Italy’s Golden Lakes

We arrived in Vienna by train as planned and settled into The Kaiserhof, our home for the next few days. Tafelspitz was our choice of meal last night, a local specialty we had to try and excellent it was. By accident we ordered one portion to share and it was just as well. There was no way we would have managed a portion each!
Today has been an Art day, in particular one Gustav Klimt. I’m a particular fan and couldn’t come back to Vienna, his home town without a pilgrimage to look upon his work once more. Peter was a little unsure what he was going to see and I deliberately kept him slightly in the dark, which was undoubtedly a good move.
We started out at The Belvedere, a baroque palace built by Prince Eugen of Savoy, a celebrated Hapsburg general. He used the reward monies for his victories during the war of Spanish Succession to undertake one of the most ambitious building projects by an individual to create his summer residence. There is an Upper and Lower Palace joined by what was once a classic Le Notre French style garden, which is sadly in poor shape, clearly due to the box hedging being ravaged by the dreaded moth. They are in the process of being replaced and a complete remodel is underway.
The interiors of the palace are beautiful and pure baroque. The buildings are now devoted to art and there is much to see besides Klimt.
However, there is only so much time, so the Secession movement was our focus. Works by Klimt, Egon Schiele & Richard Gerstl dominate, with the odd Monet (a contemporary), plus some stunning paintings created by women, who of course were wildly underestimated at the time.
The famous Marble Hall is spectacular and was used to sign the state treaty to guarantee the re-establishment of a free and democratic Austria in 1955, some 10 years after the end of the 2nd World War. It was signed by the four allied and associated powers, USA, Great Britain, Russia and France, plus the Austrian foreign minister, Leopold Figl. The agreement was then announced from the balcony to a massed crowd that had gathered below.
We moved on to Karlskirche, a striking baroque church it is difficult to describe. I will include photos which will tell the story better than I ever could. It is dedicated to Charles Borromeo of the Isola Bella and Madre family, the patron saint of the fight against the plague and was built in 1715-1757 to thank God from delivering Vienna from the epidemic of 1713.
Our final port of call was to the Secession building. The Secession movement was founded by Gustav Klimt and a group of artists in 1897. It was a breakaway from the traditional artistic views of the Viennese elite. This incredible building was designed as an exhibition venue in 1898, conceived as an ‘art temple’ of early modernism and a key work of Viennese art nouveau. It must have startling when it was first opened and is no less so now, having stood the test of time. In 1902 its first major exhibition featured a major show dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven, for which Gustav Klimt created his famous Beethoven Frieze. The fresco paid homage to Beethoven’s 9th symphony and the Ode to Joy. It was originally displayed in the large white exhibition hall with a window in the wall showing a famous sculpture of Beethoven outside. The frieze was later moved to its permanent position in the basement space. The room is a rectangular white box apart from the fabulous art work that circumnavigates the top of three of the walls. I accept it is possibly an acquired taste. We walked in and Peter looked around looking somewhat puzzled. “Is this it then?!”; perhaps I had overdone the majesty of the work!! It’s all in the eye of the beholder and whilst to me it is a masterpiece to others maybe less so! We sat down and talked it through - I don’t think he was convinced. Art lesson completed, but a failure!
It was time to find supper in the shape of a great fish restaurant in the Naschmarkt. A beer always helps.Read more