JOURNEY OF AUSTRIA

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JOURNEY OF AUSTRIA PRAGUEJuly 12 July 31 ,
2000

• By Wen-Chung Chiang

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VIENNA(WIEN) ??? AUSTRIA
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Graben, Wien. The left image was taken by me. The
right one is a 1781 engraving of the same area by
Carl Schutz (which I incidentally found in a
Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert program
booklet). The two pictures are amazingly alike
even though theyre from different eras of more
than two hundred years apart!
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The musicians at Graben, Wien
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Stephansdom (St. Stephan Cathedral) exterior
(L) interior (R), Wien. Viennas cathedral is
its most potent symbol. The modern structure in
front of Stephansdom has caused tremendous
debates during its construction, but I think its
modernism blends well with the classic.
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The pipe organ of Stephansdom, Wien. I was
experimenting the indoor photography techniques,
and this one came out all right. The exposure was
probably more than 1/2 second, and I did not use
a tripod!
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Karlskirche (Karls Church), Wien. Chia-wei was
reading the Michelin Guide in front of the
fountain.
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The intriguing gates of No. 5, Josefsplatz,
Wien. Chia-wei looked quite small compared with
the sculptures.
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Schloss Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Palace), Wien.
Schönbrunn comes from Schöner Brunnen,
meaning Beautiful Fountain.
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Belvedere, Wien. Belvedere was created for Prince
Eugene of Savoy in 1714-16, and is seen as a
major work of Baroque architecture. Now an art
museum, with famous collections such as Gustav
Klimt's The Kiss.
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Belvedere, Wien
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Schubert Statue in Stadtpark, Wien. I prefer
this one to the more tourist attracting J.
Strauss statue.
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The tomb of Johannes Brahms in Zentralfriedhof
(Central Cemetery), Wien. I paid respect to my
beloved composer here.
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The tomb of Hugo Wolf, Zentralfriedhof, Wien.
Throughout his life, Hugo Wolf was overshadowed
by his contemporary fellow Gustav Mahler. But his
tomb outshines most others in the Zentralfriedhof.
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Hundertwasserhaus the exterior (R) the toilet
(L), Wien. Completed in 1984 by Friedensreich
Hundertwasser to express his ideas for
reconciling human needs with the environment,
this building is highly unusual and colorful.
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Jugendstil Architecture. Jugendstil (the Austrian
equivalence of Art Nouveau) is an architectural
movement rejecting the academic style of the Ring
area in Vienna. It marked an important stage in
the development of modern European architecture.
Above Secessionsgebäude, Wien. This building is
a representative of the Jugendstil style. Right
Decoration designed by Otto Wagner, a Jugendstil
pioneer.
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Our beautiful landlady Veronika of Pension Lerner
in Vienna. She prepared excellent breakfast for
us every morning during our residency. The
pension, about ten-minute walk from Stephansdom,
is a nice place to stay in Vienna.
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HALLSTATT (????) AUSTRIA
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Hallstatt. Chia-Wei and I love this picturesque
village on the shore of the lake which takes its
name owing to the rich salt deposits (Hall
salt, Statt place). Many visitors consider
Hallstatt the most beautiful place in the
marvelous Salzkammergut area, or the entire
Austria.
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Hallstatt. Chia-wei and I lived in an old hotel
right next to the church in front of the lake for
three days. Every morning we were waked up by the
church bell.
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Hallstatt
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Beinhaus (Charnel House), Hallstatt. Since 1600
it has been used as a place of rest for human
remains exhumed from old graves. The bones are
often ornately decorated. Not scary at all!
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MELK,MAUTHAUSEN WILHERING AUSTRIA
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Stift Melk (Melk Abbey). Melk is about 70 km west
of Vienna. The Abbey, which crowns a rocky bluff
overlooking the Danube valley, is the apogee of
Baroque architecture in Austria.
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Stift Melk, the interior. My graduate advisor
said I had steady hands handling delicate
thin-film samples. Well, steady hands seemed to
be useful taking pictures too. I had quite a few
successful indoor photos with long exposure time
without using a tripod (Of course the bad ones
were already destroyed! ))
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The Nazi concentration camp in Mauthausen. During
the WW II period, about 200,000 people were
imprisoned in this camp, over 100,000 of whom
died.
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Stiftskirche Wilhering (The Cistercian Abbey of
Wilhering), Wilhering. Standing on the south bank
of the Danube upstream from Linz, the abbey is
the most striking example of Rococo art I have
ever seen.
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The pipe organ of Stiftskirche Wilhering,
Wilhering. What beauty can be more complicated
than this?
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SALZBURG (????) AUSTRIA
