You only see what you know (Goethe)
This locomotive ÖBB 1040.09, built in 1951, forms an exhibit at the Waldviertel Railway Museum (Waldviertler Eisenbahnmuseum) in Sigmundsherberg. In addition to Austrian railway history, you also see an exhibition about the Sigmundsherberg POW camp from WWI. [German]
Have you ever been misguided by your navigation system? People living in Weissenbach an der Triesting are obviously so kind as to give us a hint this is the wrong route. Weissenbach is a small place in the Austrian state of Lower Austria (Niederösterreich).
A particular program point of the Vienna Classic Days 2014 was a parade of all participating cars along the Ringstraße. Unfortunately a heavy rain took place just at that very moment. Well, perhaps the water spray around all those classic cars made this event even more exciting. [German]
The nail man (Wehrmann in Eisen) was erected in 1915, to raise funds for widows and orphans of fallen soldiers. Each donor was allowed to drive a nail into the wooden figure. Today the figure is located under the arcades of the Felderhaus next to the Vienna City Hall. [German]
On certain days one can watch the Hoch- und Deutschmeister band in Vienna playing in their traditional uniforms of before 1918. This military band has its origins in the k.u.k. Lower Austrian Infantry Regiment Hoch- und Deutschmeister No. 4. [German]
View of Lambach Abbey taken on a train journey from Salzburg to Linz. The abbey is a Benedictine monastery. The Baroque theater inside the building is considered as the oldest still in use theater in Austria. [German]
Have you ever listened to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart inside a castle? At Tabor Manor (Schloss Tabor) in Neuhaus am Klausenbach I enjoyed his opera buffa ‘The Marriage of Figaro‘. It was fascinating to listen to the genius music of Mozart and to watch the full moon moving above the stage. [German]
Rotenturm Manor (Schloss Rotenturm), a romantic-eclectic building with Moorish forms in Rotenturm an der Pinka, was built by architect Antal Weber for Stephan Graf Erdődy in the years 1862/64. [German]
To my surprise, one of the frescoes at the church of Altenburg Abbey (Stift Altenburg) includes a dragon. The creator of these frescoes was Paul Troger.
On my walk through the basement vaults of Altenburg Abbey I came across this reconstruction of a Gothic tower stove. While unearthing the old monastery, the workers discovered 62 tiles showing Bible stories, saints, emblems and symbols. They were probably created in the years between 1480 and 1510.
The former Zell Manor (Schloss Zell) houses a hotel today: “Das Schloss an der Eisenstrasse“. The hotel name refers to the region’s history, where many ironworking plants settled along the main road.
After a walk through the seven gardens of Klosterneuburg Monastery (Stift Klosterneuburg) near Vienna, I also visited the orangery of the monastery. Inside, an old world map surprised me. It showed an expedition route of the Austrian ship ‘SMS Novara’.