August 2018 – a Photo a Day

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

Based on a promise to ‘Pay Attention‘, this is one of six blogs with the good intention is to publish a photo a day of my six month adventure in Vienna with a caption and thoughts on the image. Be patient and wait for the pictures load. August has no theme but I will be looking for good pictures over the past 5+ months that did not match the prevailing themes or that have artistic merit (well, at least to me).

August 17: My last photo of the day and one of the first I took in Vienna last March. A quiet moment on the Danube Canal with a young woman sitting in safety on the near shore and families out with their prams walking past tidy apartment buildings. In a single a few of the reasons Vienna has been voted the Economists most liveable Global city for 2018.

A quiet March 2018 moment in the worlds most liveable city.

August 16: A collage of corner buildings in Vienna. The question is, if you owned such an apartment, what would you put in such a room? A swivel chair to look out each of the 3+ sides in turn? Filled with plants to catch different sun locations or a series of cat-stands so Fluffly is never bored.

Collage of corner apartments

August 15: Two separate images of a large and now partially abandoned farm building.

The Road to the Farm.

Looking through the abandoned barn into the inner farm yard.

August 14: No, these are not little homes for elves. They are ventilation chimeys for the wine cellars built into the side of the hill. Above freezing in the winter and cool in the summer, they dot the Austrian country side. This particular group near Hohenau.

Ventilation shafts for underground wine cellars.

August 13: Having read the book The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham as a kid, I always find sunflowers to be particularly creepy – especially when they are part of a field as far as the eye can see and standing in military precision rows.

The Day of the Sunflowers…

August 12: Scenes from the FeCT 2018-08-12 Ride.

At the point where three countries borders meet, my trusty steed and some Carp gone wild!

Tri-corner where Austria, Slovakia and Hungry meet. I was Austrian and Gift (right) was feeling a bit more Hungari(an)

These guys were feeding bread crumbs to the Carp in the water. Those are not rapids but were instead a few hundred large carp fighting for the food.

The trusty steed at the Devin memorial

August 11: A winch attached to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Used (according to the book Secret Vienna) to winch asylum seekers up into the cathedral to avoid prosecution. As to who did the winching and why not remove the winch – details not available.

A winch and looking south east from St. Stephan’s cathedral.

August 10: A nick nacks shop within the courtyard formed by 3-4 buildings. A quiet and cool place on a hot summer day.

A quiet inner courtyard.

August 9: A free mason’s door complete with hanging stone… errr in case of earthquake perhaps find a different door way to shelter under.

The door to the free masons

August 8: occasionally you will see these signs and this one was outside of the literature museum in the inner city of Vienna. In four languages (English, French, Russian and German – the first three being the languages of the occupying powers) it reads: ‘Protected by the Convention of The Hague, dated 14 May 1954, for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict’. The Austrian Military even produced its own rules of engagement for managing cultural property in case of conflict.

Cultural Property afforded protection under international law.

August 7: Scooters are incredibly popular amongst the Viennese for getting around. Normally associated with a 10 year old, I have seen seniors, business men, professional women (complete with heels) and everyday Joe/Janes zip around on them. It makes sense as it allows you to cover a longer distance with less effort. For those wanting more ummphhh you can also buy electric scooters so you don’t need to exert yourself at all. Cost, in the 80-300EUR depending on quality, powered or not, etc.

Scooters for sale and a few individuals zipping about.

August 6: Add on Buildings: Both Vienna and the city where I grew up, Calgary, made the top 4 list of the 2018 most livable cities. By way of sustainability however, Vienna has Calgary through density. Vienna covers an area of 414.65 km2 (160.10 sq mi) while Calgary is double at 825.56 km2 (318.75 sq mi). Populations and respective densities are even further apart at 1,889,083/1,239,220 and 4,326.1/km2 (11,205/sq mi)/1,501.1/km2 (3,888/sq mi) respectively. One of the ways that Vienna is that much more dense is because of it builds up and then provides excellent public transit to service the population. Sometimes building up goes questionably wrong.

In the following montage are 4 buildings in which an additional floor has been added. In the bottom left, assuming the top floor was an addition, the penthouse flows nicely with the architecture. Bottom-middle has a top floor peaking up above the others but it sort of flows in an erect sort of way, bottom-right is germanic metal super-structure on an otherwise ordinary building. And then there is the flying wing. This gold doggish-thing apparently serves no purpose other than decorative and the Southeast exposure ensures the penthouse is an oven in the summer-heat. No wonder it has apparently gone unsold in over two years.

August 5: Scenes from the FeCT 2018-08-05 Ride.

