Bratislava, Slovakia

Day 4: Vienna | Habsburg Summer Palace The Historic Centre of Vienna is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This morning we took enjoy a scenic bus tour of Vienna with Regina as our guide. Along the way, we stopped to visit the famous Hundertwasser House which is quite a unique and shocking juxtaposition to the regal baroque architecture. Christian really liked it….very artsy and contemporary. There truly are no straight lines in the structure. Even the sidewalks are uneven and curve about and up and down. Curvy stairs lead to a very unique bathroom with broken mirrors and jagged cobblestone floors. We then went on to tour the Upper Belvedere Gallery. We viewed numerous pieces by Gustav Klimt (1862 Vienna – 1918 Vienna). There are a collection of 24 portraits, landscapes, and allegorical scenes by this renowned Austrian painter. The Belvedere houses the world’s largest collection of oil paintings by Klimt. His portrait ,The Kiss, features him and his (lesbian) friend Amelia. A co-founder of the Secession and initiator of both the Kunstschau of 1908 and the Internationale Kunstschau of the subsequent year, Klimt contributed considerably to the international avant-garde’s breakthrough in Vienna. The Belvedere’s collection illustrates Klimt’s development from his initial attempts at Historicism to his Secessionist style and late period, in which he also responded to Fauve influences and the younger generation of Austrian artists, including Egon Schiele. His most well known painting, The Kiss, is on display here. Enjoyed the art by Giovanni Segatini’s painting of mothers rejecting their babies. Another interesting painting by Sonja Knips features a hidden image of a horse which was the symbol of sexuality in 1897. The Baroque artists main tasks were to provide works for churches and monasteries. The term “Mesmerizing” comes from the sculptor Messerschmidt, a physician who suffered from psychological complex and made busts of faces with various expressions. Lunch and the afternoon were free time so we enjoyed room service and a nap before taking a walk through the shopping area near our hotel. On our evening bus outing, we passed by the Secession building, an art nouveau building where artists displayed their works of modern art. In 1896, Gustav Klimt and a number of other artists quit the conservative Künstlerhaus and founded a new art association called the Secession. The building of the same name was completed in 1898. This evening we went with Regina to Schönbrunn Palace, where a six-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once performed for the Viennese Royal Court. It was fabulous as it was an exclusive after-hours private tour so the 7 of us had the entire Palace to ourselves. Sadly, no photography is allowed inside the palace. We finished the evening by dining as a group in the wine cellar of Huth Italian restaurant. Hotel Sacher Wien | Meals: B D VIENNA BRIEF HISTORY Vienna developed from early Celtic and Roman settlements into a Medieval and Baroque city, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, as well as the late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks. HUNDERTWASSE HOUSE VIENNA The Hundertwasser House in Vienna is one of Austria’s architectural highlights. The house designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser draws visitors from around the world. The colorfully decorated exterior façade of Hundertwasser House in Vienna draws attention to itself almost magically and hardly a straight line is to be found here. The official name of the building, which many people simply call Hundertwasser House, is actually Hundertwasser-Krawina House. Josef Krawina is an Austrian architect and was heavily involved in the planning of the Hundertwasser House in Vienna. The extraordinary building was constructed between 1983 and 1985. The City of Vienna gave Krawina, his co-architect Peter Pelikan and the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser free rein in the architectural implementation and design. The extravagant result is known around the world today. Anyone who lives in the Hundertwasser House also has the right to decorate the façade around the windows entirely to their own taste. This makes the house on Vienna’s Kegelgasse even more lively. More than 200 trees and shrubs on the balconies and roof terraces make the Hundertwasser House a green oasis in the heart of the city. More than 200 trees and shrubs on the balconies and roof terraces make the Hundertwasserhaus a green oasis in the heart of the city. The Hundertwasserhaus can only be viewed from THE UPPER BELVEDERE GALLERY The Upper Belvedere primarily had a representative function at the time of the Prince and served as an imperial painting gallery from the second half of 1770’s. For this purpose, the paintings were brought from the Stallberg to the Upper Belvedere after 1776, where they were accessible to the public. The Upper Belvedere