The German word of the day is fussball, or in English, soccer.
Vienna holds a lot of great history and cultural importance and one of the things that make it so interesting is the city’s ability to reinvent itself artistically. There were many architectural changes going on throughout Europe during the nineteenth century especially with Haussmann’s creation of modern Paris and London’s expansion into a modern city. Vienna was also accompanying these civic changes and as time went on more contemporary techniques were initiated to give the city the feel of a modern, cosmopolitan city. Many of the changes that occurred happened along the Ringstrasse, during an artistic time known as the Jugendstil, or art deco movement of the early twentieth century. The buildings were all created with a vision of modernity because the architects of the time felt constrained by the constant need to reinvent the architectural styles of other ages. They were tired of churches, government institutions, schools, hospitals, and all other types of buildings being built to reiterate Gothic or Classical architecture. The likes of Otto Wagner and Gustav Klimt made efforts to form their own architectural styles so that others would know the people of fin de siècle Vienna could create new and impressive forms of architecture just as their forefathers did centuries ago.
The buildings along the ringstrasse that contain the imprints of Jugendstil range from simple housing projects all the way to metro platforms and schools. There look is generally simple, with little emphasis on the windows or walls to catch the viewers’ attention. What these buildings do have though, and one that succeeds in fascinating the public, is specified detail along the sides of gold patchwork that succeeds in catching one’s eye. These buildings thus emphasized modernism while simultaneously evoking a style of minimalist beauty that separates from the rest of the modern buildings of Vienna. The trip I took along the ringstrasse showed many of these Jugendstil buildings as well as some of the neoclassical and neo-gothic monuments running along the border of the innerstadt. These buildings include the parliament, which is based on Greek classical design and thus evokes a sense of democratic principles. You can also see nearby several other churches that contain elements of the neo-gothic style. Thus, the city is filled with a variety of different styles as well as the Baroque-styled apartments that run throughout the city as well. Most of the buildings were already sites that I had been in contact with before I went on the ringstrasse but it was still interesting to pinpoint the exact differences that made the architecture of the Jugendstil and the Succession movement so captivating and liberating from the conformity of the old styles.
One of the other activities that I made time to visit was the Vienna museum outside the Karlskirche, which delivers the history of Vienna from its time as the Roman border town of Vindobona all the way to the outbreak of the First World War. Most of the exhibits on hand were from excavated sites showing what had been found from Vienna’s past. There were cups, helmets, and assorted other trinkets from Roman times that help you realize just how long ago human beings had called this part of Austria home. The Roman exhibits then change to Austria in the Medieval Age and this was one of the areas of the museum with the most fascinating objects because they have nearly all the original statues from Stephansdome that were taken for safekeeping and thus saved when the church was destroyed during the Second World War. These statues depicted different saints and Biblical figures and though they were not in any type of pristine condition, the fact that these were the originals from centuries ago was quite something to see. The rest of the objects in the room were stain glass windows that I believe were also originals from the Stephansdome and these too showed the beauty of Viennese craftsmanship during the medieval era.
The next area of importance was the section on the siege of Vienna. The museum focuses closely on the siege of 1683 and of course, this was the one that held so much pride for the Viennese and Austrian people. The Turks, under the leadership of Kara Mustafa were defeated by the military might of the Austrians and the help of their Polish allies. These events stopped all Ottoman advances on Europe and stemmed the tide of Eastern aggrandizement of Europe. Following these events, the great general Eugene of Savoy was able to defeat the Turks at Belgrade and thus slowly and slowly territory was brought back into Habsburg power. The objects on display were similar to those at the Heeresgeschichtliche military museum but there was a greater focus on maps and celebratory drawings from the time depicting the Habsburg victory. These objects gave the battle a sense of reality; they gave you the realization that there were people actually living in this city and that they were on the precipice of Turkish expansion. There was nothing left to do but fight. While the military museum gives you the swords and shields, the Vienna museum shows you non-military objects from the siege that put into context all that was going on during this time. Following this exhibit the museum goes through the growing fashions and political ideas of the eighteenth century until one finally reaches Napoleon but the exhibits on this time period were fairly weak. But the next section is on the Biedermeier period, which is especially interesting. In class, we compared the Biedermeier to the 1950’s and the sense of ignorance that pervaded entertainment at that time. The paintings show life at its most pleasant and ignore the political turmoil that was going on during this time. I must admit that I like the look of Biedermeier, regardless of its historical problems. The style reminds me of paintings by Norman Rockwell, which idealize the world but nonetheless paint it with a kind of detail unmatched by other works of art. I felt this style even had several subgenres. There the family paintings, the everyday life and entertainment pictures, and then there were the landscape and outdoorsman ones that showed the beauty of the country and Austria’s citizens at work in nature, cutting down trees or fishing, all to make ends meet. These romanticized images were probably pathetic at the time but now, with no emotional connection to the 1830’s, I have to admit I found a charming and relaxing quality to these works that seem oblivious to the social turmoil about to spread during 1848.