Euro Velo 13: A new memorial sculpture commemorating those that died trying to cross the border during the Cold War was due to be unveiled. The visitors are given an early glimpse of this thought-provoking piece – each iron column represents one of the 53 people that died trying to escape along the Czech-Austrian border.

Heading North, the city of Mikulo in the distance.

Heading North

Wien Kellers

August 4:Two sides to the same statue, public art example.

August 3: Boats on the Danube.

Boat on the Danube near Klostenneuberg.

August 2: Another orphan, the main entrance to Ausgarten.

Ausgarten

August 1: An orphan from July-Photo-A-Day displaced by a district. On the road to Baden.

On the road to Baden

FeCT – 2018-08-05 – Too Much Heat

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

The is the second leg of riding about 500km of the Iron Curtain Trail or FeCT.

Too Much Heat in Rural Austria/Czech – Laa (60km)

Date:	August 5, 2018
Starting Point (via):	Laa Bahnhof
Weather	Sunny, hot and moderate to strong NW winds.
Route:	East from Laa with a small North jog into the Czech Republic (52km and all FeCT riding).

This was a fill in section and unfortunately I have small gap of about 10km. Alas the 35C temperatures and not wanting to miss a train both depleted me and forced the decision. As for the section, not bad. I would take the Austrian section between Retz and Laa over this bit but this is nitpicking.

The tour was was rural Austria/Czech at its best. Through in a few castles, ancient churches and you have yourself a great ride. Mostly on ashpalt but enough rough pavement and gravel to make you want to leave your pricey road bike at home. In fact a soft tail or shocks would have been good for these sections.

The route itself was through rolling hills and there was some good sections about the history of the Iron Curtain… with the catch that you have to be able to read Czech. The Czech side seemed a bit more developed than the section from Retz to Laa and there were lots of locals on their bikes with kids and large groups.

As for the Iron Curtain, it has largely disappeared other than the memorials and the occasional machine gun emplacement. This of course is a good thing and the whole point of this trail…

60km of the FeCT. Map courtesy of bikemap.net.

Laa to Hohenau (almost)

A Few Pics

Wien Kellers

Heading North into the town of Mikulov

The Score!

Date	Distance	Name	Impressions/Comments
2018-07-15	66 km	Retz to Laa	A great section with lots of things to see.
2018-08-05	60km	Laa to Hohenau (almost)	Rolling hills, lots of rural-ness.
2018-07-15	52.7 km	Hohenau to Friendship Bridge	Green and very flat; accessible from Vienna.
2018-08-12	10 km	Bernhardsthal to Hohenau am March	A stub ride to finish the gap.

The United Nations – Pension and After Service Health Fund

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

Most people never have to consider the challenges (and enormous benefits) of choosing to be an international public servant. That is an employee of an international organization.

For the duration of your employment you don’t typically pay taxes, nor do you pay into a national social security network such as the Canada Pension Plan or a health insurance program. When you are younger this seems like a great deal but what happens when you leave the service or when you retire? Do you have a pension, health insurance or other social benefits when you are no longer an international public servant?

The answer is… it depends and this is a look into the most well-known of the international organizations, the United Nations, and their post-employment employer benefits programs.

Pension Plan or Provident Fund

The United Nations offers a pension plan but some organizations (and nations) have taken a different direction, Provident Funds. Effectively a provident fund is a savings account

When I was contracting for NATO, for example, I recall staff being able to withdrawal from their provident fund to buy homes or pay for the children’s education. Obviously the details of each fund is very different but that is a potential advantage to an employee of a provident fund is the ability to make use of the resources earlier rather than waiting for retirement.

Unfortunately provident funds are seldom portable between organizations. Another challenge is that risk is not distributed. Thus for a person and family who remain healthy, they may retire and leave a nice inheritance to their children. Conversely if you/family become ill earlier in your life your provident fund may be quickly depleted.

A benefit to the employer is controlling the liability associated with the provident fund. They truly are a define contribution scheme meaning that the long-term liability ends after each monthly fund payment. On the other hand, a friend of mine moved to Malaysia and knows stories of older people having to go back to work after gambling away their lump sum provident fund payment. But back to the United Nations!

After Service Health Insurance (ASHI)

The United Nations offers two types of after-service benefits to its employees, a pension and health insurance. As a career organization, this makes sense and the portability of both of these programs is excellent. The pension fund is a defined benefit plan with a five year vesting periods. With ~$54B USD fund, the pension is generally considered to be fully funded although has been under criticism for its investments, governance and performance (e.g. see: The UN General Assembly Urges The 54 billion pension fund to shape up).

