Vienna, Austria: The Habsburg and The Metropolis Part 2


The capital of the Central European landlocked country is the seat of Habsburg dynasty, who reigned a vast area in Europe. Vienna is considered a reminder of a colorful history of the Austrian nation, which was challenged by the Protestantism and Ottoman Empire. The metropolis provides a glimpse of the Austrian alliance with Hungary in the 18th century and with Germany during the First World War. Today, Vienna is the most populous federal state in Austria, a center of democracy and melting pot of European cultures and influences. These are the few reasons why I was interested in visiting Vienna.

This is the second part of short visit in Vienna, Austria. Click herefor the Part 1.

1.       Wiener Opernball


The Vienna Opera Ball is the social center for the ball season in Vienna Carnival. It houses the largest meeting place for creative artists, entrepreneurs and politicians from home and abroad, which has an economic factor in the Austrian capital.



2.       Donnerbrunnen


It is popular name of the designer who built the mountain. It functioned as a flour market well in the 18th century. It was a symbol of good government, four ages and temperaments in Austria.

3.       Domkirche St. Stephan


This is most important religious building in Austria, which served as a witness of the Habsburg and Viennese history. It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and today has become one of the most popular tourist destinations.

4.       Deutschordenkirche


The Church of the Teutonic Order or the Church of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary was built in the 14th century. They constitute one of the oldest treasure collections in Vienna, covering the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods.

5.       Katolische Kirche St. Peter


This Baroque Roman Catholic church has been inspired by the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The dome however was built differently due to the limitation of space. The church is largely obscured by the surrounding buildings and is only visible on its front view.

6.       Mariensäule


This is the bronze copy of the consecrated column statue, Maria. There are several copies of the original column statue in Austria.

7.       Kirche am Hof


The church at the court or the Church of the nine choirs of angels was built in 13th century. The Romanesque architecture has been the original design of the church, until it was changed into Gothic and Baroque.

8.       Katolische Kirche Maria am Gestade


The church is one of the oldest Gothic churches in the Austrian capital. Originally, it was used by the sailors traveling along the Danube river.

9.       Lessing Denkmal


This is one of the Lessing memorial in Germany and Austria. Lessing is an important poet of the German Enlightment and was considered as the first German dramatist.

10.    Judensplatz Holocaust Memorial


This is the Nameless Library is the central memorial for the Austrian victims of the Holocaust. It is composed of the steel and cement.

11.    Vermählungsbrunnen


The Wedding Fountain illustrates the marriage of Mary, Joseph and the High Priest. During the Second World War, the fountain was damaged by bombs and constructed again thereafter.

12.    Theodor Herzl Stiege


These stairs are named after Theodor Herzl, who is the father of modern political Zionism. He formed the World Zionist Organization, which promoted the migration of Jews back to Palestine to form the Jewish state, Israel.

13.    Ruprechtskirche


This is the oldest church in Vienna, Austria. During the Middle Ages, the church was the seat of salt office to distribute salt to buyers, ensuring quality and monopoly. It overlooked the salt merchants on the Danube channel.

14.    Griechengasse


This is the part near the old meat market. It was named after the Greek settlers in the area or the two Greek churches located in the area.

15.    Jesuitenkirche


The Jesuit Church is known as University Church, near the University of Vienna buildings. It was dedicated to Saints Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier and was rededicated to the Assumption of Mary.

16.    Statue Karl Lueger


The statue is a memorial for Karl Lueger, an Austrian politician and the former mayor of Vienna. He founded the Austrian Christian Social Party and was viewed as a nazist. He was credited for the transformation of the city of Vienna into a modern city.

17.    Österrichesches Museum für angewandte Kunst


The Museum of Applied Arts is a decorative arts museum. It was the first museum to acquire art work using cryptocurrency bitcoin.

18.    Stadtpark


This is the large municipal park designed in the English style, running through Vienna River. The Caroline City Gate in the park is a popular site of entertainment.

19.    Wienfluss


The Vienna River flows through the Austrian city. The river bed is almost completely concrete to stop devastating floods, which frequently accompanied with cholera.

20.    Kursalon Wien


The Kursalon is a popular place for dancing and concerts. It was designed in accordance to the Italian renaissance. Before, a spa pavilion was built which serves mineral water, which was believed to have healing properties.

21.    Hochstrahlbrunnen


This is the one of the most important squares in central Vienna, which has a large fountain that looks like a geyser, which marked the first pipelines from the Alps to Vienna.