Speaking of which, the 1848 section of the museum is another military exhibit showing the different sides of soldier and nobility against student and liberal. There were a number of rifles on display and much was made of the constant debate over the different calls for freedom being made at this time. The confounding element to these revolutions for the Habsburgs was that they happened not only in their own state of Austria but also in her satellite kingdoms, making political transparency all but impossible. The museum did not linger on the revolutions going on in Hungary and Austrian controlled Italy but the mere fact that this empire had to face a number of other revolutions while they were trying to suppress the one at home makes the events of 1848 quite intriguing to study.
The last bit of the museum focused on fin de siècle Vienna and the rising middle class that took root during the time. The displays mainly had clothing and household devices showing how interests in easing peoples’ lives had changed from the nobility down to the average Viennese citizen. What is ironic is the fact that the museum basically ends here. There is nothing about Vienna during or between the world wars and with the exception of a small room on 1950’s architecture, the museum basically ignores all the upheavals that happened to the city during the first half of the twentieth century. The museum did its best to avoid all political issues, not even willing to discuss the divide happening between liberal Vienna and conservative outer Austria, even in the fin de siècle period. I can’t say I was totally surprised since the Budapest museum had the same type of gap but these missing parts of history don’t do any good if a country is trying to come to terms with what happened to itself.
It will be interesting to see when Austria, like the many other axis powers or their allies will finally come to grips with their past. If you visit a museum about California’s history, you won’t see the museum suddenly end in 1933 without going on to discuss California’s modern history. This becomes a controversial issue because Germany and other states in Europe have done their best to exonerate themselves, not from their crimes, but from their present place in the world as a kind and benign power. Even with these interests there is still a “hush hush” mentality that hasn’t helped countries like Austria look like they’ve fully come to terms with the events between 1938-1945. It will be interesting to see if sixty years from now when all the veterans and survivors have passed away whether Austria will truly have a legitimate approach to studying its history during the Nazi occupation. I just find it so fascinating that a country does all it can to make it school children understand the Holocaust and set up monuments to combat the fulfillment of war and racism and yet their museums can’t describe events in their country’s past that probably would be important, especially to a museum about the history of Vienna. The war itself saw little expressive changes besides a loss of civil rights and national war footing but I would think the museum would want to discuss the aftermath. Vienna was nearly completely ruined and the disturbing pictures of its ruined monuments has at least some historical value. The splitting of the country by the allied powers also would be an important event to document in the museum but hear again there was nothing to explain to visitors. What I would like to know now is whether the Berlin museum (I assume there is a Berlin Museum) would go over both the Nazi period and the post war split of the city since the aftermath of the war in Berlin shares so many similarities with Vienna. Whatever the case may be I think it can only be assumed that true comprehension of the war will only exist after those who witnessed and even those who had fathers and mothers witnessing these events have passed on. When the socia and personal connection has been lost, then truly impartial discussions can begin, which is sad, since this also means we would lose the first hand accounts that have played such an important role in today’s society in explaining everything that happened during the war. Maybe countries like Austria can come to terms with themselves in the near future but the Vienna Museum was a good indication of the problems that still exist in Viennese society over how to present the war to both its citizens and international visitors.
Overall, the Vienna museum had some amazing exhibits that may not have addressed any new information but definitely had objects on display that I could ponder over. I thought that some of the original work from Stephansdome made the trip worth it alone because so much of the church has been remodeled off of what it used to look like. The other important part of the museum for me was the Biedermeier exhibit, which gave you a taste of romanticized life while also doing so in intricate detail. These paintings seemed focused on portraying its characters so realistically that one would be bound to accept the validity of its representations. Nonetheless, these two areas of the museum were of great interest to me and added to everything else in the museum about Vienna’s rise as a small Roman settlement to the capital of one of the largest royal empires in Europe. Both the museum and the ringstrasse give you an idea of just how far this city has come and to live in it for a whole month really makes you appreciate the sheer scope of history that has existed within the confines of these city walls.