ASHI is another matter and represents a significant cost and liability to the United Nations. The following graphic provides a visual image of why this is a critical issue given that this one benefit represents nearly 90% of the total employee benefit liabilities. ASHI and the other long-service employee benefits have grown to the largest liability for the UN primarily because of ‘pay-as-you-go’ philosophy. All sources from the 2016 UN Financial Statements.

Analysis of UN long service employee benefits (2016 financial statements)

What can the Alberta Government learn?

The UN’s ASHI’s deliberation has a direct parallel to the current challenges of an aging population and funding medical needs. One of the primary challenges is moving from a pay-as-you-go to a fund-as-you-go model. Given the accumulation of public debt and the inclination in the western democratic tradition to focus on shorter time horizons, this solution may be a challenge. Nevertheless, the UN experience can be an excellent analog to inform public policy in Alberta (and Canada and elsewhere) on managing citizen (and public servant) costs.

FeCT 2018-07-21 – Wien Viertel with a touch of Czech

Posted on July 21, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

The is the second leg of riding about 500km of the Iron Curtain Trail or FeCT. The first blog, So it Begins, included an overview of the trail but let’s right to the ride.

Wien Viertel with a Touch of Czech – Retz to Laa (53km)

Date:	July 21, 2018
Starting Point (via):	Retz Bahnhof
Weather	Partially cloudy, moderate to strong south winds.
Route:	East from Retz with a small North jog into the Czech Republic (52km and all FeCT riding).

The section takes you through the Wien Viertel and includes lots of vistas, wine cellars, pretty little towns with a glimpse into the other side of the Czech border to make it interesting. East-west is down hill with one moderate climb in the middle. Trip notes:

The Austrian section is nearly 100% on trails or country roads.
Lots of zigs and zags so keep an eye out for signs but also carry a map (and either a GPS or google maps to complete the ensemble).
The Czech section is interesting by way of contrast but can be skipped if pressed for time or if the riders are not keen riding on the roads.
The Czech markers are fewer so extra attention is critical.
There is one sandy section otherwise in the Czech section. If you skip the Czech jog north you can safely ride it all with a road bike.
Lots of services as you go through numerous towns.
Consider stopping for local wine and definitely enjoy the cellars that dot both sides of the route.

FeCT Retz to Laa

52km of the FeCT. Map courtesy of bikemap.net.

A Few Pics

Top-Left, Clockwise: Me at the top of the one climb, an anti-climatic border crossing in the Czech Republic, Austrian Cycling Route signs and two cyclists head west across the rural landscape.

The Score!

Date	Distance	Impressions/Comments
2018-07-21	52.7 km	A great section with lots of things to see.
2018-07-15	66 km	Green and very flat; accessible from Vienna.

July 2018 – A Photo a Day

Posted on June 29, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

Theme for July: Vienna is divided into 23 districts each with its own name and corresponding number (see this interactive map from the City of Vienna). For us North Americans used to a grid based city, this system can be confusing as people with assurance talk about the 9th and 10th districts although they are no where near each other. For this photo-blog I may visited each district either in July or previously.

District	Date	District	Date	District	Date
1st	July 31	2nd	June 18	3rd	July 27
4th	July 24	5th	July 25	6th	May 12
7th	June 21	8th	July 8	9th	July 9
10th	July 10	11th	July 11	12th	July 12
13th	July 13	14th	July 14	15th	July 15
16th	July 16	17th	July 1	18th	July 18
19th	July 19	20th	July 20	21st	July 21
22nd	July 22	23rd	July 23

The first district to visit?. Why the 17th of course! Selected only for its very punny connection to Canada. But first an overview courtesy of a tongue in cheek community character map ‘The Vienna Expat survival guide: 13 ultimate tips for internationals moving to, or living in Vienna‘.

District Characters courtesy of http://www.viennawurstelstand.com

July 31: 1st District, the first and most central area occupying the last place in the month of July. I took one afternoon a tried to find streets I had not yet travelled. The results are (top left, clockwise): A mural commemorating a 750 year anniversary, Figlmuller – a fixture of the tourist trade, a wall mural, a statue on an art nouveau style building, idealized men on the same building, a wall mural nearly 300 years of an abby and finally the tragic figure of Emperor Franz Josef.

Six images of Vienna in the 1st district.

July 30: This picture is taken from where the Danube Canal separates from the main stream (top left) and an irrigation canal (top right), Marchfeld, starts its journey through agricultural land to return to the Danube just before Slovakia. To make the scene a bit more full throw in a few boats, a S-Bahn city train, a bridge supporting a major thorough fare and my bike just by one of the well marked cycling trail heading north out of Vienna (phew!).

A Picture is worth a 1,000 ways to travel… or something like that.

