15 - 19 Sep 2012: Bezoek Wenen bij Kate

Saturday 15 September : Trainjourney from Passau to Vienna (3h)

Kate  meets me at the   Franz-Jozefs-Bahnhof.

She has recently moved into a new apartment in Hirschstetten, northeast from the Vienna city center, with a very easy metro access..

Hirschstetten is famous for its Botanial Gardens.

Kate's living

On Sunday 16th we visit the Belvedere palaces

Oberes Belvedere

The Belvedere’s two magnificent palaces, the Upper and Lower Belvedere, were built in the 18th century as the summer residence for the important general Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736). 
He chose one of the most outstanding Baroque architects Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt (1668-1745). 

Unteres Belvedere

The palaces with their extensive gardens are considered to be one of the world’s finest Baroque landmarks. 

Momentous events have taken place in the Upper Belvedere’s Marble Hall and from here there is a spectacular view of Vienna.

We visited the exhibition "Orient & Okzident"  (Österreichische Künstler auf reisen) in the Lower Palace.

Unfortunately it was forbidden to take photo's. (the following are scans from the brochure°

The afternoon we go to the Museum Quartier 

and visit 

Mumok 

Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien

From the outside, the building appears like a dark, closed block, its roof curving down low on the edges. It is monolithically clad in anthracite grey basalt lava on the façades and roof surfaces: thus it is clearly set apart from the adjacent level and seems to emerge from the deep. 


The Museum of Modern Art in the MuseumsQuartier focuses its attention on the art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Works by Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Pablo Picasso, Yoko Ono, Günter Brus and Gerhard Richter invite visitors to engage with contemporary art.

Reflecting Fashion. Art and Fashion since Modernism.

Schiaparelli

The exhibition focuses on clothing and fashion as an essential component of art, where particularly since the mid-1960s they have played a major role in the work of such artists as Ellsworth Kelly, Cindy Sherman, Niki de Saint Phalle and Daniel Buren.

Fashion has always played an important role in the semantics of modernism, with numerous traditions following Baudelaire in defining “modernité” through a concept of fashion - of what is “à la mode”.


During the early 20th  century, fashion became part of the formal language of the avant-garde including such artists as Sonia Delaunay, the Futurists and the Surrealists.

The exhibition explores the interplay between art and fashion from the beginning of modernism to the present.

Mai-Thu Perret 

This dress re-created by Mai-Thu Perret, is a replica of The Skeleton Dress 1938, by Elsa Schiaparelli.

Christo "Wedding-Dress"

Martin Kippenberger

Photoreplica by Elfie Semotan

Fleury "Formula-1-Dress"

Giacomo Balla

Erwin Wurm "Construct 2008"

On Monday 17 September we go to the   Zentral Friedhof by local train and bus.

When Vienna grew into a city of more than one million inhabitants, the old cemeteries of the various districts became to small. To accommodate the growing capital, the Central Cemetery, with an area of about 495 acres, was opened in 1874.

"Friedhofskirche zum heiligen Karl Borromäus" 
(Church of St. Borromeo), which is crowned by a large dome. The church, built by Hegele between 1908 and 1910, serves as the cemetery church and mausoleum of Lueger, the mayor of the city from 1897 to 1910.

Carl Ritter von Ghega  (10 January 1802 – 14 March 1860)  was the most prominent of Austrian railway engineers and architects.

Among many others, Gluck, Beethoven, Schubert, Hugo Wolf, Johann Strauss Father and Son, Lanner and Brahms are buried in Group 32a

Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer of Slovene origin,
particularly noted for his art songs, or lieder

Franz von Suppe

The renaissance tomb of   Franz Freiherr von Wertheim,
a famous Austrian industrial.

August Zang (1807 – 1888) was a nineteenth-century Austrian entrepreneur and banker, best known for founding the Viennese daily "Die Presse"  

Back to town for refreshments.

In the evening we go to Monteverdis  opera "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" 

in Theater an der Wien.

