Last Day

Today was our last day! I feel like we have both done everything and done nothing. Things start to run together when they are all packed within the course of a simple month, churches begin to look the same, and each melange tastes like the last. Yet, I feel as if I could spend a year here - the beauty, majesty, and history of this place has not begun to permeate me. I know I have lived here for a month, but I feel as if I just landed from London. A month is not succinct time to fully absorb and appreciate this beautiful city.

Our last day has been filled with those last minute things we have not had time yet to see - our list included only those things of utmost priority.

First stop, our last visit to Cafe Oberlaa of course! This place has been our home away from home, a pit stop in the middle of the city fueling our ever going engines. Caffeine and sugar have been our best friends this trip.

Historically, we decided to visit the Greek Orthodox Church near Schwedenplatz beyond Stephansdom. Until Joseph II unveiled his plans for reformation, including religious toleration in the 1700's, Vienna and the remaining lands under Habsburg rule were exuberantly Catholic. However, Joseph II lifted the ban on Protestantism and other religions aside from Catholicism were allowed to be practiced; the law, however, required these buildings to have plans facades, in order that they not be recognized as religious houses from the outside and by strangers. In the 19th century this law was lifted, and the Greek church was modernized in 1833 into a more ornate church. In 1856 and 1858 Theophil Hansen, the famous Ringstrasse architect, redesigned the Greek church in a Byzantine style, laying the foundations seen today from both the outside and on the inside (tourmycountry.com).

The outside was truly majestic, with Byzantine colors and motifs featured on every square inch of its facade. Upon entering, there is a small hallway, acting as a foyer, with Greek plaques on the walls. The entrance to the inner church is farther back, allowing for the eyes to adjust to the darkness - as opposed to the Baroque churches throughout the city, this Byzantine jewel was not built to draw in light and invoke the spirit of God. The Greeks followed orthodoxy, taking religion more seriously than their Catholic counterparts. Also, the church itself is quite smaller than any other we have seen. The ceiling was decorated with gold and with the images of Jesus, Mary, and the prophets. In the front of the church was the altar and a gate, leading back to the inner sanctuary. Unfortunately, it was not accessible to the public. The frescos and gold ornamentation was beautiful however, and the Greek inscriptions reminded me of the coming fall and the start of classes - luckily translating on the spot was not required here!

After the church, we wandered through the streets for the last time, passing the historic centers surrounding the Graben and Michaelerplatz. We met our group at the Prater, the large hunting park used by the Habsburgs for recreational purposes. Today, it is used by Viennese families, for various sports, and houses a small theme park with rides. As a group, we went on the infamous ferris wheel from Orson Welles' The Third Man, seeing the city with the advantage of height. For dinner, we trekked across the city to a restaurant where upon arriving we were served dinner on swords - unlimited alcohol and metal swords turned out to be a tempting combination for some!

Our last ride on the subway felt strange - I am heading back to the land of suburbia, dominated by cars and supermarkets. Europe already feels so far away.

Rath Heuriger

29 August 2010

Tonight we had the opportunity to visit a wine garden (heuriger), one of the most traditional and oldest in the area. The Rath Heuriger is 170 years old, and is located about an hour from our apartments in Vienna. When we arrived, the heuriger looked beautiful and quaint.

Located among crabapple trees and long green grass, picnic tables were scattered throughout and people were sitting amongst them drinking their specialty wine from mugs. Here they serve their current year's vintage - a white wine cuvee - and it is so popular that they are only open for a scant four weeks during the summer, when their supply runs out and they are forced to close for the year. They serve no formal food, but offer an array of various German sides - german potato salad, three spreads with brown bread, cheeses, and more. Is it the essence of the Viennese spirit - good company, good wine, and fresh air.

