Ahh. The holiday season behind us, the Wiehnachtsbaum properly recycled, and the children back at AIS, my time is but my own once again. Not that I am becoming spoiled, or any such business like that.
Yesterday's gray and fog surrounded me in Wieden, Vienna's 4th district and home to the Naschmarkt, one of Vienna's oldest and now very touristy-popular markets. In search of ya cai, an essential ingredient for Sichuan Dan Dan noodles (a requested meal for this week), I plotted my course through the district, also notable for its Asian grocery markets.
This artwork caught my eye, but as I have learned, in addition to Gemeindebau there exist Eigentumswohnungen, something like what we in the US refer to as condominiums. Following the war people with means could purchase, rather than rent, these units. I can not find any database or other compendium discussing the art on these buildings, so we'll all just have to make do with the photos for now.
Ditto for this one.
My first Kunst am Bau of the day. 1963-1965. The three-part "Abstract Composition" by a Slovakian artist.
1949-1950. Sometimes the art is sculpture, as in the case of this group of bears. Lovingly defaced with graffiti, as well.
1955-1957. On the site of a former hospital significantly damaged during WWII, this mosaic resides on the municipal kindergarten, showing, but of course, children at play. The building, Bertha-von-Suttner Hof, is so named for the Czech Countess, Austrian Novelist, and first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. So there.
1950-1951. A three part "Sgraffito" titled, "Brick Production"
Along the same street, around the corner, and up and around, more Eigentumswohnungen. Pretty, but with no available history to share.
The Viennese are rightly proud of fending off the Turks in 1683, and throughout the city one can find various Denkmal, or monuments to that period in time. This one at the corner of Kolschitskygasse and Favoritenstraße is of Georg Franz Kolschitsky, a popular figure during Vienna's second siege and, it is believed, also the founder of Vienna's first coffee house. Finding this kind of stuff is so much cooler than most anything I've encountered in guidebooks.
Whoops. I crossed Blechturmgasse (yes, the name sounds funny to me in English, too. Just like Kolschitskygasse sounds) and stepped into Vienna's 5th District, Margarten. Consider this a sneak preview for another outing.
Near to my destination was this somewhat dreary stone relief, titled, "Naschmarktleben" (Naschmarkt Life). Although my Sichaun Dan Dan noodles necessary component mission was a success, I was diverted by the fresh Holy Basil Paste I spied at a grocer and prepared a Thai dish for dinner instead. That's how it goes.
Dear Victoria, I can help you out with photo7/12. The upper mosaique (?) shows a
ReplyDeletewell known illustration of the early 6'ts, " Vienna 2000" and the lower one a view of
Florianikirche ( Rauchfangkehrerkirche, because St. Florian is the patron saint of
chimney-sweapers ), a victim to the modernization craze of the 6'ts. It was demolished in 1965, to make place for an ugly hole for undergound streetcars ( Ustraba, Untergrundstrassenbahn ). Technically unneceassary, it made a stir in the population, 13.000 petitions were gathered, but to no end.
I don't like the 4'th, being from the 2'th ( viennese people are quite territorial ), too
bourgeois for my taste, and to be honest, too ugly.
Kolschitzky was polish and suppose you know it. Europe should be proud of him.
Regards, reo
Dear reo, I am starting to wonder if I should invite you along on my Gemeindebau outings. ;) As always, your comments help fill in the many knowledge gaps I create roaming about your city. Thank you.
DeleteI can not comment on the territoriality of the districts, or their aesthetics, as I have not visited them all yet. Though, I can say that even my stuffy and pretentious part of Döbling can charm me on a good day.
Cheers.
Dear Victoria-why not? If you put Rabenhof ( my favorite Gemeindebau ) at your
ReplyDeleteagenda, I'll join you. The 3'd district is one of my liking; I lived there for some years as a boyfriend, then as a father in a street which is supposed to be on the spot where Richard the Lionheart was being captured ( Löwenherzgasse ). My poor artists studio is very near, some coffee could be offered ( dogs welcome ).
My judgement about the 4th district was a bit polemic - there's just no personal narrative to the place, no kids-stories, no teenage-scandals, no adult-dramas. Blind. Inconnected. And I wrote my post after a dinner very arrosé, so please
pardon my misspellings.
Cheers, reo
reo, I appreciate all of your comments. I am probably out of line with my words about Döbling. :) Will let you know when I make my way into the 3rd.
DeleteWhat, the Ottoman Turks managed to stay in Vienna until 1863? Did Prince Eugene secretly host them at the Belvedere? ;-)
ReplyDeleteIndeed. The ghosts of the Ottoman Turks float through Belvedere. :) Thanks for catching the error.
Delete