This week Anne Thun-Hohenstein
took WA members to the Jewish Museum. General Director, Dr. Danielle Spera, received the group including spouses in the museum and spoke about her interesting life and splendid career.
A very precious visit to the Winterpalais (Prinz Eugene of Savoy)…
…. was just offered by Martha Hanreich: a guided visit through the exhibition “Heavenly! The Baroque Sculptor Johann Georg Pinsel”.
Little is known about his life, origins and training, says our enthousiastic coordinator, Martha. His date and place of birth are buried in obscurity. He became a central figure in Lemberg´s Baroque sculpture, which between 1740 and 1790 reached an extremely high artistic level and amazing homogeneity in terms of style. Worked with the architect Bernard Meretyn, he decorated primarily churches between Lviv and Buchach with his imposing sculptures in wood and stone. The powerful expressivity of his figures not only derives from their facial expressions and gestures, but also and above all from the opulence of their garments. The exhibition shows twenty exhibits by Pinsel and his studio as well as works from Austrian painters of the Late Baroque (Franz Anton Maulbertsch and Paul Troger).
Advent Concert in French Embassy
This year’s invitation – once again – came from Ambassador Pascal Teixeira da Silva and his charming wife Pascale into the French residence. Vienna based Nicolai Quartett entertained with Josepf Haydn and Johannes Brahms, with the unique sound of the Vienna Philharmonics: all four quartett members are part of the string crew in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra!
NICOLAI QUARTETT (© B. Dinkhauser)
Come and see,
Be a member of Welcome to Austria!
(more photos to come)
An unfinished life
A film on the life of Austrian composer Eric(h) Zeisl, who had to flee from Vienna to the USA in 1938, including original amateur film sequences featuring the composer, his wife and daughter, Arnold Schoenberg and his family, and Maria Altmann and Arnold Schoenberg, main protagonists in the complicated law suit around the restitution of the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I („The Lady in Gold“). Zeisl ́s daughter Barbara Zeisl-Schoenberg, daughter in-law of the composer Arnold Schoenberg, will be present. Coordinated by Dr. Elisabeth Wolff, Dr. Karin Wagner moderated the presentation.
At the Department for the Protection of Monuments
Coordinated by Honorary President, Gabrielle Schallenberg, President Barbara Neubauer, Head of the Department for the Protection of Monuments, received WA members in the Ancestor’s Gallery of the Hofburg. A highly interesting powerpoint projection of the restauration work done on architectural monuments in Austria gave a pertinent insight to Austrian heritage issues.
Monthly Jour Fixe
for accredited diplomats to meet WA members: informal networking lunch at Café Landtmann, Universitätsring 4, 1010 Wien (Biedermeierzimmer), on the second Wednesday of each month, any time between 12:30 and 14:30. Menu € 12,50 or à la carte. Organized by Aglaë Hagg-Thun, Second Vice President
Vienna at Home
Renate Christiani saw eight nations around the table of her traditional ” Vienna-at-Home- Wiener Jause” tea party
for new Club members Austrian specialities, such as “Vanilla Kipferl”, “Linzertorte” and “Esterhazy Torte” were served.
The conversation was lively and the cozy atmosphere was further
enhanced by a lovely performance of pianist Ryoko Tajika-Drei,
our Club member from Japan.
Discovery Tour to Seestadt Aspern (Architecture)
Coordinator Anne Thun-Hohenstein organized a passionate guided tour tom one of Europe’s largest urban development projects – a new town as a mix of all round living, work and leisure facilities. After the visit a vivid discussion about urbanism, fashion and living standards animated the excellent lunch in what will once be the center of Seestadt Aspern.
“Italianità” – influence on creators of music north of the alps
“Knowst thou that land where the lemons bloom so fair?” Mag. Doris Flekatsch, musicologist and an expert in the field, held her conference in the premises of Welcome to Austria. Invited by coordinator Dr. Elisabeth Wolff she highlighted the influence of the innovative Italian styles of composition and performance. Italianità inspired creators of music over centuries. A most appreciated insight!