July 29: These are two separate example of social housing, public art and a feature of Viennese architecture – The building spanning the road. I decided to superimpose these two images as a comparison between a social housing project built in the 1950s and another built in the 1980s (back and fore ground). A consistent architecture feature is the raised building over the road entrance and then an inner courtyard (look carefully for the bike).

Old and newish public housing, street art and a bit of graffiti for good measure.

July 28: I don’t normally go too much into gimmicky photographic tricks but in this case I put my camera on an art mode by mistake and end up liking the results. Below are both images, one gimmicky and one normal.

A loan tree but with an artistic sky.

A lone tree sans gimmicks

July 27: Vienna has not one but two big friggin’ towers. The taller of the 2, the Danube Tower can be seen in the pictures from July 22nd below. The more mysterious is the the one lurking in the 3rd District where it dominates the skyline. According to the newspaper, Wiener Zeitung, requests to visit the tower are refused and little information is known about. Nevertheless one can visit by watching the Vienna. City Panorama Web Camera from the A1 Radio Tower/Arsenal Tower.

Vienna’s second tower, a building mural and the St. Nikolaus Cathedral (Russian Orthodox).

July 26: A little bit more from the town of Baden which was having a Weiss or White festival. Never before have I seen so many people in white and never has tomato based pasta sauce yearned to leap from nearby plates so much so as to colour those nice white clothes.

Weiss festival in Baden

July 25: The last time I lived in Vienna, I constantly rode through the 5th District and then later looked at it from my apartment windows. The district sprung up along the Vienna river and individual communities were amalgamated into one. If you look at the insert photo you will see Margaraten Street heading east towards Vienna. This is exactly what many small Austrian towns look like, buildings built right to the main street.

A classic building on Margareten Street and an insert of the same street show how it used to be a main street running towards Vienna.

July 24: the 4th District is in the SW corner and includes lots of residential areas. It also includes Karl’s Church and a monument given to the Austrians by the Soviets on the occasion of the withdrawal of occupying powers from Austria in 1955.

Building upon building of residential areas and a stair case to manage a change in gradient.

July 23: The last district in Vienna is the 23rd which is also the transition into the Vienna woods and beyond the Alps. The apartment building is the Wohnpark-Alterlaa which is a social housing complex that is essentially a small city within a city.

The Liesing or 23rd district complete with a city within a city complex.

July 22: The 22nd District is an interesting blend of shiny office towers, the UN Centre, car dealerships, suburban homes and recreation. It includes a national park along the Danube and is the largest of the districts. Lots of water sports on the Alte Donau.

22nd District, Office Towers, Neighbourhood PaTROLL.

July 21: The 21st district is the sister to the 22nd bordering the Alte Donau (old Danube, a former channel of the river). It has a more urban feel though with seemingly more social housing (such as the mosaic shown here) and numerous cement block apartments. For a bit of whimsy a street art in the insert.

21st Vienna District. Note that street art in the top right corner.

July 20: Two street scenes from the 20th district. What I like about these pictures is that the business names are all in German. Many current Austrian businesses have English names where as these are not only German proper nouns but descriptive nouns as well Wascheri+Putzereri (washing), Möbel (furniture) and angelsport (finding devine creatures).

Vignettes from the 20th District.

July 19: A few different scenes from the 19th district. the background is a social housing complex built during the occupation years. In this case the building was built in the US occupation zone. In laid is a corner statue from another building.

Statues from the 19th District.

July 18: 18th District. The original city rail road with an Otto Wagner style bridge. If you notice below the bridge, a shuttered business which is common along the railway as this seems to be an area of lower income and homelessness. In contrast, a neighbourhood bakery does a brisk business on a Sunday morning.

Two contrasting scenes in the 18th district.

July 17: A look into an inner courtyard of a social housing complex. The inner courtyard keeps the complex cool in the summer and provides a place for kids to play and tenants a place to socialize.

Iron work looking into an inner court yard.

July 16: A large social housing complex built at the height of Red Vienna in the 16th district. It has both an imposing and appealing look at the same time with a touch of art deco decor.

Schuhmeier Hof built ca. 1926-27

July 15: The 15th was once considered a dodgy neighbourhood. My experience so far is enjoying an excellent lunch at a combination bicycle shop/bistro called Velobis. Note the tree sculpture in the corner of this building and that one side faces the 15th district and the other the 13th.

A tree sculpture in the 15th.

July 14: Lots going on in this picture from the 14th district. In the background is a long narrow road radiating to/from Vienna and likely an older country road. Bottom left are the trains heading west out of the West Bahnhof towards Munich, Salzburg, etc. The hills in the background are the start of the Vienna woods (Wienerwald). Top right is a more classic building in Vienna with a pub on the main floor. The treed area to the left is a small beer garden – a place to escape the heat of the apartment!

