Vienna!

After our four weeks in Salzburg, it was time to head to Vienna. We were sad to leave the hostel where we’d begun to feel at home, and to say goodbye to the city we had learned together. But after a four-hour bus ride we were in a new city with a very different feeling! Vienna has over two million people compared to Salzburg’s roughly 150,000, and it is filled with many different ethnicities. Our hotel is in the 10th district, and from here we take the bus to the 1st district, the original city where the museums and other buildings from the Hapsburg Empire are. This city is alive with culture and the mixture of ethnicities and languages makes for a modern feeling. 

We went to the Art History Museum and saw the Durer, Cranach, and Holbein exhibit. The building of the museum itself is gorgeous, with a tall dome and ornate decorations inside. The rooms seemed endless, and thankfully the descriptions of the artwork were in both German and English. We also toured through the Egyptian exhibit as well, but there was so much more we couldn’t fit in! 

We were also able to tour the city hall. Our guide pointed out that even the location of the building was significant; almost directly across from it was one of the main buildings of the Habsburg Monarchy, and this highlighted the fact that the city hall stood for the voice of the people. Balls are held at the city hall throughout the year, from the firefighters’ ball to the diplomats’ ball. It was interesting to see the mixture of Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance architecture - to see what we’ve been learning about combined into one building. At the end of the tour we were able to sit in the room where the representatives of Austria convene, and it reminded us of a smaller version of the U.N. building in New York.

It’s our last day in Austria. Tonight we go out to celebrate the past five weeks of culture, friendships, academics, and learning more about the world together.

Touring the Hohensalzburg Castle

Along with going to the Panorama Restaurant outside the Fortress, we were able to tour the inside of the massive building as well. Entrance to the fortress is included in the price of the tram, and we were able to wander around on our own. Along with a funny cutout of the characters of “Sound of Music” (with which we had to have our picture taken!), there was also a view below of the dungeon complete with faux skeletons and chains. It was an odd combination of light-hearted lore and the acknowledgement of the seriousness of what occurred within those walls. There was a room devoted to fallen soldiers of WWI, and it was a good reminder to us that soldiers fought and died on both sides - that on both sides, families mourned the loss of their children. Guns and uniforms lined the walls, and there were many plaques with information on such people as General Rommel. From here we entered a room displaying old suits of armor and weapons. These were suspended from the ceiling and positioned as though they were on a person, arm pulled back, ready to hurl a javelin at the enemy.

After we looked around, we discovered an audio tour was also included in the ticket. In one room were the portraits of the Archbishops who influenced the building of the fortress the most, including models showing the additions each Archbishop made. At the end of the tour, we were able to climb one of the towers, and from here we saw the most amazing view of the city. Untersberg Mountain, part of the Alps, rose up between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, Germany. Who can resist climbing the Alps when in Austria? We made a plan for the next weekend to climb to the top of Untersberg, and what a different view of the city we’ll have from there!

Some of us on top of the tower after our tour

Church

On Sunday morning, we attended an English-speaking evangelical service. It was structured similarly to the church services we have at home - hymns, prayer, scripture readings, sermon, etc. - but there was something different. For the first time, many of us were able to experience “global Christianity;” during the communion, we surrounded the sanctuary and held hands as we prayed. People from all over the world had come together to worship the same God - America, Austria, Africa, Germany - and we were joined in one language to worship the Lord.

In contrast with this experience, though, was a German Catholic Mass we attended on Monday night. Here, as we sat in the midst of centuries-old artwork, the words of the German priest filled the sanctuary. We could only catch a few words. As soon as the music started, though, this language barrier seemed to be transcended. The rich soprano filled the church and the choir and horns responded, and for the first time the idea of “sacred music” became a reality. The study of sacred music in America seems one-dimensional, until you have experienced what it was truly intended to be. It is not entertainment, and it is not a time to show prowess, but it is a way to worship God using His own creation.

Transportation and Our German Thought and Culture Class

Buses, Trains, and Things that Go

        Transportation in Salzburg was an interesting thing to navigate when we first arrived here! Not knowing much German provided some funny moments, as we tried to read the bus schedules and figure out which bus lines connected where, and how many transfers we had to make to get where we needed to go. We can buy 24-hour bus passes at our hostel, and the first time you get on the bus, you have to validate your ticket. But it’s not the same as using the T in Boston, where you can touch your Charlie card to the machine. Here, you have to put a paper ticket into a machine that punches the date on your card. We had to ask a nice German woman to help us the first time, but now we’re pros. And one of the good things about a bus making so many stops? If you get off one stop too early or one stop too late, you can easily walk to the right stop to catch the next bus. 

And the train - a very nice way to travel to areas outside of Salzburg! We discovered it’s better to reserve a seat; otherwise, you find yourself wandering from seat to seat, looking for a free one. If you do reserve a seat, you are obliged to awkwardly ask the person sitting there to move - and often they will put up a stink about it. Again, eliciting the help of a kind German-speaker will expedite this process. After only a week in Salzburg, we’re ironing out the quirks of transportation!

