History--Sunday in Vienna

I'm sure you can guess the dream Jerry has if he finds himself in Vienna, Austria on a Sunday...that's right, attending mass featuring The Vienna Boys Choir. That dream came true this morning at 9:30! We walked over to the Imperial Palace, the city/winter home of the Habsburgs, to attend mass in the chapel there. Until 1918, the Hofburg was the center of the gigantic Habsburg empire. Originally planned as a lavish “Imperial forum”, the grounds were built up majestically by the Habsburg emperors – from the 13th century "Alte Burg" to the most recent addition from around 1900. Today, the Hofburg in Vienna is the official seat of the Austrian President.We lined up only for five minutes and bought 5 euro tickets to enter the chapel and get a seat. I had read earlier that no matter how much you spend on your ticket, you cannot see the choir, because of the way this chapel is constructed and the location of the choir loft. So we happily headed up to the third floor balcony and were seated in a spot with a great view of the large flat screens monitors that are positioned around the seats. The mass is projected onto the screen, and when the choir was signing, the camera showed them, often zooming in on the soloists. And of course, while seeing is nice, it is hearing that you are there for, and that works out fine from any seat! The music is played by some members of the Vienna symphony orchestra, and additional members of the symphony chorus sing as well. The mass was in Latin and Austrian, and we were able to follow it a bit. We certainly knew when to kneel and stand, and we were able to say the Our Father at the right time. It was just wonderful. We were given communion by a priest who came right up to our section. After mass ended, the boys choir filed out onto the altar and did one song so that everyone could see them, and that was that! We had a bit of time to explore the chapel before mass, and Danny saw the choir warming up and some of the musicians as well.

stairs leading up,and up, to the chapel

a sneak peek into the rehearsal room. we learned that the choir used to wear soldier uniforms, but when they were no longer under the emperor in the early 1900's, the fashion of the day for boys was sailor suits, so that is what they wear to this day. Donald Duck was born around the same time!

looking down at the altar from our balcony, though we were at the rear and could not see this during mass

auditioning for the choir!

In spite of predictions to the contrary, the weather was colder still, with a sharp wind and steel gray skis. We decided that it would be a museum day, and we chose to visit a group of them located on the grounds of the Imperial Palace. The Collection of Arms and Armor, The Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments  and the Ephesus museum. Our first stop, with Danny leading the charge, was the Weapons Armory! The artfully decorated arms, suits of armor and saddles in the Armory in the Imperial Palace represent many centuries of European history. The gold sword of Maximilian II (1527-1576), one of the most beautiful pieces of weaponry in the world, is on display, as is the splendid suit of armor of King Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516).

Highly political events such as military campaigns, imperial diets, tributes, coronations and weddings were occasions to create new objects. The Emperors had new armor made for their sons too. Almost all western European dynasties are represented with objects from the fifteenth century to the early twentieth century.

The high artistic quality of the objects is due to the representational requirements of the rulers and their vassals. The suits of armor on display are without exception made by the most renowned armor makers, who often used designs of such famous artists as Dürer or Holbein for the magnificent etchings. The collection is the largest in the world, and amazingly well preserved and we certainly learned a ton about suits of armor, as well as guns,swords,jousting,tournaments and more. It was very interesting!

even the mounts wore ceremonial garb and padding

a suit for a young prince

 We took a lunch break at the cafe near the hotel, then Jerry headed back to the room to work on his presentation and Danny and I dove back in! Our next stop was the Ephesus Collection.The greatness and splendor of antique Ephesus (Turkey) come to life in the latest addition to the Imperial Palace – for a journey through time full of contrasts.

From the 70-meter-long Parthian Frieze,  – a panorama of military scenes with brilliant depictions of battle, hunt, the art of riding, and victory. In addition to this important relief, which bears witness to Roman times in Asia Minor (2nd century AD), one can admire many valuable records of a sunken culture.
Architecture models of the City of Ephesus and individual buildings provide  insight into the architecture of antiquity. Danny and I had never heard of this place/culture. They did say in one of the displays that the apostle Paul spent two years living there (Paul's letter to the Ephesians?). We learned a ton in this museum as well.

 But lest we stop there...it was on to the Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments.

We were able to admire the instruments on which such musicians as Beethoven and Chopin once entertained the imperial family. We also saw the zither on which Anton Karas played his world-renowned melody for the film “The Third Man.”This is a film which is referenced all over the city,ie:at this cafe Graham Greene worked on the film script for The Third Man, and we have never seen it. We are planning a viewing when we get back home!The string, wind and keyboard instruments were not only treasured for their beautiful sound but also for their looks: the highly artistic instruments – especially the collection from the Renaissance era – mirror the splendor of the Habsburg empire. One acoustic highlight is the only original recording of the Johann Strauss Orchestra in the world. 

some early tubas

a giraffe piano

they had one cool piano that you could play!

At all three of these museums there was a free audio guide which was extremely informative. We especially liked the descriptions at the musical instrument collection as they included loads of music samples and we could here how the old instruments sounded. Maybe Danny can get extra credit in band?!  On our way back to the hotel we found an Aida! Hooray! So of course we went for a coffee! And I talked Danny into a bonbon even though he wasn't hungry. I say when you're in Vienna, eat pastries!

AIDA! and it's warm in here....

Jerry was meeting colleagues who were arriving for the start of the meeting in the hotel lounge, and Danny and I were happy to hang out in the room and relax after all the walking and learning--our heads and and feet hurt!!