The history of wine in Austria is quite older than Rath itself. In 700 BC, vitis vinifera seeds (the most common wine grape varietal) were found in a Celtic grave, since Austria and Vienna were both inhabited by Celtic peoples before the region was conquered by the Romans. In the first century AD, the land of Pannonia was established, inhabited continuously by both Celtics and Romans. Emperor Marcus Aurelius lifted the prohibition placed on cultivating new vines, temporarily spiking an interest in winemaking. After this however, history was not kind to the wine industry and interest weakened. It wasn't until Charlemagne permitted vintners to serve young wine (that year's vintage) in Heurigen and introduced German varietals that an interest in wine was re-cultivated. The Cisterican order of monks cleared forest land and planted vines, controlling most of the region's wine production. Burgenland, south of Vienna, was granted extensive privileges by Mary the Hungarian queen in producing wine (wein-plus.com/austrian_guide/Burgenland). The Esterhazy family was an important patron of the wine trade, being the largest land owner in the Burgenland region - our visit to Eisenstadt a few weeks ago was full of posters for the local wine festival. After the golden age of wine growing in the region during the 1600's, phylloxera (an insect which attacks vitis vinifera grapes and is a recent problem in the Napa valley) struck Burgenland, leaving the region to adapt and become a region known for its white wines. Interestingly enough, Stift Klosterneuburg - home to our canon friends - is the oldest and largest working winery in Austria, having been established in the 1100's as a source of revenue for the monastery (travel.nytimes.com).

Claim to Fame - In 1756, Riedel Crystal was founded in Austria, and now produces some of the world's most famous and notable stemware. It was founded amidst the seven year's war between Austria and Bohemia and was part of the Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) period, making first glass window panes and later crystal glassware (crystalclassics.com).

Having been schooled in wine from my own dad and having participated in the wine culture before this trip, it was a priceless experience to be able to partake in such an integral aspect of Austrian hospitality and culture.

The wine was truly unbelievable and the conversation was even better - who would have ever thought that I would be sitting in an Austrian wine garden drinking and laughing late into the night with friends I had not known until this trip? How blessed I am.

Feast of St. Augustine

Today we were able to travel back to Stift Klosterneuburg to attend the feast of St. Augustine of Hippo, coinciding with the swearing of vows for many of the canons.

The canons at Klosterneuburg are Augustinian canons, meaning they follow the rule and lifestyle first dictated by St. Augustine of Hippo in his Augustinian Rule. Following this rule, the canons share common prayer and common meals, living together and studying theology for their future clerical work. As opposed to the last time we went for the tour, yesterday we were able to see the entire range of canons since all participated in the special mass.

There were about 50 or 60 men, all decked out in their canon attire, and there was quite a range of ethnicities as well; southeast asians, eastern asians, one african american, americans - all speaking German and Latin. At the end of the procession into the church followed the altar boys, boys and girls in their early teenage years who were in charge of procession, and those novices who were in their trial year at Klosterneuburg. The strangest and most unexpected thing to happen however, was the entering of six teenage boys dressed in pale blue military attire with riding boots and funny looking hats. Each of them had a sword and sheath, both highly ornamented. They came in before the monks and stood at the front in a stance of symbolic protection. Since I am not versed in Augustinian tradition, nor can I read German or the information booklet handed to us, I was not able to figure out what they are.

The mass itself was very long - around two hours - and consisted of much purifying, standing and sitting and standing, communion, offerings, and most importantly the renewal of vows by the canons. The provost was there to bless the new canons and to precede over the affairs - the provost is elected by the canons for either life or 10 year terms. The first set of vows was the simple vows taken by three novitiates. They had already undergone their first year, and were ready to commit to three years within the community, preparing for the priesthood. Dom Kilian, whom I was able to talk to when we all went to the wine garden during our last visit, was one of these three who was taking his simple vows, as was Dom Ambrose who also had dinner with us.

The next set of vows were the solemn vows - those canons who have completed their commitment of three years and are ready to engage in priesthood, binding themselves to the chapter (Stift Klosterneuburg) and their community of lay people. Three other canons took this vow, one of them being Dom Gabriel from the wine garden. This vow is a bit more ritualistic than the simple vow - those taking the vow are required to lay prostrate before the altar and the provost and are stripped of their previous shawls, which are then replaced with a sarozium (sacred rochet) - a white lacy tunic historically worn by the choir and which now symbolizes worship to God. These canons are also given a purple mozzetta (cape) and they are given new sashes - the old fringe being replaced with tassels. All this decorum is given to the canons upon the signing of their solemn vows (they personally write out the vows before the ceremony).