14th District vignettes

July 13: One source describes the 13th district, Hietzing, as the “Austrian Empire Theme Park” with the former hunting grounds (Tier Garten) and the Schonbrunn Palace. Even the Hietzing U-Bahn Station are fashioned in Otto Wagner style.

U-Bahn station a la Wagner, Schonbrunn and lots of greenery describe the 13th.

July 12: The 12th district is also highly residential. This image has a number of classic European and Vienna images. Firstly the mosaic on the side of the overhang of the building. The Zu Kaufen sign is offering the corner apartment for sale. Finally, the business in the image is for a flooring company. A relatively common business because of course when you move out you take the floor with you (as well the cupboards, etc.).

The 12th district mosaics, business and an apartment for sale!

July 11: The 11th district is generally residential but does have the huge Central Cemetery. Within the cemetery is the Friedhofskirche zum heiligen Karl Borromäus, which has strong Art Nouveau features. Near this church is a large section dedicated to the Red Army and their losses taking the city in 1945. (The Central Cemetery is so large the Viennese describe it as ‘having half the population of Zurich where people have twice as much fun as Zurich’.

Interior of the large art nouveau church and a sculpture of a grieving soviet soldier with a Red Army star behind him.

July 10: Two examples of public art, both in the 10th district and all for July the 10th!

Mosaic and a Sculpture in the 10th district.

July 9: The 9th is my “hood and where I live. Some public art in the local buildings and the corner of my apartment. The bad news is that the door is on the left hand side of this corner although my balcony over looks the right – a very appropriate view.

Some views of the 9th district

July 8: From the Eight District, three different street scenes starting top left an inlaid sculpture, bottom right more inlaid sculptures and an older style street name sign in Gothic script and on a building where Beethoven lived and worked in 1819-20 and finally, a street sign shop… where all of these street signs come from!

Beethoven, sculptures and a shop selling street signs – all in the 8th district.

July 7: Before we leave the Votiv Kirche, a detail and the view from my apartment balcony (two for one week!).

West Door of the Votiv Kirche. Note the Adam and Eve motif over looked by the saints.

Looking east to the Votiv Kirche from my apartment balcony.

July 6: Near my apartment is the Votiv Kirche and in a back corner in an art piece dedicated to Vivaldi and entitled “AD ANTONIO VIVALDI” and organized by the Lions Clubs of Vienna and Venice. Two detail headers from this piece.

AD ANTONIO VIVALDI: Detail

AD ANTONIO VIVALDI (Detail)

July 5: Unlike many North American cities, Vienna is very much a train dependent city and has 3 separate stations. For those train watchers out there, Wien-Meidling Station looking north towards Vienna.

Wien-Meidling Station, the hardes friggin’ station in Vienna to find!

July 4: Happy 4th of July to all friends from the United States! This monument is about 100M from my apartment and I walked by it for 2 months thinking it was a traffic control box. The inscription is reproduced below and it was presented on June 17, 1948 at Bedford Indiana to the Stone City of the world (Vienna presumably). Based on some basic Google research:

Demokratiezzentrum (translated from German): Monument on the Frankhplatz in Vienna, which was dedicated to the city of Vienna in 1948 by the USA. The memorial bears the following inscription: “This cornerstone of freedom presented June 17, 1948 at Bredford, Indiana, USA, the stone city of the world AUSTRIA.” Austria’s importance for western civilization transcends by the geographical size of the country Indeed, Austria may be regarded as the heart of the European Commonwealth, Presented by Indiana Limestone Company Inc.”

From the Historical Marker Database: On this spot June 17, 1948 as a part of the Indiana Limestone Centennial Cornerstones of Freedom were given to representatives of 17 friendly Nations in one of the most impressive displays of International good will ever manifested anywhere in the World. Countries given markers include: Austria, Belgium, Burma, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece, Honduras, Iran, Italy, Liberia, Lithuania,Norway, Philippines and Saudi Arabi (Sic).

One of a series of limestone markers distributed by the Indiana Limestone Company in 1948 on the occasion of their 100th anniversary.

July 3: A little bit more of the bathing culture…

Cabins in the upper deck of Bad Vöslau.

July 2: The Vienna area has a strong ‘bathing-culture‘… okay beyond good basic personal hygiene this also involves a German propensity to go swimming in lakes and rivers as well as a number of thermal baths. A few pics from the larger Vienna area (include Baden and Bad Vöslau) which share in the tradition of coming clean with a leisure activity.

