I’d first heard of Innerpeffray Library when my colleague Frances was looking for notable Scottish libraries to advertise to iConference attendees. Then this summer, friends who live in Stirlingshire suggested a visit. (I can’t drive and my cycling is currently limited, so I don’t think I could have got there unaided.) So yesterday, Ian and Jane picked up Elly and me at Stirling station and took us out for a delightful trip.
We parked outside the school building, and ambled along the trail. This is the part that felt most photogenic – once in the library I was too entranced by the books to take many photos.
Our flight home wasn’t until the afternoon, so we had time to visit the Manner shop in Hernals. Although cyclemeter seemed to be capturing our travels (see some screenshots below), its record gives up at Schwechat.
Did we really go to Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof?an allegory to Conchita WurstI love Vienna’s social housing.Vienna streetBreakers-in are welcome – to be savaged.Elly with beastieflying off the edge of th known world (1)flying off the edge of th known world (2)
So today was another chance to see the Danube canal and the main Danube, this time on a boat. It was exceedingly hot again – if I felt my arm out of shape for a moment, I start to feel myself cook. To help you follow our travels, here’s the cyclemeter record.
Many of my photos from today feature the graffiti along the canal and river. I often find these entertaining and thought-provoking. This does not mean I’m a fan of graffiti elsewhere.
U-Bahn graffitithe Donaukanalcrocodile-lairBarbiecurious froggood questiongraffiti kittyfrogentrance to the WienflussThere were many ‘fuck cars’ graffiti.eat trash, do crimepainted building‘legalise THC now’. (CBD is openly sold but THC is only allowed for a narrow range of medical purposes.Ost Autobahn, possibly near Erdbergstrasseuseful vocabulary?movable waterside buildingon the main channel, with commentary (movie)entering the lock at Kraftwerksbrücke FreudenauThere’s a leak.trappedgoing up (piss-poor movie)passing the lock-gatelooking back to the power-stationThe main channel is very wide, I think.approaching the Donaustadt BrückeDonaustadt Brücke A-framecycle ramp on and off the Donaustadt Brückewaterski-ing (movie)Kaisermühlen and the Vienna International centreclose-ish-upBertha von Suttner schoolentering the lock near Nußdorfin the lockgate closinggate closedclose-up of gategate onto the Donaukanal risingraising morebemused cyclistgoing under the raised gateback to graffitinearing the incinerator tower in Spittelau (part of Alsergrund)Wien Energie buildingarchitecture and teethback to graffitiGraffiti über der Unter-Bahngliding along (movie)artful tower‘rural’ graffitiThis URL is spurious.I’m not allowed to grump.view of Schwedenplatzpassing the boat-mooringVindobona was Vienna’s latin name.Urania building, near the Wienfluss mouthFederal ministry buildings on Hintere Zollamtstrassegetting close to the Wienfluss mouthturning aroundgraffiti and carpentryIt’s the frog again.and the graffiti kittyboom-bug?death-rayDüsselfunkiweird skullcat death-raymake coffee, not warfreshstoned againBut is it art?Austrian Airlinespassing Kalvarienberg, on our way to eatice-cream shop on KalvarienberggasseOlifantBurger Boutique!inscription on the Hernals PfarrekircheI think I was looking up about the court buildings in Vienna.
We’ve visited Vienna a few times, so today we wanted to visit its almost-namesake, Wiener Neustadt (Vienna new town). It may help to know that despite this name, it was founded in 1194. As is almost inevitable, cyclemeter recorded our travels.
I may have taken too many photos. I definitely should have taken more notes on what I was capturing. However, quite a few of my photos are of information about the exhibits, so this has helped me read up a bit.