After the vows, there was more chanting and purification and a German sermon - it was hard to follow due to the language barrier. After the service ended, there was a reception for the canons and their family and friends, but it was so crowded that we opted for lunch elsewhere. We ended up meeting the cutest Viennese ladies (around the age of 80) - we were all waiting for the bus, but the bus was extremely late. These two women had come from Vienna as well, but spoke only German so the conversations ensued many hand motions. Luckily Zach was with us and was able to use his German skills to find our bus and talk to these ladies. Talking to Viennese outside of Vienna, they actually tend to be quite nice!

Having the opportunity to witness the vows at Klosterneuburg was truly a neat experience, one not to be had by many. To be the audience of such a time honored tradition, deeply seeped in both religious and political importance, was unbelievable - it was as if we were transported back in time watching canons of days gone by make their vows. Furthermore, to not merely be witnesses, but to actually know a handful of the canons taking their vows - that was priceless.

Sunday Religion

Today I had to myself since a group of people had gone away for the weekend, so I decided to head to Cafe Central and then to the Kunsthistorisches for my third (and last) time.

Cafe Central has come to be one of my favorite cafes in the central area of Vienna. It is close to the Hofburg rather than the overly crowded Stephansplatz, and is a few blocks back so the amount of foot traffic is significantly less. Although all of the guide books say that this old-school cafe now caters to tourists, I would have to disagree. The small front patio is definitely filled with tourists, but once inside, there is a definite balance between tourists and locals. The inside is very old fashioned with iron chandeliers, high arched ceilings, red velvet booths and chairs, marble columns. The service is spot on, and the Wiener Eiskaffee is amazing (it is this heavenly drink we discovered upon our first visit of chilled coffee, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and pirouette cookies on top). If only Starbucks made this sort of iced coffee...

After working on some background information for the artists I was about to study, I headed over to the Kunsthistorisches Museum to visit the Baroque and Renaissance art collections on my own. It being a Sunday, it seemed oddly appropriately to work on a comparison between Catholic and Protestant art since both collections seemed to focus on the theme of religion.

The Protestant Artists:

1. Rembrandt - Rembrandt was a dutch painter who transformed classical iconography to fit his own experiences. He had an extreme empathy for the human population, including the Jews.

Artistically, he employed the technique of chiaroscuro - the theatrical employment of light and shadow (similar to Caravaggio). His Self-Portrait illustrates this technique wonderfully - the dark shadows and background of his smock and his studio stand in stark contrast to his face. His self-portrait also shows the critical influence which the Protestant Reformation had on his artistic creativity - namely, moving away from the glory of man embodied within the Renaissance, Rembrandt saw (and thus painted) himself as a humble man before God and grace. The glory of man thus came to be replaced with the baseness of man, both in his own life and in his paintings.

2. Vermeer - Vermeer was a Dutch baroque artist who painted many pictures of the middle class making popular the genre style of painting. He used light and color in a specified style; in his The Art of Painting differing shades of blue and yellow are used to compose the entire painting; he often layered loose colors onto his canvases in a manner called pointille. His Protestantism was well known in his day (although he married a Catholic), leading him to paint genre scenes of daily life rather than engage in the religious propaganda embraced by Catholic and Protestant artists alike.

3. Bruegel - Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a renaissance painter from the Netherlands who was the first to begin painting landscapes for his own sake rather than for the sake of religion. He painted many genre paintings, and used peasants as his main figures. He was not associated with a religion in particular, viewing the institution of religion as an obstacle to God, but his The Fight Between Carnival and Lent shows the religious paradoxes between the religiously emaciated group "celebrating" lent against the excess and inebriation of the revelers during Carnival. Hence, we see a man struggling to interpret religion against both the backdrop of Catholicism and the challenging notions put forth by the Reformation.