Images from one of the pools in Bad Vöslau and in Baden.

July 1: Happy Domain (errr, Canada) Day. Don’t worry non-Canadians if you don’t get it.

Korner-Gasse in Vienna (sorry Brent was no where to be seen).

Stolperstein – Searching for Banality

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

Have you ever had this feeling, you come home after a hard day and you hear the door close behind. You are HOME and just for a moment you feel that overwhelming sense of security. Perhaps there are voices in the distance in an earnest conversation, maybe a pot of something with smells of a supper about to be consumed or perhaps complete quiet – only broken by the familiar sounds of house creaking – clock ticking and peaceful stay-in evening awaiting.

A Photo Blog About the Banality of Evil

The homey setting was shattered for about 9/10’s of the former Jewish population of Vienna [1]:

The formerly flourishing Jewish community of Vienna was all but obliterated by the National Socialists. By May 1939, roughly 130,000 persons considered Jews under the Nuremberg Racial Laws had left the country …. In 1938, approximately 206,000 persons of Jewish extraction (181,000 of which were members of the Jewish Community of Vienna) had been living in the Austrian capital.

Over 65,000 Jews were murdered in concentration and extermination camps. They are part of the six million victims of a mass murder organised with mathematical precision. We owe these victims the solidarity and respect due to them and their suffering.

Organizing the self-exile of the above individuals or their transportation to a final end required the machinery of government. This machinery in turn coined the term ‘the banality of evil’ [6]:

In her 1963 book ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem’, Hannah Arendt reports on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a German SS official who managed the logistics of the deportation of Jews to ghettos and concentration camps during World War II. Arendt’s portrayal of Eichmann is surprising — rather than an evil monster, she describes him as “terribly and terrifyingly normal”. Arendt’s observation of the “coexistence of normality and bottomless cruelty” in Eichmann led her to coin the term “banality of evil”. Under this lens, evil was not something incomprehensible and different but something almost ordinary.

Stolperstein the Remembrance in Banality

Each of these victims whether they be Jewish, a homosexual, a communist or simply different, had a home to come home to at one point. So while there are a number of memorials in Vienna for not only the Jews but other victims of the National Socialism, I find the most powerful to be the Stolperstein [2]:

…literally “stumbling stone”, metaphorically a “stumbling block” or a stone to “stumble upon”; plural stolpersteine) is a cobblestone-size (10 by 10 centimetres (3.9 in × 3.9 in)) concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution.

Over 61,000 stolpersteins have been laid in 610 different places with the first installed in 1992. The stones are laid in front of the last place of residence by choice (as opposed to a residence selected by force) or if necessary the last known work place of the individual. Each stone is made by hand (about 450 per month) which is done in direct contradiction to the industrialized mass murder of the National Socialists.

To install a stone, the project originator Gunter Demnig has provided the following guidelines [3]:

Permission: obtain permission for the local municipality, family members and ideally the current owner of the building.
Inscriptions: each stone will contain one person’s name. This person may have died in a camp, survived, fled the country or committed suicide.
Appointments: Gunter lays the first stone in each new village – with the exception of Vienna.

Vienna’s Stolpersteine

Within Vienna, a private association Steine der Erinnerung or ‘Stones of Memory’ have laid over 1,000 stolpersteine since 2005. Inspired by the work of Gunter Demnig, there is not a formal association between the two organizations and in fact Demning has accused the Vienna based organization of plagiarism [4].

Nevertheless, the Vienna organization appears to be mostly honouring the wishes and standards set by the originator of the project. In some ways the association may have gone beyond Demning’s original vision by making it a more community affair rather than focused on the original artist. As well, the organization also has a searchable database and maps [5] of the 1,000 stones they have laid.

Walk Abouts and Finding the Stolpersteine

Only when researching this blog did I discover the last two resources, a database and maps [5]. In many ways I am glad that I did not know about these. Instead I simply walk-about Vienna looking for a Stolpersteine. To me this was a better way of doing it because finding a stolperstein should be a profound act of ordinariness. This is beauty of this art project, the banality of the monument that shatters the sense of peace we all love when we walk into our home.

Visit June (24-30) 2018 – A Photo a Day to see the pictures.

[1]. City of Vienna: jewishvienna/history/nationalsocialism.
[2]. Wikipedia: Stolperstein.
[3].Stolperstein: Technical Instructions.
[4]. Stadt Wien Bekiannt: Stones of memory.
[5]. Steine der Erinnerung: steinedererinnerung.net.
[6]. Huffington Post: Exploring the Banality of Evil.