houses the impressive collection of Austrian art dating from the Middle Ages to the present day. At the heart of the displays of art around 1900 is the world’s largest Gustav Klimt collection. The glittering highlights are Klimt’s golden pictures Kiss and Judith, and masterpieces by Schiele and Kokoschka. Prominent works by the French Impressionists and the outstanding collection of Viennese Biedermeier paintings are further attractions at the Upper Belvedere. Gustav Klimt, 1862 Vienna – 1918 Vienna Owning altogether 24 works – portraits, landscapes, and allegorical scenes – by this renowned Austrian painter, the Belvedere houses the world’s largest collection of oil paintings by Klimt. A co-founder of the Secession and initiator of both the Kunstschau of 1908 and the Internationale Kunstschau of the subsequent year, Klimt contributed considerably to the international avant-garde’s breakthrough in Vienna. The Belvedere’s collection illustrates Klimt’s development from his initial attempts at Historicism to his Secessionist style and late period, in which he also responded to Fauve influences and the younger generation of Austrian artists, including Egon Schiele. PALACE AND GARDENS OF Schönbrunn  The site of the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn is outstanding as one of the most impressive and well preserved Baroque ensembles of its kind in Europe. Additionally, it is a potent material symbol of the power and influence of the House of Habsburg over a long period of European history, from the end of the 17th to the early 20th century. A small hunting lodge and later summer residence of the Habsburg family was rebuilt after total destruction during the last Turkish attack in 1683. During construction work the project was expanded into an Imperial summer residence of the court. As such it represents the ascent and the splendour of the Habsburg Empire. At the peak of Habsburg power at the beginning of the 18th century, when imperial Vienna following the Turkish reflected its regained significance in spectacular examples of newly developing Baroque art, Schönbrunn was one of the most important building projects of the capital and residency.The ample Baroque gardens with their buildings (Gloriette, Roman ruins etc.) and statuary testify to the palace’s imperial dimensions and functions. The original intention, when they were laid out in the 18th century, was to combine the glorification of the House of Habsburg with a homage to nature. The Orangery on the east side of the main palace building is, at 186 m, the longest in the world. The Great Palm House is an impressive iron-framed structure, 114 m long and divided into three Sections, erected in 1880 using technology developed in England.Criterion (i): The Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn are an especially well preserved example of the Baroque Princely residential ensemble, which constitute an outstanding example of Gesamtkunstwerk, a masterly fusion of many art forms.Criterion (iv): The Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn are exceptional by virtue of the evidence that they preserve of modifications over several centuries that vividly illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.Integrity With the exception of some minor alterations dating from the 19th century, the property includes all elements of the Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn. The property is of such a size it offers a complete representation of Imperial Palace features. None of the attributes within the property are under threat. However the visual integrity of the property is vulnerable to high-rise developments in Vienna.AuthenticityThe original building has been expanded and modified considerably since it was built, to suit the tastes and requirements of successive imperial rulers. No significant changes have been made to the structures themselves since the work on the facades commissioned by Franz I at the beginning of the 19th century. The furnishings and decoration of the Imperial apartments, the theatre, the Chapel, and other important components are wholly authentic. The structure of the Baroque park layout is also virtually untouched, and traditional 18th century techniques are still used for trimming its trees and bushes. Schönbrunn became, as it were, frozen in time in 1918 when it became the property of the Republic of Austria. Since that time, the form that it possessed in 1918 has been faithfully retained, both in the original fabric and decoration and in the restoration following wartime damage. The complex of the Palace and park may be considered to be an outstanding example of Gesamtkunstwerk because of the way in which it has preserved intact the originality of its architecture, the design and furnishings of the Palace, and the spatial and visual relationship of the buildings to the park. People are able to rent apartments within the premises. Chamber hunter- the name for exterminators!