During a walk in the sixth district of Vienna, I found this sign by chance. It says that in 1937 Dr. Heinz Zemanek, an Austrian pioneer of computers who built the “Mailüfterl”, graduated from High School here. I have no knowledge about computers but interested people might find this information valuable. Many interesting and important people are from Austria and I am sure that local people are proud of this fact.
Today during a walk in the 6th district of Vienna, by chance I found this sign on the wall of a buildung where Oskar Werner was born. Oskar Werner is a very famous Austrian actor, who made an extensive international career. When he died in 1984 at the age of 61, I had not yet come to Vienna. Unfortunately I do not know film and theatre extensively and so I don’t really know his works. However in one TV episode of “Columbo” he starred as the murderer, I know this episode well and it is quite impressive. Walking around Vienna, there often are such discoveries. In those moments I am overwhelmed by the depth of culture this city possesses.
Today is the first Sunday in June. After some time I visited Esterhazypark and I noticed that the flower beds have changed to a summer setting. Colourful varieties of flowers sway in the wind.
Finally my new glasses were ready. With those I can see much better now and I am very happy. Looking at the beautiful Vienna city in early summer, I remember the day when recently I went to an eye doctor.
I had noticed my vison getting worse and so I went to see a doctor. I was routinely examined first. Then the doctor gave me eyedrops to receive an examination to that date unknown to me. After about thirty minutes I was examined further and luckily the result was quite good. My vision has in fact gotten worse and so he gave me a prescription for new glasses. Right away my husband and I went to an Optician shop close by. On the way there I noticed that the world around me had changed. I cannot describe it well but my vision was strange. Everything looked strange to me and colours as well were strange. Some things had a yellowish rim around it and partly it looked like a rainbow. Everything was kind of foggy and no matter how often I blinked, there was no change. I was also afraid to walk because I could not realize whether I was actually walking straight. Fortunately my husband was with me and so I could hold on to his arm, which gave me a sense of security. Because I had not counted on that, I understood that ordering new glasses was not a good idea but rather buy some things at the supermarket and return home instead.
Due to my strange vison grocery shopping was not nice either and so I picked only necessary small items. At the register there was a very kind cashier lady which we know and she said that my glasses looked nice. I almost never wore glasses when buying groceries and maybe seeing me wearing glasses was quite new to her. I told her that I went to the doctor and received eyedrops and everything looked strange.
Afterwards on the way home my husband said to me that the cashier lady complimented me on my new haircut. That surprised me because I on the other hand thought that she was talking about my glasses. If she indeed talked about my haircut then I actually gave her a kind of strange response. Maybe since I had strange vision because of the eyedrops, I was only thinking about that and my ears wanted to hear about that topic. I told my husband about it and he said to me that maybe what I heard was correct and he might not be. He admitted to not closely paying attention and that it was possible he might have misunderstood. Actually I owe my haircut to my husband because after watching some YouTube videos he cut my hair. Maybe he was so proud of my new haircut that he subconsciously wanted to hear about this topic. So now we really do not know who heard the correct thing. Or did she even talk about something else? Nobody knows anymore. What she actually said is as blurred as my magic vision from the eyedrops.
Today the weather in Vienna got truly warm. Nice weather and up to 28 degrees Celsius! The wind breeze is soft and nice and makes for a cosy day. It is supposed to be like this tomorrow as well and I look forward to it.
Yesterday there was a jubilee event of 120 years “National Council of Women Austria” at “Club der Wiener Musikerinnen”. My husband and I are members of “Club der Wiener Musikerinnen”. That is a club for Vienna women musicians originally founded in 1886 by Rosa Lutz. Today this club is a member organisation of the National Council of Women Austria and therefore the jubilee event was held here. When we hear the name of this club, one might think it is for women only but men participating is not a problem at all. Mostly members deepen their knowledge or play music for the existence of women musicians and to intensify their feeling of independence is deemed important. The current president Eleonore Hauer-Rona asked my husband to read some words of greeting as well as some excerpts from historic transcripts of speeches. I think it was an event where the Club’s slogan “Women and men together” was indeed a good fit.
There is a new art object at Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz in the 6th district of Vienna. That is a small square in front of Haus des Meeres (Aquarium). The object is made of wood, was designed by Bianca Gamser and is called “Still Frieden (Still Peace)”. In order to talk about it, one has to first talk about Haus des Meeres. As I have mentioned, across the street from this object is Haus des Meeres.
That building was originally not an aquarium from the beginning but rather an anti aircraft cannon tower of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The war ended but unfortunately this building could not easily be demolished because of its extraordinary material strength. Therefore it began to be used as an aquarium. In 1991 the uppermost part of the external wall was painted with a design by the American artist Lawrence Weiner showing the words “Smashed to pieces – In the still of the night”. 2019 because there was a new restaurant constructed on the roof, it was decided to change the words on the fassade.
Now we return to the art object by Bianca Gamser. Her object reminds us of Lawrence Weiner’s words. Not visible from the outside, one has to enter in order to see those words. On the uppermost parts of the inside walls these words can be seen as a mirror image. Standing inside the object is basically the same as standing inside Haus des Meeres. Since the words were written outside on the fassade, inside the object it becomes a mirror image. That means the wood surrounds the building and makes an impression from the outside. You can think of it like a stamp. I think that it is quite purposeful and carries multi faceted meaning. The object will be on display until June 26th 2022.
ウィーン6区のフリッツ グリューンバウム広場に新しいオブジェが建ちました。「Haus des Meeres 海の家(水族館)」のすぐ前の小さな広場です。この木製のオブジェはビアンカ ガムザー女史(Bianca Gamser)の作品で、「Still Frieden(静 平和)」という題です。この作品について語る前に、すぐ前に建つ「海の家」について書かねばなりません。
この建物は初めから水族館であったのではなく、元は第二次世界大戦中に、敵の爆撃機を攻撃するために、ナチスドイツ軍が建てたものです。大戦は終わりましたが、この建物はあまりにも頑丈に造られていたため、撤去が不可能となったのです。そのため、水族館として再使用されているのです。1991年に、この外壁の上部に、アメリカの芸術家ロレンス ワイナー氏(Lawrence Weiner) によって、”Smashed to pieces – In the still of the night(粉々に叩き壊された – 夜の静けさの中に)”という文章が記されました。しかし、2019年、最上階にレストランが開業した際、この文章は他の言葉に変えられたのです。
Here in Vienna the weather is constantly changing right now. One day itis quite beautiful, rainy the next day and the temperature also has significant swings. That should not be considered unusual however because there is a saying here in Austria that April weather is very unstable. Only recently there have been unusual weather patterns maybe due to climate change and it has not been as the common saying states. I should actually be happy that this April has typical weather patterns. When I cannot adapt to the changes, I want to listen to the Beatles song “Rain” in my head. “Rain, I don’t mind. Shine, the weather’s fine…”.
Yesterday in Vienna it was quite beautiful weather. Daytime maximum was just over 20 degrees Celsius and the sun was shining brightly. After a long time I went for a walk to Burggarten and it was already in full Spring season.
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