22.    Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee


The Soviet War Memorial is a semi-circular white marble enclosing a Red Army figure. This commemorates the thousands of Russian soldiers, who died in the Battle for Vienna in the Second World War. Interestingly, after the fall of Vienna, the Austrian capital was divided into four occupation zones for the Allied forces, namely American, British, French and the Russians.

23.    Belvederegarten


The park was built during the period of extensive construction in the Austrian capital during the reign of the Habsburg dynasty.

24.    Schloss Belvedere


This is a historic building complex, consisting two Baroque palaces, which currently houses the Belvedere museum. This was used as summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, who was the commander for successful military campaign against the Ottoman Empire.


Personally, visiting Vienna, Austria helped me understand the history of countries in Central Europe. I never understood the role of Austria in First World War, the European monarchies, its rivalry and alliance with France and Germany and in the Cold War. The historical significance of the Austrian capital is undoubtedly big. Today, we only see the buildings in the metropolis, but it is up to us to dig deeper on their historical meaning, and that what I did. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular This Week

Cebuano: The Language and The People

Image
Living in Norway for over 2 years, I have often encountered questions about the languages I speak. I usually answered I speak Norwegian, English and two Filipino languages. Then, people start asking if the second Filipino language is a dialect of the other. Given my mother tongue is Cebuano, the second language referred, I abruptly debunk the misconcept that it is a mere dialect. My most common explanation is that all Filipinos speak the Filipino language, but those who only learn to speak Filipino have difficult time understanding or communicating with one speaking Cebuano. Throughout the span of my childhood, I got to grasp the political and cultural differences of Filipinos speaking Filipino language or Tagalog as referred by most, and those coming from the Southern Philippines speaking Cebuano. The language in itself has become the boundary between the two groups of people. Due to their innate differences, misunderstandings result, not because of mere language confusion, but of cu
Read more

Filipino Body Language

Image
Non-verbal communication is an essential part in a society, as well as understanding the values the community believe in. This reflects a good overview of how communication and tradition have evolved through time. These expressions are never constant, such that meaning changes from time to time, and is greatly affected by the events or the kind of environment one belongs in. Filipinos, being a society with mixed Asian and Western influences have unique facial and body expressions. These are the focus of this blogpost. 1. Silent stare Stares could mean evil look for Filipinos. It may indicate sarcasm or manipulation. It is considered rude to this, especially when in a conversation because it may also indicate disinterest or disrespect. 2. Lip/Eye pointing This is quiet funny gesture common not just in the rural areas, but also in urban communities. It is quiet hard to explain the direction in verbal language, so it is better to point them vaguely, interestingly with the use of lips,
Read more

Bullying: A Part of Filipino Culture?

Image
Bullying became a hot topic in Norway today after a young teenager died of emaciation due to eating disorder that was primarily linked to anxiety from bullying at school. This was quite taboo in this Scandinavian country, given the nation is very keen on respecting socio-cultural differences and on protection against any form of discrimination. Discussions have been made on how to handle and prevent bullying and who takes the responsibility in these cases, whether the family, school or the State. Personally, I was not reacting in anyway as my mind says the concept is remote and almost impossible to happen in the Philippines. Perhaps, I was referring it to death, but not to bullying. However, after several days I was quite uneasy on the topic and further asked myself if I was ever bullied before and what it has caused me in the long-term basis. To my surprise, bullying was a crucial point in my childhood. My coping skills allowed me to hide in my consciousness what had happened
Read more

Debt of Gratitude: A Filipino Social Phenomenon

Image
"Scratch my back and I will scratch yours." - This describes the prevailing Filipino social phenomenon of debt of gratitude. It is an attempt of one to repay the other, who in the past had done something good or beneficial to him or her. This has been magnified by other social phenomena such as the continued emigration of Filipino workers outside the Philippines, such that remittances are actually in the form of payment to their families, as an expression of long-lasting debt of gratitude. This is just an example of how this phenomenon has shaped the Filipino society and culture. In this blogpost, an in-depth analysis will be made to showcase the advantages and disadvantages of this phenomena, as various concepts and ideas revolving around it are enumerated throughout the discussion. 1. It exists in any type of relationship; familial, working, spiritual and others. Because of man's social nature, there will be periods of self-sufficiency and vulnerability. During time
Read more

Solve: Why Math is Hard?