The Catholic Artists:

1. Rubens - Rubens was a Flemish baroque artist who used sensuality, movement, and light to promote the cause of the Counter-Reformation.His Annunciation of Mary made for a Jesuit organization in 1610 shows the careful use of light and shadows to contrast Mary and the angel Gabriel - her royal blue dress and the symbolic red curtain behind her are separated by darkness from the golden hair of Gabriel and his orange robe. The white dove above also shows the contrast between light and dark and shows the fluidity between the heavenly and the earthly.

2. Titian - Titian was a dynamic painter from the Venetian School of art who used broad brushstrokes and vivd color to convey his messages. His Assumption of Mary has been used for religious doctrine within the Catholic church; his Violante (the painting's coloring is drawn from the violet tucked into the woman's dress) also is considered Catholic since it shows the stigma of prostitutes during the Early Modern Period. The woman is dressed in the grand dress which prostitutes were told to wear in order that they would be publicly recognized and the yellow color of her prominent skin and hair was used as a stigma for the outcasts and the prostitutes.

3. Raphael - Raphael was a painter during the High Renaissance and was employed by the Vatican (Pope Julius II) to create frescos within the Vatican rooms. He was the standard to which renaissance artists compared their works - after his death, mannerism and the baroque style were embraced. His Madonna in the Meadow embraces the spiritual thinking of the renaissance, illustrating the eternally valid in the horizon and the appreciation for humanity amongst the triangle of figures.

Amongst all of the artists shown within the Kunsthistorisches Museum, there were a lot that stood out, both for their content and for their beautiful paintings. However, the above artists are some of the more well-known artists and their works have had a profound impact on religion. Most of the artists shown have at least one religious painting - the question of Catholic or Protestant lies, rather, in the interpretation of and the message conveyed within the painting itself.

Spanish Influence

Yesterday after the Jewish Museum, Sidney and I had the chance to tour the stables and the winter riding school of the Spanish Riding School near the Hofburg. After seeing the horses up close, I decided to attend their morning practice today.

The Habsburg court always had a riding school, with horses used both militarily and recreationally. In 1562, Archduke Maximilian bred the Lipizzaner horses systematically to obtain the pure white color for a uniform look. The Lipizzaner horses were the most elite horses in the world, thus the horses were imported for the imperial court from Spain - hence the school's name. In 1572 there is the first mention of a riding school, and in 1580, Emperor Charles II of Austria founded the court stud Lipizza where he brought in horses from Spain. However, it wasn't until 1681 that Emperor Leopold I commissioned the design and construction of an official riding school. Emperor Charles VI rebuilt and restored the riding hall, commissioning Fischer von Erlach as its architect; the building which we see today is Erlach's design.

The morning practices themselves were neat - four sets of five horses and riders warm up and practice for 30 minute intervals, switching out and showing off. The horses, however, don't perform, but only practice techniques and such.

After the morning practices, I headed over to the Belvedere again, to more closely examine the art and follow the timeline of the artistic styles showcased. [Pictures were not allowed so all the following pictures are courtesy of Belvedere images.] The Belvedere was Prince Eugene of Savoy's summer baroque palace, with the upper Belvedere housing his guests and the lower Belvedere housing himself. Since Prince Eugene was honored and revered as the conquor of the Turks, he fashioned his guest house to reflect it. Turks captured as prisoners of war show up as motifs throughout the architecture of the upper Belvedere; they hold up walls and pillars, they are shown holding up the palace's main fountain, and they are shown agonizing under the weight of marble decorations. The upper Belvedere shows Prince Eugene as the warrior; however, the lower Belvedere shows Prince Eugene the art lover. The upper Belvedere as well is heavily baroque, emphasizing the grandeur of Prince Eugene; even the ceiling frescos are meant as optical illusions to create an elongation and dramatization of size and stature. Today, the lower Belvedere houses mainly medieval religious relics. However, the upper Belvedere houses medieval, baroque, and biedermeier art.

