Something to Declare

July 12 – 13, 2024: First Foray Into Vienna

Arrived in Vienna on Friday, July 12. Decided to eschew the taxi or Uber, and get to the AirBnB by mass transit. Turns out there is a rapid transit service from VIE to downtown called “CAT” (City Airport Train), which is non-stop and takes 16 minutes. From there to the local subway (UBahn), then a short walk to our AirBnB in the Mariahilf district.

Our lovely apartment has a private back yard.

Saturday, up and out to seek the highly-touted food and produce market, the Naschmarkt. Then we moved along to the nearby Secession, the museum that commemorates and celebrates the “Secession” movement that emerged in the art world in Vienna, Berlin and Munich in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The Secession was led by so-called rebel artists, like Gustav Klimt (my personal favorite), Franz von Stuck, and Max Liebermann (and many others), who broke with tradition and created the style called art nouveau or Jugendstil (roughly, “style of youth”). The motto of the movement was set forth on the outside of the building, “Der Zeit Ihre Kunst, Der Kunst Ihre Freiheit” (“to each time its art, to each art its freedom”).

The focal point of the Secession Museum is Klimt’s masterpiece, “The Beethoven Frieze.” Originally painted in 1902 for a Secessionist exhibit dedicated to Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” the frieze was then disassembled and later reinstalled on a lower floor of the Secession Museum. It consists of three large panels. The first panel contains three figures, entreating a golden knight to protect mankind’s happiness. There are two female figures above the knight, said to represent “ambition” and “compassion.”

The next panel displays the forces which militate against mankind’s unhappiness, e.g., an ape-like monster with blue wings and a snake’s tail (“Typhon”), to the left of whom are females representing Madness, Disease and Death.

To the right of Typhon are figures representing Lust and Lechery and Intemperance, and another (farther to the right) representing Grief:

The final panel shows a choir of angels, to the right of whom are an embracing man and woman. This is said to represent the “Ode to Joy” in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, where the of happiness of mankind is achieved at last, through Art. Whew! Impressive.

After lunch at the nearby Museum Café, we proceeded to the Wien Museum, where there was an installation also commemorating the Secessionists. Along the way was the Baroque Karlskirche (“Charles Church”).

Most of the Wien Museum is dedicated to the history, through art, of the City of Vienna. Following a major renovation and expansion, it reopened this past December.

Exhibits include an eclectic installation of sculptures and an imperial carriage from the reign of Emperor Charles (mid-18th Century), suspended from the ceiling.

The top floor of the Wien Museum contains the exhibit dedicated to the Secessionists, including some more Klimts, like the full-length portrait of Emilie Flöge, Austrian fashion designer and businesswoman who also happened to be Klimt’s “life companion:”

Klimt, whose 162nd birthday happens to be July 14, fathered 14 children (none with Emilie). Happy birthday, Gustav!

Tomorrow, we’re planning to take a walking tour of the old city center, a tram tour of the iconic Ring Road, and the Freud Museum.