June 2018 – A Photo a Day

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

Based on a promise to ‘Pay Attention‘, this is one of six blogs with the good intention is to publish a photo a day of my six month adventure in Vienna with a caption and thoughts on the image. Note that the publication date and the date when the photos were taken are not the same. Enjoy my (manly) scrap-book for future memories… take that future dementia! June I plan to have a few themes which will be: recreation in Vienna, a bit of military history and a few bridges (someone wants some bridges for their painting classes).

PS… Be patient and wait for the pictures load. Also because June is a thematic month, it is best to view the images from the bottom to the top.

June 24-30: For these days I plan to post photos of either Viennese Stolperstein (my blog on the same topic) or other monuments from the period of occupation by the National Socialists in Austria. While it is a risk to engage in ‘war pornography’ my intent is to show this period of Viennese history that is still raw and felt to today and to also give the individuals listed on the stone a chance to have their names spoken again. To this end, was you are reading the names, consider saying the names out loud.

June 30: Anna, Josefine, Helene, Margarete, Max, Emma.

Anna, Josefine, Helene, Margarete, Max, Emma.

June 29: Szhul, Martha, Jakob, Erna, Rosa, Josef, Malvine.

Szhul, Martha, Jakob, Erna, Rosa, Josef, Malvine.

June 28: David, Marja, Therese, Theodor, Hilda, Leib, Paula, Kitty.

David, Marja, Therese, Theodor, Hilda, Leib, Paula, Kitty

June 27:Leopold, Martha, Nute, Aaron, Hersch, Malka, Mirjam, Mordechai, Rosa, Gitta, Sali.

Leopold, Martha, Nute, Aaron, Hersch, Malka, Mirjam, Mordechai, Rosa, Gitta, Sali

June 26: Elsa, Nehnrich, Elise, Dorthea, Gisela, Leo, Bronis, Norma, Leopold, Elga, Berta, Fritz, Wilhelm, Zidda, Johanna, Malvine.

Elsa, Nehnrich, Elise, Dorthea, Gisela, Leo, Bronis, Norma, Leopold, Elga, Berta, Fritz, Wilhelm, Zidda, Johanna, Malvine.

June 25: The standards used to establish a traditional Stoplerstein which appear to be largely used by the Vienna association.

Stolperstein: Erich, Gisela, Freida, Arthur; Emil, Simon, Luise and Bernard.

June 24:Three local monuments or plaques in Vienna. The bottom left to the Gestapo headquarters and top left a series on a local government building describing the 369 weeks Austria was held under National Socialist occupation. The Stolperstein are for Erna, Chaje, Gittel.

Erna, Chaje, Gittel

June 23: A chimney sweep off to eternal work against a bright blue Vienna Sky.

Chimney sweep off to work.

June 22: More building murals and public art. This time a mosaic on the right and a flat sculpture on the left. If you notice the left photo, two things of note. Firstly the year of commissioning, 1960, and secondly the green plaque next to the door. This plaque indicates that the former house that stood here was destroyed and replaced by the current building.

Two different type of art murals in Vienna.

June 21: At the corner of Burggasse and Neubaugasse, two public art knights do eternal battle over a hardware store.

Knights locked in eternal battle over a hardware store.

June 20: an inner courtyard near ‘my’ bicycle shop. The greenery are grape vines and courtyard provides a welcome relief from the summer heat.

An early morning shopper entering the cool of an inner court yard.

June 19: Most street art although this time of a more commercial variety. Nevertheless I like the shot as there are a few ‘easter-eggs’ to look for in it…

Public art on an office building… with a few Easter eggs.

June 18: A great street scene with lots going on. Firstly the street tram (long since disappeared from most North American cities), a bit of graffitti, an open window for the muggy Vienna day and the mix of commercial and residential in one spot.

Urban Street Scene – Vienna

June 17: What better way to show off my Father’s Day Gift from my son (the Canadian Flag at the back of the bike with the name ‘Frank’) than to do it next to a statute of a 24,000 old female fertility figurine!

Venus of Willendorf

June 16:The Anker Clock in the inner city. Built as a piece of public art on a passage (aka pedway) between two buildings of the Anker Insurance company in 1912-14.

Anker Clock with the hours it plays listed on a placard below (inset to the left)

June 15:Looking down through a car park into a central courtyard likely shared by a few buildings. The advantage is that this creates a cool core for the buildings and an oasis for the tenants so as to leave their hot apartments for a few hours.

A shaded refuge for the 30C summer heat.

June 14: Another cycling journey this time on the Marchfeld Canal. An agricultural canal that brings water into the plain north and east of Vienna.

Feral Cherry Picking on the Marchfeld Canal

June 13: If you are a cyclist and you find yourself in Austria, the must ride tour is the 40km route from Melk to Krems. A small glimpse of the excellent services and scenery to expect.