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Salzburg of Austria, Mozart's birthplace, is a
delight from the first sight of the outline of
the Hehensalzburg. The fortress rises over the
roofs and belfries of the town. This picture was
taken from the Mirabell Garden. Mirabell is a
company famous for making the Mozart chocolate.
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Playing chess in Salzburg. People gathered in the
Old Town playing chess on the ground. I stood and
watched the game for a while, and found it very
difficult to play when you're in the
battlefield.
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The open market in the Old Town of Salzburg.
Chia-wei always enjoys looking at flowers,
vegetables, and fruits.
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This place is called Pferdeschwemme, a horse
fountain. The square next by is the Herbert von
Karajan Platz, named after the famous conductor
(the legendary music director of the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra) who was born in Salzburg.
Is this the first time I appeared in the photo?
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The Dom of Salzburg, viewed from the hollowed out
catacombs on the vertical rock wall of the
Mönchsberg.
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PRAGUE(PRAHA) ??? CZECH
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The sculptures on the gates of Prazsky Hrad (the
Prague Castle), Praha
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St. Vitus Cathedral, Prazsky Hrad, Praha. Above
the stain glass by Alfons Mucha in the cathedral.
The construction of St. Vitus Cathedral began in
the time of Charles IV in 1344, but the entire
project was not completed until 1929.
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Prazsky Hrad (the Prague Castle), Praha. Prague
Castle is the world's largest ancient castle,
located on a hill across the Vltava (the Moldau)
river northwest of Prague overlooking the city.
The castle is the landmark of Prague, and can be
viewed from almost every spot in the city.
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Karluv most (the Charles Bridge), Praha. The
bridge was built on the Vltava by Charles IV
during the Holy Roman Empire time. Two beautiful
gates were established at either end of the
bridge and on the bridge, there're rows of
ornate statues. The bridge is now the most
attracting place in Prague, with crowds of
tourists, hawkers and pickpockets at all times.
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The statue of Charles IV the old town bridge
tower, Praha.
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The Old Town Hall Tower, Praha. This one of the
sites at the Old Town Square, the heart of the
city, along with the Astronomical Clock, the
statue of Jan Hus, Gothic Tyn Church, Kingsky
Palace, and St Nicholas Church.
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The Gothic Tyn Church and the statue of Jan Hus,
Praha. It's beyond my capability to describe the
beauty of this place. Chia-wei and I could just
sit in a cafe at the square for a whole day
without ever getting tired of the sight.
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The sculpture of Franz Kafka at the Old Town
Square, Praha. Kafka was a native of Prague.
Although he did not live long in Prague, his
works represent the spirit of Prague in many ways.
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Art Nouveau decorations in Prague. Prague was an
important center for the development of the Art
Nouveau style in art history. It is easy to see
how this ornamental style could be integrated
well with architecture.
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Municipal House, Praha. This building is an
excellent example of the Art Nouveau architecture
in Prague. It also houses the splendid Smetana
Hall, which is one of the major performing arts
centers in Prague.
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Estates Theater, Praha. One of Mozarts most
popular operas, Don Giovanni, was premiered at
this theater in 1787. We attended a modern Don
Giovanni production here at one night.
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Karlstein Castle. Karlstein is about 25 km
southwest of Prague, and can be reached by train.
The castle was founded by Charles IV as a country
retreat, and a secure treasury for the imperial
crown jewels (which are no longer kept in the
castle now).
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The tomb of Antonin Dvorak, Vysehrad Cemetery,
Praha.Vysehrad is the old castle of Prague,
whereas Prazsky Hrad (Prague Castle) is the new
castle of Prague. For the Czech people, Vysehrad
has great historical and mythological
significance (Remember Smetana's tone poem series
My Country starts with Vysehrad?). In 1870,
the site was chosen for the location of National
Cemetery. Two most important Czech composers,
Dvorak and Smetana, were buried here.
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The tomb of Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), Vysehrad
Cemetery, Praha.
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Wedding at the Old Town Hall, Praha. What a
happy scene!
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• APPENDIX ITINERARY summer 2000 ??? ??? ???

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• ACKNOWLEDGMENT Special thanks to ???, ?????
  for offering us the group airplane tickets of
  their orchestra to ??? for leading our ways in
  Vienna to Chia-Weis college classmate ??? in
  Vienna (whom Chia-Wei had not seen for years and
  whom we ran into on the street in Vienna) for her
  kindness of showing us around and to my Czech
  friend Dr. Ivan Tomas for making us the wonderful
  arrangements in Prague.
• REFERENCES
• Michelin Tourist Guide Austria, Michelin
  Tyre PLC., UK, 1999.
• ???, ?????? Dorling Kindersley Limited,
  London, 1999.