The lower level of the Upper Belvedere has an entire wing of medieval religious art work. The Znaim Altarpiece was one of the largest relics on display. It was created sometime between 1440 and 1445, and is one of only a few surviving large-winged retables of this time period. Its style shows early realism; the Sunday side shows high reliefs of the passion and an association with Bavarian art. The weekday side shows scenes from the life of Christ (from baptism to flagellation).

Works by Rueland Frueauf the Elder were also on display; an altar piece made between 1480 and 1491 with Mary's life depicted on the weekday side and Jesus' life and the passion depicted on the Sunday side resided once in a Salzburg church but is now at the Belvedere. His use of rhythm, color, and landscape made him a prominent artist during his time.

My favorite piece was by Johann Georg Platzer, titled Samson's Revenge; painted between 1730 and 1740, it crosses artistic lines by combining the heavy and dense details of the scene with the timelessness and objective lives of the carefree characters.

In another wing on the first floor are the buffs of Xaver Messerschmidt, referred to as the "crazy heads" since he himself never named them. Messerschmidt worked for Maria Theresia as a sculptor (late baroque period), and was trained in Munich by his uncle in the craft of sculpting. Alongside being the court sculptor, he taught at the Academy in Vienna.

His crazy heads were made in Bratislava, however, where he had bought a house. He was rumored to be schizophrenic, and he created these heads to scare away the demons and pain he felt in the night.

The next floors contained works from Vienna in the 19th century - namely works of classicism, romanticism, biedermeier, historicism, and impressionism. Famous works of Monet's such as Garden at Giverny, Van Gogh's Wheat Fields Near Auvers, Renoir's The Red-haired Bather, and Digas' Harlequin and Columbine are shown.Renoir's classical womanly figure was the epitome of beauty for the impressionists, and the landscapes depcted by both Monet and Van Gogh attempted at capturing the true essence of an experience or scene - realism was a top priority in their art. David's Napoleon Bonaparte also dominated one of the rooms, an example of the historicism which many artists desired to portray.

In the next rooms, there was a large collection of works by Gustav Klimt (his work The Kiss among them), Koloman Moser, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, and Carl Moll. Klimt's works took up much of the exhibit. In all of his figure paintings, the woman's silhouette is outlined clearly and is positioned in the front; the man is always positioned in the back and he is less concrete and more abstract in form.

The Kiss was the only picture of people by Klimt which I liked - there was a tenderness there that was lacking in his other figures. However, his landscapes were very appealing. Their almost impressionistic style (more similar to pointillism) was beautiful, mixing blues and green into beautiful landscapes. Kokoschka's Prague Harbor was a combination between impressionist technique and the appearance of sketching. Schiele's focus on people with odd profiles and hardly any landscapes was definitely an form of expressionism within the modern boundaries.

Moser's Self-Portrait exhibited a direct use of color and purpose to communicate beauty through function rather that form. Finally, Moll's Twilight and Interior of the Winter Palace of Prince Eugene were created with an intense depth and meant to portray texture.

The final upper rooms were dedicated to the Biedermeier genre, where under Metternich's attempt at restoring the pre-Napoleonic years and implementing a conservative government through censorship and the secret police led to interior 'immigration'. The family unit was thus valued both at home and in art. Domestic scenes of the immediate family were in popular by the middle class during this time of urbanization and conservatism. Friedrich von Ameriling's portrait of a father and his three children remembering their mother is a perfect example of this notion of the closed family unit, as is Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller's Morning of Corpus Christi with the contrast between the peasants and the aristocracy manifested in the playing children. Finally, Josef Danhauser's Game of Chess was the first painting to represent life within the salons and illustrates the domestic nature of the Biedermeier period. The constant notion of the woman over the man is prevalent throughout the painting, with the woman standing and the man sitting; the queen of chess on the board; the woman winning the game; and the sculpture of Hercules enslaved to Omphale.

The entire Belvedere was quite large and overwhelming, but using the Wien Museum as a guide through each culture and artistic period of Vienna's history, the floors and paintings were easier to understand and comprehend.