Image
Before I became a nurse, teacher, licensed real estate appraiser, I became first as a mathematics lover. Some consider me a geek then, but I was not, I just simply love the logic of mathematics. Now, I can say my mathematics skills have deteriorated significantly, when I am confronted with numbers, I do not leave my chair not until I somehow figure out what could be the problem. So, why then mathematics is difficult to many of us? Is there something can be done? Mathematics is much more than counting and simple arithmetic. It is a cumulative science in which new results are built upon and depend on earlier results. Humans have accumulated a huge amount of mathematical knowledge – far    more than a person can learn in a lifetime, even if the person spent all of their time studying mathematics. This history perhaps will give us the impression the necessity of mathematics. We may not appreciate the subject, but it useful because without it, the world will end up in chaos, for sure
Read more

Happiness is Like a Glass of Water

Image
The constant struggle of finding and experiencing happiness is always present. Many people try different ways to achieve a state of satisfaction and contentment that people seem to observe from others than being innately within themselves. This makes happiness seem a phenomenon of the third person than being owned. The reason perhaps why we think this way is that we see happiness more than how we should see a plane glass of water. This blogpost will focus on this. When you see a glass of water what would you think? Do you think of the glass that contains the water? Do you seem to make expectations on what the water should be before you drink it, cold or warm or perhaps sparkling? Do you think of water only when you are thirsty or not? These are the guide questions, this blogpost will revolve around to make an analogy between happiness and a glass of water. The Glass What shows on the outside is not necessarily what is inside. The glass sometimes influence our thirst. We human beings
Read more

Online Bashing Tells About the Basher

Image
Online bashing has become very common in social media. It seems everyone who makes mistakes maybe a subject of ridicule and criticism. The  major disadvantage and difference of a usual physical attack and online bashing is its anonymity and scale. Many bashers would hide themselves anonymous and gain more confidence to attack verbally the person at hand. Moreover, since the online space is literally unlimited so anyone could literally read comments and opinions, further aggravating and even tolerating the verbal attack. This makes online bashing as a grear threat to anyone in the social media today. On its essence, online bashing is a non-physical verbal highly partisan and personal attack on an individual expressing dissent, non-comformity, irrelevance and weakness in being at par or within a certain standard of discourse or behavior, with the aim of influencing others to do the same against the person, express an opinion and either directly and indirectly gain from it. By this long
Read more

7 Reasons Why Many Filipinos are Good Singers

Image
One thing that makes me proud of being Filipino is that there are many good singers in our country. I am not saying that the Philippines has the best singers in the world, but it is obvious that many Filipinos have showed to the world the God-given talent they have. 1. Parents encourage their children to develop their singing talents Children singing old songs and acting as if the song fits them well. Love songs, rock, whatever genre songs maybe Filipino children can sing that. Some even report that children learn humming a melody before able to speak well. Ofcourse, parents are very crucial in the development of this talents. If a talent has been acknowledged at an early age, this provides time for child to improve his or her talent in singing. Watch the newly-launced TV show Voice Kids Philippines. 2. Competition helps produce more good singers The most-watched Television shows in the Philippines are singing competition. Most artists are discovered in these platform
Read more

3 Comparisons Between Norwegian and Filipino Values

Image
I am entering my fifth year of residing in Norway. Many things have happened during this short period of time, both good and bad. However, one of that is worthy to highlight is how I realized the big contrast between prevailing values between Norwegian and Filipino cultures. I can only talk about these two in particular, although there are somehow similiraties between the Norwegian culture with those of coming from Europe, as well that with Filipino and other Asian societies. This blogpost will present three comparative points to exhibit the diversity of culture. COMPARISON 1 Norwegian: Able decide independently for oneself Filipino: To fight for what is most important Freedom and passion may not be on the same side always. Freedom is the ultimate virtue in the Norwegian culture. One may or may not be passionate of what Norwegians are doing, but most important is that they decided on them by themselves, such that no one has dictated on them what they are supposed to do.
Read more

10 Things Every Filipino Must Learn

Image
I am a proud Filipino but there are some aspects of the Filipino culture that needs to be improved. These improvements are impossible if   everybody thinks there is no need for them, so I start with my contribution by recognizing these in this blogpost. 1. Learn to wait. No Filipino can wait. We all find ways to be ahead of the others. We are known for this. We simply can not wait as if there is no other chance to do a certain thing. As a result, chaos results, which is reflected in the systems we have either in large-scale government services or in ourselves as well. 2. Learn to think before talking. Feed a Filipino an attractive title of an article or news, he or she is able to form opinions even without knowing and understanding the story. I call this "Facebook mentality of hastiness." As a result, most non-Filipinos do not take us seriously, because we are more noisy than smart. 3. Learn to respect differences and opinions. Every Filipino thinks everyone should conf
Read more