Melk to Krems cycling route.

June 12: Okay, the last one I promise of the Weißenkirchen in der Wachau but this one a bit closer to the nose in question.

The giant a (FPÖ’s) nose.

June 11: Looking North towards Weißenkirchen in der Wachau and the opposite to the picture below. You can just see the eye in the bottom left side of the picture to the left of the ferry jetty.

Looking North to Weißenkirchen in der Wachau.

June 10: Look are looking through an piece of art shaped as an eye on the north side of the Danube near Weißenkirchen in der Wachau looking south to a giant (FPÖ’s) Nose on the opposite bank.

An eye on a nose on the opposite bank of the river Danube.

June 9: Think of Austria and your probably think of the Alps, skiing and mountains. Vienna in this respect is apart from much of the rest of Austria in that it sits on a flat plain carved out from the Danube and past glaciers. The following photo is taken from the Jubiläumswarte or Harzberg tower. The insert photo is looking approximately NE towards south Vienna and Danube. For a better perspective, view the tower relative to Vienna and the Danube in Google Earth.

The Danube Valley south of Vienna.

June 8: The Alser Street Station (U-bahn). Built in 1898 for a steam train system it now services the U-Bahn.

Alser Strasse Station.

June 7: Two vignettes of a quiet moment in the Pötzleinsdorfer Schlosspark. If you look in the background of the first photo you will see one of the quartet of statues that survived an 1874 fire in the Vienna Ringtheater.

June 6: A wonderful albeit classical piece of building art. I was trying to discern the nationalities of the horsemen, as they look classical=Greek. Unfortunately no explanation near the wall art.

Unknown warriors off to battle?

June 5: This was on the top ~6th floor, a small garden oasis taking advantage of a sunny southern exposure.

A sunny balcony oasis.

June 4: I admit it, I have a soft spot for secret corridors and inner court yards. In this one a series of bistros, well light and very secluded and quiet.

Weissgerberber Stube, Sünnhof Landstraßer Hauptstraße 28

June 3: This is a montage of recreation along the Danube. The background is taken upstream of Vienna while the two foreground pictures on an old arm of the Danube now residential and used for recreation. In one picture I managed to get: swimming, cycling, paddle boarding, kayaking, relaxing, sun tanning, and a place for picnic – how is that for value for money!

Recreation on the Danube.

June 2: This is the aged gate in front of the Josephinum; Collections of the Medical University of Vienna. I will need to go and visit this museum in the fall when I am looking for a place to escape an Austrian winter. In the meantime, I have enjoyed walking by the neo-classic building and the long since dis-used gates and fence that once protected it.

A long dis-used gate protecting the Josephinum.

June 1: Really, old shoes, is that how you want to start June off? Actually it is. The pair on the right I brought to Vienna and figured they would last until I got back home. The pair on the left I had to buy here. According to the trusty Fitbit I have put on 1,151,950 steps since mid-March. In context I target a minimum of 4 million steps per year so in about 1/5 of a year I managed to put on more than 1/4 of the steps. Not bad.

The first casualty of Vienna… the old shoes on the right.

Vienna – Looking Back – Flak Towers

Posted on May 27, 2018 by Frank SAPAA

70+ years is a lifetime, literary, yet it is also the amount of time that has passed since the end of the Second World War. Nevertheless it is still a prominent feature in our collective consciousness and certainly the war and the subsequent peace (and wars) have created the world we live in now.

This is a photo-blog about one reminder of this event that will probably continue to stand for easily another 70 years, the flak towers in Vienna.

Don’t Peek – Read this First

There are lots of better sources describing the flak towers, their construction and their future. See below for a partial list of some of these but suffice to say there is not a lot that I can add to this information. Nevertheless, some details before the pictures:

These things are massive and originally there were six of them in addition to others built in Germany.
Although each tower was of a different height, the upper platforms were the same heights relative to sea level.
The walls are 3 metres thick and the structural density is such that all but the largest WWII bomb would not penetrate the structure.
During air raids, tens of THOUSANDS of people would seek shelter in these structures. Imagine being cheek and jowl with thousands of frightened, sweating and crying women, children, soldiers and a few men crammed into a small apartment block.
These structures cannot be demolished due to their strength, density, cost and potential for damage in nearby communities. As well they have also become protected historical artefacts.
While these structures continue to stand the engineers, slave and force labour have long since passed away. Hopefully for the last two groups in their own bed and many years on rather than at the site while building the tower.
So, look at the pictures of an engineering marvel created through human misery while consuming massive material that could have built homes, highways or hospitals instead.