Myself and three of my friends went to the palace on Saturday with the intention of seeing not only the magnificent building but also the famous gardens. We took the audio tour that guided us through some of the palaces many rooms where we got to learn some fascinating history. It was to be the magnificent seat of power for the Habsburg monarchy, and thus only a large and beautiful estate would suffice. Construction began in 1696 and took more than three years to complete. Schonbrunn is heavily tied to Maria Theresia, as she took residence there for a majority of her rule and fought the War of Austrian Secession from its rooms. She ordered that the gardens be reshaped into the Rococo style which emphasized elegance and refinement. Schonbrunn was also the birth place of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in the 19th century. He spent the majority of his 68-year reign residing in the palace and even died in it in 1916. Since the 1960s, it has become a prominent tourist spot for visitors from around the world. The tour was interesting enough, but it was the walk through the gardens that we most enjoyed. We climbed to the top of the hill to overlook the palace and Vienna before we played around the fountain. After some time lounging about and admiring the amazing piece of history in front of us, we headed out.
The next day we met up with some of our other friends at the movie theaters to see “The Third Man.” It is a film noir made in 1949 about an American named Holy who comes to a bombed-out Vienna after WWII to seek a job that he was offered by a friend named Mr. Lime. Upon arriving in Vienna he discovers that his friend has been run over by a truck, but he unravels some unusual circumstances behind his death. The British police are accusing Lime of smuggling illegal and unsafe medicine to the hospitals, which Holy can’t believe. After getting heavily involved in the case, he discovers that Lime is alive and is indeed responsible for the transport of illegal medicine. Holy helps the police find Lime, and in the end Holy ends up firing the killing blow on his old friend Lime. It was a fantastic movie, I have to admit. Modern murder-mysteries get far too involved in their own image that they all blend together and seem the same. This film successfully incorporated humor and wit that made it a much more rich experience. It is also much more realistic about the events; one could believe that something like Holy’s experience could actually happen to someone. He even gets rejected by the girl in the end! I plan on finding more movies like this one when I get back home.
The last stop during this weekend was to the Wien museum, where I planned on looking at some Biedermeier art work. According to Beller, this artistic style is unique because it has pretty solid dates: 1815 to 1848. It focused on images of the domestic as peaceful and tranquil. The art produced during this time-period is often of families lounging. The architectural style also mirrors this simplicity. In the museum, they have a recreation of a Biedermeier flat. It, honestly, looks rather plain. There is not much to describe except that it obviously favors simplicity and elegance in its design. It was abruptly brought to an end by the outbreak of the German revolutionary period in 1848, when people could no longer take solace in the calming art and architecture. I do not like this style at all. As a person I enjoy things which make me think and that surprise me, and Biedermeier aims to do exactly the opposite. The purpose behind it is to lull people into a sense of security in the status quo, which is not something that I like to do. Jan described it as the SpongeBob Squarepants of its time, and I am inclined to agree. I much prefer the works of Klimt and the secessionists than of the Biedermeier movement.
All in all, it was a fun weekend and we got to see many things that we had never experienced before. We are about to enter the last week!
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