Front side

On Tuesday 18th September we go to Schönbrunn.

Garden side

Schönbrunn Palace is a World Cultural Heritage site and Austria's most-visited sight. The baroque total work of art consisting of palace and gardens was for centuries the property of the Habsburgs and is today largely in its original condition.

 The former Imperial country residence was one of the most glorious palaces in the Habsburg lands. In 1726 it was acquired by the legendary general Prince Eugene of Savoy who had it completely redesigned so that it later became the largest country palace estate under the reign of the Empress Maria Theresia.

The Baroque gardens are magnificent.

Sited at the foot of the hill behind the palace and designed as the crowning element of the Great Parterre is the Neptune Fountain. It was conceived as part of the overall design of the gardens and park commissioned by Maria Theresa in the 1770s. 

Situated in the middle of the woods on Schönbrunn Hill near the Maria Theresa Gate lies the Small Gloriette, a tower-like two storeyed pavilion which was built around 1775, probably to designs by Isidor Canevale. The octogonal structure with its balconies and built-on stairwell was probably used as a viewing pavilion. 







The interior is decorated with Rococo architectural murals which on the second floor open up above a balustrade into a painted sky.

The Schönbrunn zoo is the oldest  
still in existence, and one of the most beautiful in the world, Schonbrunn Zoo has a lot offer its visitors. It has survived the two World Wars and is now home to some of the rarest, most interesting animals on Earth.

Designed in 1745, as a royal menagerie for the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, Schonbrunn Zoo became open to the public in 1779, right after the first elephant stepped foot on Austrian land. 

It was followed by lions and wild bears, and at the beginning of the 19^thcentury, the zoo hosted polar bears, hyenas, kangaroos, tigers and even a giraffe. 

Emperor Joseph II himself conducted expeditions to Africa and the Americas to bring new species to Schonbrunn, for the entire world to see. 

The zoo was home to over 700 species and 3,500 specimens at the beginning of World War I, but the food shortages and the dissolution of the Austrian Empire took their toll and the number of specimens dropped at 900. 








During WW2, Schonbrunn was devastated by bombings, and the numbers of animals dropped to 400. Fortunately, thanks to good management, Schonbrunn Zoo managed to overcome its difficulties and is now one of the main tourist attractions in Vienna.

We return to town for a visit to the Albertina, where we want to see the exhibition on Emperor Maximilan and Dürer.

The Albertina is the largest Habsburg residential palace.  The city’s largest residential Habsburg palace boasts 21 beautifully furnished staterooms, making it one of the most exquisite classical palaces in the whole of Europe.

Since it reopened in 2003, the Albertina has presented an impressive number of exhibitions, showing foremost works of art dating from the 15th century to the present day. With its special “Albrecht Dürer”, “Picasso” and “Van Gogh” exhibitions, the Albertina has drawn a record number of visitors during the past few years. 

The Albertina celebrates art produced under the rule of the mediaeval emperor Maximilian I, once referred to by historians as the "Last Night".

Maximilian commissioned many of the works currently on show in Vienna from leading artists of the day such as German painters Albrecht Dürer and Albrecht Altdorfer.

The exhibition examines the influence and contribution Maximilian made to the art world, with many of the works on display coming from the Albertina's collection while other paintings are on loan from major international museums.

During his reign as Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian set about creating a revival of chivalry and knight-associated activities such as jousting tournaments throughout Europe

For my last evening we meet with friends of >Kate in Café Sperl, one of the 54 Coffeehouses
that participate in "Kriminacht"  ( Crime Night) , a literary event which takes place tonight for the 8th time with  81 actors and 63 readings.  























In Café Sperl Dieter Chmelar In Café Sperl Dieter Chmelar and Peter Rapp read from Agatha Christie.

The next morning I have to get up very early for my taxi to the station to catch my 6:40 train  to Brussels via Frankfurt, Bonn, Köln, Aachen and Luik, a long journey.