18 January 2021 - HALLSTATT - A PLACE WORTH VISITING

 

HALLSTATT 

- A PLACE WORTH VISITING -

 

G'day folks,

 Hallstatt is a village on Lake Hallstatt's western shore in Austria's mountainous Salzkammergut region. 

 

Its 16th-century Alpine houses and alleyways are home to cafes and shops. A funicular railway connects to Salzwelten, an ancient salt mine with a subterranean salt lake, and to Skywalk Hallstatt viewing platform. A trail leads to the Echern Valley glacier garden with glacial potholes and Waldbachstrub Waterfall.

 Now, check it out ...

 

Clancy's comment: Wow. Certainly worth a visit.

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26 November 2020 - AUSTRIA'S MAGNIFICENT LAKE DISTRICT - A PLACE TO VISIT

 

AUSTRIA'S MAGNIFICENT LAKE DISTRICT 

- A PLACE TO VISIT -

G'day folks,

Europe is decorated with so many splendid places that chances are you haven't heard of many of them, let alone seen them all.

Let's take a longing gaze at Austria, because it's one of the countries with the most spectacular of natural wonders, coupled with hundreds of years of culture and architecture. Perhaps Austria's most amazing region is that of Salzkammergut, the glorious Lake District.

Austria has so many wonderful regions full of incredible natural beauty. But perhaps the most spectacular is the Salzkammergut, or, in English, the Property of the Salt Chamber. Once upon a time, it was used for salt mining, but today it has become a popular destination for local and foreign tourists keen to enjoy the lovely lakes, lush greenery, giant mountains and charming local culture.

What makes it such a good tourist destination is the surprisingly easy access from cities located in the Salzkammergut to the natural wonder of the lakes. This region was originally mined for salt way back in Roman times, before local Germanic tribes known as the Bavarii and Otakari began to dominate. These ancient salt mines are now thought of as relics of former days now that tourism has taken over and transformed Salzkammergut's economy.

Now let’s check out this stunning area …

 

Clancy's comment: Truly a stunning place. I can vividly recall many weeks spent in this country with my first camera.

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28 November 2019 - STEPHANSDOM CRYPT IN AUSTRIA

STEPHANSDOM CRYPT

 IN AUSTRIA

G'day folks,

The crypt of the imposing Stephensdom holds royal intestines and thousands of skeletons. 

 

In the middle of Vienna, the dark and imposing St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom) draws thousands of tourists to gaze at the grand architecture. But there is something to be seen below as well: just beneath the stone floors lie the skeletal remains of over 11,000 people.

 

 

 Surprisingly few visitors opt to enter the crypt. The entrance to the underground tomb is hidden in plain sight, as an innocuous staircase on the left side of the main floor. The vast Stephansdom crypt is divided into a number of smaller crypts and catacombs, and is still an active burial spot. The last tenant to move in was Franz Cardinal König, the archbishop of Vienna, who was laid to rest there in 2004. Most of the bodies of the Habsburg royalty are interred nearby in the Imperial Crypt on Neuer Markt square.

 

 

In another section, known as the ducal crypt, the organs of princes, queens, and emperors are kept. Along with some bodies and hearts, over 60 jars of imperial intestines rest in the ducal crypt, including one containing Empress Maria Theresia’­s sovereign stomach. 

 

Not long ago, the seals on one jar broke, leaking 200-year-old visceral fluid onto the floor. The stink was apparently so awful that it took a day or two before someone was willing to go down and address the situation.

 In 1735, Vienna experienced an outbreak of the bubonic plague. In an effort to keep the Black Death at bay, the numerous cemeteries surrounding the Stephansdom and the charnel house (a building for storing stacked bones) were emptied, and thousands of bones and rotting corpses were thrown down into the pits dug in the floor of the crypt. The downside to this arrangement was that the smell of the catacombs would occasionally waft up into the church and make religious services impossible.

 

 

To combat the unfortunate smell, as well as make room for more bodies, a few unlucky prisoners were lowered into the pits where they were forced to scrub the rotting flesh off the plague-ridden and disordered bodies, snapping and breaking the skeletons down to individual bones, and stacking them into neatly ordered rows, skulls on top. It seems that they never finished the job–to this day, one can still find sections of the crypt scattered with piles of disorganized bones and deteriorating coffins.

Guided tours only. On special occasions like “die lange Nacht der Kirche” (“the long night of churches,” a yearly event), the crypt is open to the public. 

Clancy's comment: Interesting how traditions have changed.

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9 April 2016 - MARIA von TRAPP

MARIA von TRAPP

G'day folks,

I guess you have all seen 'The Sound of Music" - musical or film.  

Maria von Trapp was best known for performing with the Trapp Family Singers in the 1930s and '40s. Her memoir was the basis for the ‘The Sound of Music’ musical and film.

 

Synopsis 

Born in Austria in 1905, Maria von Trapp studied to become a nun before her marriage to Baron Georg von Trapp in 1927. The family, which grew to include 10 children, began performing as the Trapp Family Choir in the mid-1930s, and then the Trapp Family Singers after moving to the United States later in the decade. In 1949, the Baroness wrote the memoir The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, which became the inspiration for the 1959 musical The Sound of Music and the 1965 film of the same name. She spent most of her later life in Vermont, and died in the village of Morrisville in 1987.

Early Life 

Born Maria Augusta Kutschera on January 26, 1905, Maria von Trapp wrote the 1949 book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. This book later became the basis for the Broadway musical and feature film The Sound of Music. But there is much more to von Trapp's life than these productions showed. Her childhood was marked by hardship. She was born on a train headed to Vienna, Austria, and was orphaned at a young age. According to reports, von Trapp was put in the care of an abusive uncle who had staunchly socialist and anti-Catholic views.

Von Trapp studied at the State Teachers College for Progressive Education in Vienna. While a student there, she discovered religion and converted to Catholicism. Von Trapp later she decided to devote her life to her faith, becoming a candidate for the novitiate at Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg. 

Marriage and Musical Beginnings

In 1926, she was sent from the convent to act as a tutor for one of Baron Georg von Trapp's seven children from his first marriage. The girl, also named Maria, was sick and unable to attend regular school. Maria von Trapp was only meant to stay for less than a year and then return to the convent to become a nun. But she became attached to the children and decided to leave the Church after the Baron proposed (he was 25 years her senior). The pair wed in 1927 and later had three children together.

The von Trapp family had always been musical, even before Maria joined them. However, the Baroness saw their talents as a way to help them out of a financial crisis, as much of their money was lost in the economic upheaval of the 1930s. The family began performing together with the help of a Catholic priest named Franz Wasner, who served as musical director. They won a singing competition in 1936, and went on a European tour the following year as the Trapp Family Choir.

 

Clancy's comment:  Interesting life. Great movie. Top music.

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