German Thought and Culture Class

Our morning class introduces us to the overall picture of German-Austrian thought. Through multiple guest-lecturers, we are shown an interdisciplinary approach to our topic. For example, Professor Pamela Thuswaldner introduced us to the city and the German language, and visiting professor Jim Zingarelli walked us through the history of church art and architecture. Not only does each class generate questions and discussion in class, but afterwards we find ourselves thinking and talking about the ideas presented, even during lunch. There is something beautiful about hearing so many conversations going on at the same time, and each student and faculty member brings a new light to the topics. Those who love music converse with those who love the visual arts, and historians are able to inform those who love philosophy. This is one of the most important aspects of the program: through interdisciplinary dialogue, we are coming to grips with the fact that we all bring something to the Kingdom of God. Our faith is not static, and it is through these conversations and international experiences that we are allowed to explore the depth of God’s purpose, for each of us, as well as collectively.

Photos of Jenz Zimmermann, Canada Research Chair in Interpretation, Religion, and Culture at Trinity Western University.

Dr. Zimmermann lectured on Humanism in our morning class.

Our Night at the Fortress

Hohensalzburg Castle (the Fortress)

Overlooking the city is the Hohensalzburg Castle. Originally built as protection for the Archbishop from the emperor, the castle is a conglomeration of architecture spanning 900 years. On Saturday, our second night in Salzburg, we took the funicular to the top up to the fortress. What a beautiful experience! It is a steep climb, and the if you look out of the cars as you ascend, the city comes into view. Our dinner reservations were for 7:00 (or 19:00 if you’re using Austrian time) at the Panorama Restaurant, an elegant place to eat in an outbuilding of the castle. We got there a little early, so we were able to stand along the edge of the wall and look at Salzburg. The rooftops were beautiful - pieces of artwork in and of themselves - all at different levels and varying colors. Even the Dome (the largest cathedral in Salzburg) seemed small from where we stood. 

At 7:00, we went into the restaurant, where we were seated by the windows. We had a delicious meal of salmon and vegetables, with good bread and “mineralwasser.” The combination of good food, great company, and a gorgeous view made the night memorable!

A group shot with Mrs. Tupper on the steps of our hostel!

Welcome to Salzburg!

Mozart Statue

It was the perfect day for a tour - sunny and warm, with a breeze drifting through the Salzburg. We set out from our hotel on Aigner Strasse and headed to Old City, crossing the big bridge to meet our tour guide near the Mozart monument. Our guide wore lederhosen, the traditional Austrian clothing for men, and told us a brief history of Salzburg. Near the Mozart monument was a large fountain in the Italian style, and it is easily the most beautiful fountain in Salzburg. Our guide told us that Italy has heavily influenced Austrian art and architecture, and many of the sites we visited were reminiscent of something we would see in Rome. 

Fountain outside the Dome

We walked through the Dome, the largest cathedral in Salzburg, and the church where Mozart was the organist. In the foyer is a baptismal where Mozart was most likely baptized; it is a conglomeration of eras, with pieces from Roman times all the way to the 1950s when the lid was reconstructed after WWII. Not only did the cathedral have five organs, but the walls and ceilings were covered in intricate paintings depicting the life of Christ. Walking down the aisle and standing beneath the dome that seemed to reach the sky was humbling, and immediately we felt surrounded by the rich history of Christianity. After the Dome, our guide took us to see the oldest bakery in Salzburg; the smell of sweet bread wafted up from the bakery and into the sunlight, and we knew we’d be back to buy some later! We walked through St. Peter's cemetery, and there is nothing like it in America. It was more like a beautiful, immaculately kept garden than a cemetery, with festooning flowers, green grass, and winding cobblestone paths. The grave markers were small and artistic, not large stone, and not one of them was neglected. Windows lined the walls of the mountain, and our guide told us that monks would escape to these rooms hidden in the mountains for certain religious practices. There was an air of rich history and romance in the cemetery, and we could have spent hours reading the stones and wondering about the people’s lives.

                                                                                                                                  
                                        
                                                                             


                                                                                   
One of the five organs in the Dome 


From here we went to St. Peter’s church, but this time it was in the rococo style - gold and elaborate sculptures covered the walls and pillars. Outside this church we were pleasantly surprised by a visiting women’s choir. Their concert dress was very different from ours; most wore long white dresses, and some wore black suits. After they performed a piece for us, we went to the Mirabell Gardens. This was by far one of the most beautiful places, with its fountain and large pool, tree-lined walkway, and flower gardens. The gardeners had mixed thyme and sage with bright red begonias and yellow daisies, reminding us that often gardens were seen as beautiful as well as practical. Here we found the steps that Maria von Trapp in “Sound of Music” dances on. As Susanna Young, a senior Art Major at Gordon College said, “Salzburg is a foreign city to me, but its beauty and romance makes it feel familiar.”


             

Fountain in the Mirabell Gardens