Monday, August 2, 2010
Today was my first full day in Vienna! It was a wonderful day filled with amazing discoveries, especially since this is my first time in Europe. We started out the day by meeting our group in the lobby of our building so we could follow our professor as she showed us the way to class using the subway. This was an adventure in and of itself because it was my very first time on a subway! We then made our way to the Austro-American Institute of Education, which was established in 1926 as a non-political educational exchange between the United States and Austria to further relations during the period after World War I. Here we were shown our classroom and given an orientation for our class on the history of the city of Vienna. Our classroom is amazingly beautiful with incredible architectural details on the ceiling and walls, which include stunning moldings and paneling. It also has a beautiful gilt mirror and a carved marble fireplace, along with French doors (which I love!) and a tall window facing the Opera. Even the door handles have lovely details!
After the orientation, my roommate Diane and I decided to explore the city. We began taking in the beauty of the city and decided to lose ourselves as we walked through the first district. We became amazed as we witnessed the splendor of Vienna as the imperial capitol of the Habsburg Empire. We did not look at our map until hours later when we realized we had entered into the ninth district. Then we checked our map and realized we had almost walked around the entire Ringstrasse. We had walked through Stadpark and up along the Wien River. We finished the Ringstrasse as we walked home passing the Hofburg, which was the winter imperial palace of the ruling Habsburg family. We explored the Maria Theresein Platz of the Hofburg. Witnessing the grandeur and scale of the two buildings forming the edge of the platz and the series of arches on the far side, one could understand how the absolute power of the Habsburg monarchy was impressed upon its subjects through these works of art and architecture.
As Speilman notes in his book The City and the Crown, the Habsburgs were unique among the large European Empires in that they kept their imperial residence within their largest city instead of creating an "artificial capital" elsewhere. The Habsburgs focused their efforts on creating an imposing winter palace in the heart of the city unlike other empires such as the French with Versailles and the Spanish with the Escorial. Spielman also noted that the Habsburgs also had a great influence over the architectural styles the Viennese chose. What was popular with the imperial family of course became the fashion with the Viennese who built within the design wishes of the imperial family. This is demonstrated in the consistency of styles that dominate the Ringstrasse. The architecture of the Ringstrasse is that of the historical styles--those of the neo-Classical, neo-Gothic, and neo-Baroque. The consistency of the styles contributes to the uniform beauty of the city and contributes to the great tradition of the Viennese pride in their great city.
Along our way as we got lost in the city, we ended up in a square where we found a small museum dedicated to the early history of Vienna as a Roman outpost. This goes along with out reading in Parsons, which discusses Vienna's early history as the Roman outpost of Vindobona. The name Vindobona was Celtic in origin. It was Romanized through Latin by adding the suffix "bona", which translates to mean the personal estates of someone. In this case it meant the personal estates of the Celtic leader Vindos. While the Romans were stationed in Vienna, they naturally built fortifications. The Romans dug some of these and the site of one of the dug fortifications is now the Graben, which is Vienna's most fashionable street. Unfortunately the museum was closed, so we made of note that we would have to return to it at a later date.
After the orientation, my roommate Diane and I decided to explore the city. We began taking in the beauty of the city and decided to lose ourselves as we walked through the first district. We became amazed as we witnessed the splendor of Vienna as the imperial capitol of the Habsburg Empire. We did not look at our map until hours later when we realized we had entered into the ninth district. Then we checked our map and realized we had almost walked around the entire Ringstrasse. We had walked through Stadpark and up along the Wien River. We finished the Ringstrasse as we walked home passing the Hofburg, which was the winter imperial palace of the ruling Habsburg family. We explored the Maria Theresein Platz of the Hofburg. Witnessing the grandeur and scale of the two buildings forming the edge of the platz and the series of arches on the far side, one could understand how the absolute power of the Habsburg monarchy was impressed upon its subjects through these works of art and architecture. 
As Speilman notes in his book The City and the Crown, the Habsburgs were unique among the large European Empires in that they kept their imperial residence within their largest city instead of creating an "artificial capital" elsewhere. The Habsburgs focused their efforts on creating an imposing winter palace in the heart of the city unlike other empires such as the French with Versailles and the Spanish with the Escorial. Spielman also noted that the Habsburgs also had a great influence over the architectural styles the Viennese chose. What was popular with the imperial family of course became the fashion with the Viennese who built within the design wishes of the imperial family. This is demonstrated in the consistency of styles that dominate the Ringstrasse. The architecture of the Ringstrasse is that of the historical styles--those of the neo-Classical, neo-Gothic, and neo-Baroque. The consistency of the styles contributes to the uniform beauty of the city and contributes to the great tradition of the Viennese pride in their great city.
Along our way as we got lost in the city, we ended up in a square where we found a small museum dedicated to the early history of Vienna as a Roman outpost. This goes along with out reading in Parsons, which discusses Vienna's early history as the Roman outpost of Vindobona. The name Vindobona was Celtic in origin. It was Romanized through Latin by adding the suffix "bona", which translates to mean the personal estates of someone. In this case it meant the personal estates of the Celtic leader Vindos. While the Romans were stationed in Vienna, they naturally built fortifications. The Romans dug some of these and the site of one of the dug fortifications is now the Graben, which is Vienna's most fashionable street. Unfortunately the museum was closed, so we made of note that we would have to return to it at a later date.
The only frustration on my first day came from my complete lack of German language skills. I am trying to remember as much German as I possibly can from my grade school classes but I am definitely having difficulty. Our German word of the day was “verdienen,” which means “to earn”. I can say with certainty that I worked "verdienen" all the delicious food I ate today including brautwurst, apple strudel with whipped cream, Mozart cake, and gelato. Thankfully, I'm not experiencing any jet lag and I can't wait to continue exploring the city tomorrow!
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