots of "screens" -- which are intricately woven tapestries (maybe 6 feet tall by 5 feet wide) that were hung to separate areas of the temple. My favorite items were the Torah pointers. They are typically the size of a letter opener. On one end is a small hand with the index finger extended. This pointing finger is used by the reader to keep track of where he is on the page of the Torah. We saw dozens, if not hundreds, of these pointers on display in many of the synagogues.

The Burial Society

Wednesday, April 6, 2010 (Part 6):

Next to the Jewish Cemetery, as we exited, is a quaint old building -- referred to as the Ceremonial Hall -- that was the home of the Jewish Burial Society. I do not know much at all about Jewish customs, but there is apparently great ceremony associated with honoring one's dead. Many practices, or rites, were carried out with respect to preparing a body for burial. The responsibility for ensuring that the community's dead received proper care and preparation was delegated to a group of men who made up the Burial Society. And the Ceremonial Hall was where they did their work.

Today, this building is a museum to the work of the Burial Society. On display are photos, tools and other objects used in the preparation and burial of bodies. A series of prints on the wall depict, in sequence, the duties or tasks of the Burial Society. And on the top floor of the building, there is a permanent display of children's drawings by Jewish children taken to the death camps. That was a very sad room.

Graves upon Graves upon Graves

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 (Part 5):

Everything in the Jewish Quarter is very close together and compact. From the Pinkas Synagogue, we walked only about 20 yards to the Jewish Cemetery. This Cemetery is simply an amazing place. It is a jumble of headstones.

The history of the Cemetery is derived from the historical fact that Jews had so few rights in the city and these limitations extended to the right to own property. Thus, the Jewish community had only a very small piece of property where it could bury its dead. Not surprisingly, the space filled up quickly. In order to create the additional space needed to continue to create a resting place for their dead, the residents began to pile earth on top of the graves and bury corpses on top of each other. The graves are 12 deep in this Cemetery, and hundreds of thousands of bodies are buried in this very small space. The exact number is unknown.

With so many bodies buried in such a small space, it is no surprise that the headstones fill just about every square inch of available land! The headstones were not readable to us (all in Hebrew), but there are occasional figures engraved on the stones that denote characteristics or professions of the people buried here. For example, a lion denotes courage and a stethoscope identifies the deceased as a doctor. Many famous people from the history of the Quarter are buried here, but few of them have headstones that look any different from all the others -- simply because there was no space for grand, showy monuments.