Carnuntum – Living rooms in and near Vienna 2000 years ago (WA Jeunes Familles)
In Carnuntum the ruins and reconstructions of a Roman Castrum give evidence of what this place close to Vienna, called Vindobona in Roman times, was like. It’s come to live for Welcome to Austria Jeunes Familles on the recent Austrian National Day just before winter will close the doors of the archeological park, museum and houses. Roman ladies in their drawing room, domestics in the bakery and kitchens where introduced in their historic habitat by ambassador Dr. Walter Hagg. Adapted for children this amateur archeologist and art historian took the families around in the Carnuntum settlement and took them even to the Heidentor, an emblem of Austrian – Pannonian – history. Received afterwards in the private home of Dr. Wolfgang and Carina Lafite the renowned Carnuntum wines with a delicious Heurigenjause and a visit to one of the oldest Romanesque Churches in Austria nearby the day closed at the banks of the Danube.
WA Jeunes Familles: Vintage Train Tour
Vintage Steam Engine from 1928
WA Jeunes Familles Tour Sept2016
“Das Heizhaus”, Starsshof, Driving on a Steam Engines Model
Children entering a maintenance car in Vintage Train Museum HEIZHAUS
General Assembly 2016
General Assembly 2016, Alois-Mock-Saal, BMEiA
Welcome to Austria 2016: Gabrielle Schallenberg, Hon. Vice President & Angelika Saupe-Berchtold, vice president
Aglaë Hagg, 2nd vice president & Elisabeth Wolff, many years of coordinator for music programs
from left: Gundega Miluts, Dagny Herheim, Joyce Freismuth, Rosanna Berti
Cuisine: Lunch at Elisabeth Sunley’s house
Elisaeth Sunley explaining her home cooked lunch with Austrian specialties
Invited at Elisabeth Sunley’s Haus for Austrian specialties homemade such as Tafelspitz, Wiener Schnitzel and Sachertorte
Funkhaus visit to FM4
Funhaus ORF, WA member Jeoffrey Skipper registering radio comment
Anna Skipper registering her poetry in ORF Funkhaus Erlebnisstudio
(Expect Radio comments to be published here)
Saturday, June 11, 2016
- First stop was the mausoleum of the famous General Radetzky in Heldenberg, continuing to Schloss Limberg where the internationally renowned artist Erwin Wurm showed his atelier. WA members enjoyed Erwin Wurm’s explanation of one of his sculptures
- Lunch at Schloss Rosenau was followed by a tour of Austria’s only Museum of Freemasonery.
- Near the Bohemian border Countess Kinsky welcomed WA members to the family’s imposing Burg Heidenreichstein which dates back to 1160.
- The Romantik-Hotel Gmünd provided food and overnight. HRH Andreas von Habsburg gave the Members a short talk on the history of Gmünd and in the morning he permitted us to have a glimpse of his private art collection.
Erwin Wurm’s atelier.
Inside the Masonic Temple
Burg Heidenreichstein
Romantik Hotel Gmünd
HRH Andreas von Habsburg private art collection
Sunday, June 12, 2016
- A walking tour of the charming walled town of Freistadt was followed by a visit to Kefermarkt’s Gothic church to admire the famous altar-piece, a jewel of Medival woodcarving.
- In the afternoon, the group viewed the historic Dyers’ House in Gutau, famous for its traditional indigo-printed textiles.
- The final stop was Grein, where the first visit was to the magnificent Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha castle overlooking the Danube.
- The weekend ended with a guided visit to the charming Baroque theatre in the centre of Grein.
Historic wooden blocks for printing indigo cottons
Freistadt’s landmark tower
Visit to Kefermarkt’s parish church
The Danube Valley at Grein
Inner courtyard at Grein Castle
Historic theater in Grein