VIENNA, AUSTRIA — I had an afternoon to myself once my son-in-law Matt and I arrived by train in Vienna, known here as Wien. Matt works part of the week here and the rest in Burghausen, a small Bavarian city on the border of Austria. (More on that next week.)
While riding the train to Vienna I found several hop-on, hop-off bus tours online. I downloaded the app for one of them and bought a 24-hour pass for €34, about $40. I learned long ago that this is an excellent way to get an initial feel for a large city. Matt left for his office, while I walked out of the train station, called the Wien...
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VIENNA, AUSTRIA — I stood in State Hall, originally part of the imperial residence complex of the Hofburg Palace in the heart of Vienna, looking around and upward in awe. Walnut bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling; all crammed tightly with 200,000 books published between 1501-1850. Above the shelves, some 30 meters high, is a domed cupola with an ornate fresco depicting the deification of Emperor Charles VI, painted by court artist Daniel Gran. It took him about five years — 1726-1730. I don’t know about Charles’s “deification,” but the fellow is responsible for building one of the most...
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MUNICH, GERMANY – For 215 years, folks have gathered to celebrate Oktoberfest at a 100-acre public space called Theresienwiese, named in honor of Princess Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxe-Hildburghausen, now part of the central German state of Thuringen. That is to the north of Bavaria, the country’s southernmost state. She married King Ludwig 1 of Bavaria in this meadow on Oct. 12, 1810. (This Ludwig is not the whacky one mentioned in a previous piece. He was the grandfather of Ludwig II, the mad king.)
That meadow became the venue for Oktoberfest, now celebrated in Bavarian cities and in Texas...
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SALZBURG, AUSTRIA — Images of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are ubiquitous in this historic city. Mozart was born in 1756 and worked under the patronage of Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo until he moved to Vienna at age 25. Apparently, he chafed at the restrictions placed upon him by the archbishop and either quit or was fired. Still, Salzburg proudly claims him as a hometown fellow who made good. Mozart died in Vienna 10 years later at the age of 35. Just before he died, the reportedly told his sister-in-law, “I have the taste of death on my tongue.”
We (daughter Mere, son-in-law...
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HALLEIN, AUSTRIA — I am thankful never to have had to work in a salt mine, especially after touring Salzwelten Salzburg. That name refers to the Hallein Salt Mine on Dürrnberg Mountain, which stopped active operations in 1989 and is now advertised as the world’s oldest salt mine open to visitors. Daughter Mere, son-in-law Matt, and I took a train from Garching, a small town in Bavaria near their home in Unterneukirchen, to Salzburg, on the German-Austrian border. We then boarded a bus to reach the mining site, and afterward walked a few hundred yards uphill to the mine, which is now purely...
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HOHENSCHWANGAU, BAVARIA — Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm — aka King Ludwig II— had several nicknames: the Fairy King, the Swan King and, my favorite, the Mad King. He also held several dukedoms, but we won’t get into that.
He ascended to the Bavarian throne, in what is now southern Germany, in 1866, at the age of 18.
Ludwig had little interest in ruling over his country. He was introverted and showed scant concern in governmental matters, which quickly led to tensions with Bavaria’s ministers. The Mad King possessed two passions: building lavish castles and the German composer Richard...
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