Posts from the ‘general’ Category

Nov 11

Chalk O5 sign of Austrian Resistance Movement

VIENNA’S DARK PAST

Thirty years after his rejection from the prominent Art Academy in Vienna, Adolf Hitler stood on the balcony overlooking cheering crowds at Vienna’s Heldenplatz and declared, “As leader and chancellor of the German nation and Reich, I announce to German history now the entry of my homeland into the German Reich.” Just eight months later during the November pogroms, 6547 Jews in Vienna were arrested, thousands of Jewish-owned shops plundered, and 42 synagogues and houses of prayer were set aflame. As Hitler’s master plan progressed, the arrests and atrocities against his declared enemies of state (Jewish citizens, social democrats, gays and lesbians, Roma and Sinti, communists, Jehovah Witnesses, and those considered socially deviant) escalated, and those who could not escape were sent off to concentration camps.

At the same time, the Allied Forces fighting Hitler were drawing up the blueprints for a post-war Europe. At a meeting in Moscow in 1943, they determined that Austria should be re-established as an independent state and that Austria was the “first victim of Hitlerite aggression.” Whether or not the Austrians of that time were victims or perpetrators is a question that still continues to haunt the city to this day.

Sign in Sidewalk in Herminengasse, Vienna, in memory of Holocaust victims who once resided there.

Throughout the city you can still find evidence of both—from brass plaques detailing the names and dire fates of residents who lived in apartments taken over by the Nazis to the “O5” symbol inscribed on the wall of St. Stephan’s Cathedral, showing the mark of the Austrian resistance movement. At Judenplatz in Vienna’s first district, you will find a Holocaust Memorial for the 65,000 Austrian Jews who were murdered during WWII, and at Morzinplatz, a memorial dedicated to the opponents to the Nazi regime who were tortured and killed at the Hotel Metropol that once stood there and served as the headquarters of the Gestapo.

KC Blau Post about Ray of Hope in Vienna on November 9

Nov 6

PLACES TO VISIT IN VIENNA – COFFEEHOUSES

… occasionally people even drink a coffee in a coffeehouse, but that’s not the reason one goes there. – H. Weigl, Austrian writer

Vienna and her coffeehouses are inseparable. At the turn of the century, Vienna boasted over 600 coffeehouses catering to every profession, social class, and mood. Then, as today, writers, business people, students, artists, intellectuals and international guests have come to treasure their time “alone in the company of others.” One Austrian poet in the early 1900s felt so at home in his Stammcafe that he used Café Central as his return address. You’ll find Herr Altenberg sitting there still, opinion-loaded and inspiration-ready at his Stammtisch directly inside the brass doors of the marble-pillared historical gem.

Große Brauner in Cafe Central

But perhaps you’d prefer something more 50s style like the favored café of Thomas Bernhard (Bräunerhof)? Or maybe you’d like to contemplate dreams and the subconscious along with the memory of Sigmund Freud (Café Landtmann)? Coffeehouses vary in atmosphere and offerings. Some will have chess, piano accompaniment, or singers, some not. But no matter what coffeehouse you choose, all of them will have great coffee.

You will be able to choose from a long list of coffees, and we’re not talking regular or vanilla-flavored. Your coffee will usually come served on a silver platter with a cup of water on the side and usually – though not always – the spoon delicately balanced atop the glass. Newspapers from around the world will be hanging on a newspaper rack, available for your perusal. In attempt to guarantee your time is undisturbed, the server will skillfully ignore you and refrain from slapping down your check until you kindly request he or she do so.

Einspanner in Cafe Museum

In today’s world of multitasking, need-it-yesterday, working-against-the-clock, don‘t you think you deserve some balm for the soul? Allow a black coat-and-tails waiter to serve up a Mélange and afford you a few glorious hours to sit back and smell the coffee.

Can’t go to the coffeehouse? Then bring a little coffeehouse home to you – Apple Strudel recipe: https://www.kcblau.com/apfelstrudel/

EGON SCHIELE AND THE FLU THAT KILLED 25% OF THE US POPULATION AND DECREASED LIFE EXPECTANCY BY 12 YEARS

Towards the end of WWI (Armistice November 11, 1918) the world experienced the worst flu epidemic to date. The first spurt of flu came in spring but the worst of it followed in autumn. More than 50 million people from all the continents died of the Spanish flu, which means it took three times more lives than WW I (16 million). In Europe, people still reeling from the devastating effects of the war, were particularly susceptible due to shortages of food and heating materials. Unlike the warring powers, the flu did not discriminate the victorious from the defeated, the friends from the foes. Everyone was at risk with people aged 15 – 40 at the greatest.

In 1918 Austrian artist, Egon Schiele, was turning 28 and finally achieving national and international recognition in the art world. Indeed, with the passing of his dear friend and mentor, Gustav Klimt, in February 1918, Egon Schiele became the Danube Monarchy’s leading artist. An exhibit in the Vienna Secession just one month later proved lucrative and the artist’s appointment calendar was filling both at home and abroad. Finally, Schiele was able to afford a more spacious atelier to work and perhaps begin the art school he had always dreamed about.

But a bigger room needs more wood and coal and those were in short supply due to the war. A weakened population was more vulnerable to the flu with a toxic mix of human- and bird virus strains. The stones were laid for the perfect storm.

Portrait entitled “Death and the Girl” which Egon Schiele painted around the year he married his wife featuring a man that looks like the artist

By September 1918, so many tram drivers were struck by the flu, that public transportation services were restricted. In desperate need of doctors, the emperor provided the city’s physicians with military vehicles to ensure speedier and more extensive care of the ill. By October the pandemic had become so severe that Vienna’s schools were shut down.

Sometime in mid-October, Egon Schiele’s wife, Edith falls ill with the flu. She is 6 months pregnant and despite the desperate care from her

Egon Schiele with Spanish flu

husband Egon, she succumbs to the flu on October 28. Three days later, on October 31, Egon Schiele followed his wife and unborn child into the after world in the early hours of the day.

LETTER OF EGON SCHIELE IN OCTOBER 1918 TO HIS MOTHER

Dear Mother Schiele,

Edith fell ill with the Spanish flu eight days ago yesterday and is now also suffering from pneumonia. She is 6 months pregnant. The illness is exceptionally severe and critical; I am preparing myself for the worst.

STAIR JOKE – Word of the Week

Treppenwitz – The good old stair (Treppen) joke (Witz).

Who hasn’t had it happen? You are out to lunch with fellow students or work colleagues and the mood is jovial. The life of the gathering says something about you and all heads turn in expectation of an equally witty response. But you’re caught off guard, slow in the uptake. Instead you blurt out a banal one-word answer and all heads turn back to Mr. Sparkling Smile. Later, as Mr. Charm struts out with his entourage and you trudge down the stairs of the back exit – alone — the most witty response in the universe suddenly occurs to you. That’s it. You’ve just experienced the Treppenwitz – the clever remarks that occurs too late (on the stairs on the way out).

More Words of the Week:

Beuschlreißer: Lung Ripper

Blechtrottel: Tin Idiot

C-80

Eierbär: Eggsbear

Eifersucht, Frühlingsmüdigkeit, Hungerlohn, Torschlusspanik, Schadenfreude, Weltschmerz, Katzenjammer, Freitod, Holzpyjama, Lebensmüde, Fernweh

Fetzenschädel: Rags Skull

Geistesvernichtungsanstalt: Spirit Annihilation Asylum

Gespritzer

Häuslpapierfladerer: House Paper Thief

Hatscher

Krautwacher: Cabbage Guard