I turned on the TV for the first time since being here in Vienna and was watching CNN (they don't have many English options over here...). Surprisingly, it wasn't much different from CNN back home - many of the same programs were aired, including interviews with Anderson Cooper and a special on the heros of Hurricane Katrina. The only difference seemed to be that there was a greater ethnic diversity among the channel's news broadcasters and that the commercials seemed to all be promoting or associated with the Arab world. There was not one commercial which did not try and promote a business in Dubai or did not deal with the region of Saudi Arabia. This is not as surprising as it may seem due to Saudi Arabia's wealth and obvious vicinity to Europe since Europe is its closes Western neighbor. It seems that for as conservative culturally and religiously as Saudi Arabia may be, it is definitely making a concerted effort to include itself among Western economies and business markets.

Schonbrunn

Today we had off, so it became the perfect to day spend at Schonbrunn. Schonbrunn is most famous for being the royal residency and summer house of the Habsburgs during the reign of Maria Theresia. However, the palace has a history of its own. It was built to rival Versailles in France, and was at one point owned by the monastery Klosterneuburg (which we toured with the canons) but came into Habsburg control in 1569 under Matthias II. It became a hunting house, with Matthias extending the game park, and remained a hunting palace for several years. Its name was originally 'Schone Brunnen' meaning fair spring, but was later first changed by Emperor Ferdinand II's wife to its current name, Schonbrunn. However, during the second Turkish siege of 1683, the palace was plundered and destroyed.

Under Emperor Leopold I, the palace was rebuilt and Fischer von Erlach was commissioned as its architect. However, plans stalled, and the palace was never completed according to original designs. Charles VI inherited the hunting palace, but gave it as a gift to his daughter Maria Theresia since he only ever used the grounds for hunting. Maria Theresia transformed the palace and completed its construction under the designs of Nikolaus Pacassi. After the palace was completed, a second phase of construction began in 1750, with Maria Theresia transforming the baroque palace into the more rococo style of the late baroque period. The gold floral ornamentations and the heavily tapestried rooms of rich deep colors are quintessential examples of the baroque style, with elaborate details in every corner and large dramatic frescos lining the ceilings and marble walls. The interior is largely rococo, each room composed of a different palate - one room being of yellow and blue fabric on the walls; two oriental styled rooms; the blue room with blue ceramics and sketches covering the walls; rooms filled with landscapes by Bergl; and then the grand ball room with heavy red velvets, marble, and high frescoed ceilings.

Maria Theresia's last contribution to the palace's growth was the gardens - she designed the gardens and hired an architect to construct the Neptune fountain and the beautiful Gloriette - the hill upon which Fischer von Erlach's original palace would have stood.

The palace remained a hunting retreat under Habsburg power until 1918 with the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy, thus becoming the property of the Austrian Republic and used as a museum.

Our own tour which Sidney and I went on allowed us to look into 40 of the 200+ rooms of the main palace, and gave us entrance into all of the gardens. The Privy Gardens and the Orangery, the Palm House (housing the exotic and tropical plants), the bakery (free apfelstrudel classes!!), and the Gloriette (a cafe with a gorgeous view on top) were all covered in our ticket, giving us a great sense of the palace. The range of gardens is only one manifestation of the vast and expansive power which the Habsburgs held over Austria; the palace, too, as well as the estate as a whole, also demonstrate the domination of the Habsburgs and their incredible wealth and absolutism.

It was amazing to see such progressive techniques and styles throughout both the palace and the gardens (requiring hundreds of servants for upkeep) - the steam heaters used to heat the palace, the french gardens manicured so well, and the large fountain all seem to reflect the constantly changing palace and the forever progressive and dominating rule of the Habsburgs.

Bratislava

After being in the Alps, we were able to enjoy a long three day weekend - enough time to visit Bratislava on Saturday! Sidney, myself, and two other girls decided to catch the train to Slovakia and explore its capital - easier said than done.

We left around 12, and didn't catch the train until 2 due to our lack of navigational skills, not to mention the fact that to get to the train station, one has to take the U-bahn (subway), then the S-bahn (city train) and then catch the OBB (Austrian train). Anyways, we got lost several times, but finally made it to beautiful Bratislava. The town itself (the historical district where we spent our time) is fairly small, but beautiful and quaint nonetheless. Small winding streets lined with cafes and stores lead to churches, fountains, and bridges. We found a small Catholic church, with the stations of the cross made out of wood carvings spaced along the interior walls. A plague statue of Mary and Jesus stood outside - in view of the whole town. The most interesting thing to observe, however, was that there was a line for confession. Unlike Vienna where most of the population is non-religious and where churches are more a tourist destination than a religious house, this church has people actively standing in line and going in to receive confession. It was also interesting to note the contrast in how the church was preserved versus the how the Viennese preserve their churches - in Vienna, only the most original materials are used, in hopes of restoration. In this church, plastic, vinyl, and fake flowers adorned the alters and floors.

After the church, we wandered through the town, walking under St. Michael's Gate, the last of the medieval fortifications standing within the city. It was built in 1300, but underwent baroque reconstruction which we can still see today. It served as one of the four gates into the fortified city.

It seemed as if most of the buildings had been grand palaces at one time; now they all house various national embassies with flags proudly waving out front. The American Embassy was especially interesting due to it being the only embassy with heavy gates and security; might this be a silent manifestation of how the world perceives us and how we perceive our role as a world police, or a comment on the state of American politics? Also, we passed by several buildings and even a gated courtyard adorned with the crest of the Habsburg empire - their influence was more extensive than mere Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary.

We also ventured up to the castle, a critical fortress overlooking the land in all directions and inhabited since recorded history. It stands as a key focal point within the amber route, between the Carpathians and the Alps, along the Danube, and as a center of trade between east and west. It was once owned by the Celts, then by the Romans (similar to Vienna's own early history), and then was eventually under the rule of Hungary, becoming the Hungarian King's main castle. Baroque reconstruction overran the Renaissance style, and when Maria Theresia became queen of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1740, she made her own rococo renovations. Eventually, the office of governor of the Kingdom of Hungary was abolished, leaving the castle in shambles and ruins. Today, it has been restored, and is only partially open to the public.

The differences between Bratislava and Vienna were many - I much prefer Vienna's business and size than the always quite streets of Bratislava. However, due to its proximity and historical overlap with Vienna, it was an interesting day trip behind the old iron curtain.

I did find it interesting in Reading Beller's Concise History of Austria, when cultural nationalism was discussed as being encouraged as opposed to the "political quietism" practiced under the politician Metternich. He talks of how nationalism came of age "while the government suppressed political life" (120). Beller takes this notion of cultural nationalism and its emergence before World War I and applies it to Slovakia, where Metternich played one ethnicity or nation off of another, using the Slovakians against the Hungarians. He states that this use of one nation against another "explains the occasional encouragement of cultural nationalism among the 'nations without history' such as Slovaks, so called because they were seen as peasant nations without their own ruling class or established high culture" (121). After reading this, I would have to disagree, or rather challenge Beller's statement regarding the emergence of cultural nationalism and the lack of Slovakian history. As I have discussed in previous blogs, the memory or history of Austria has been long skewed; unlike Slovakia, Austria had a ruling elite, primarily the Habsburgs, which included the Esterhazy family and the Liechtenstein family. However, the morale of the Austrian citizen and the definition of what it means to be Austrian has also been tarnished due to its long ruling absolutist government and then the suppressive and oppressive reign of Adolf Hitler. WWI and WWII depleted the Austrian sole of a heritage, and raped them of their culture.

Thus, to say that nationalism, particularly cultural nationalism emerged is true, since the entire region of Eastern and Central Europe was attempting to create a culture particular to its people. However, for Beller to say that the Slovakians lacked a culture, while failing to address the Austrian's own lack of heritage and implying that Austrian heritage was in fact stable and established is a bold and brazen statement to make on his part.

As it was interesting to compare the atmosphere and streets of Bratislava and Vienna, so too is it intriguing to study the differences in perception held by historians of the two cities' cultures.