En route, walking to the museum
play-area on the train (movie)Some train-toilets are reserved for officially disabled people. But is it a PITA to have to carry a special key as well?outside Wiener Neustadt bahnhofmuralschoolarchitecturecity wallcultureSt Johann Nepomuk chapelWho made the statueElly with bike-racks outside the museum
in the museum
The museum has its own history.Richard the Lionheart was involved in the city’s foundation.About the city’s originsThe city’s strategic position. (Styria wasn’t officially part of Austria then, although it was ruled by the same duke..)church spiremodel of the medieval citychanges to the cityillustrated time-linerelics from a city-fire in 1834 (movie)portrait of the fire (movie, for no good reason)It’s common to call the city ‘Wiener’ Neustadt? And why the umlaut?Cathedral weather-vanesabout the cathedralpanorama of an exhibition for childrenhistory of the cloisterabout the jewish gravestones. I learnt too late that information on them is available via QR-codes.jewish gravestonejewish gravestonejewish gravestonewhere the sones had beenabout the castleabout the erasure-troveThis synagogue was demolished due to supposed WWII bomb-damage.The model was made in 2012-13.about the synagoguereconstruction of the interiorI’m not sure about this snake.Austro-Daimler had a factory in the city from 1899 to 1934.heaven over the cityrules for communal lifeThe museum has a couple of copies of objects so visually impaired people can experience them. I guess it’s a start.The jewish community in the middle-agesOnly rich male christian citizens could be citizens.craftsabout the Corvinus chaliceI can’t find any online information about the chalice and Matthias Corvinus.Maximilian 1 and his new townGunsmiths’ Sharpshooter Corps’ standardWhat do people trust?the evangelical churchgrowth of the city’s industry since the late 18th century (movie)early industrytextile industriestransport linksmobility and trafficcanalssugar factoriessmall industrial enterprisesrailways and stationsAustrian and Hungarian railways of the present and the futureclose-up of the mapclose-up of the keycyclingbikesmore about Austro-DaimlerI don’t know what this measures. It’s something to do with altitude and water-columns.the airfield and aircraft factorythe goat upheavalthe jewish community -,some more recent historybetween the warsflight or deportation destinations euthanasiamore about euthanasiaPrisoners worked in the engine-factory. where forced labourers were froma (shite) ideology asserts itselfmore about aircraft-factoriesThe factories were a major reason for bombing the city into ruin (movie)from the ruinsreorientationthe city todayThere were some photos of cultural happenings, starting with rhythmic gymnasticsvisit to the Bosendorferpiano factoryPink Floyd sponsored by VW!FalcoDave BrubeckBon JoviBryan AdamsVanessa MaeWiener Philharmonikerdesigning the museumcasementsart
walking around town
fountainice-cream breakmodernised streetmodern architectureThis fountain was dedicated by the Lower Austrian State Mortgage Bank.balloonsstreet corner with torchesclose-up of the torchesPeace, Well-being to those who enter, Safe passage to those who leave, To those who dwell withinclose-up the doortown-square with demoIn the 15th century, this house belonged to the Lords of Neunburg and Ortenburg; it later housed Stefan Gleinburger—a teacher of medicine and mayor—as well as two goldsmiths. Following the destruction of 1945, two Gothic rooms and a Baroque relief of the Virgin Mary have been preserved.united in colours for pridefountain (movie)pictorial historymore pictorial historymore pictorial historystreet libraryarchitecturemore architecturethe famous military academyA police-station is just across the road.close-up of the entrancestreetsconcrete artrainbow woolTurkish canon-ballsstreet named after this writerOne of several FranziskuswegsCapuchin cloister800 years of St Francisand in complete contrastcasematesramp and wall‘It is not possible to be someone else’s who is not one’s own.’
Going back to Vienna
After a day of wonderin, being cooked and learning, it was time to go back to the Muttistadt.
waiting for our trainwhere to go trainspottingback into Vienna
In March, we saw an advertisement for this exhibition about the building of the Danube island. As the blurb says:
This dialogue-based tour traces the development of the Donauinsel, how it became a diverse natural and recreational area by the water, and what we as residents of the city associate with this unique space today.
Elly really wanted to go but the exhibition started on the day we were to leave, so I plotted to take us back in July. I was keen to go back for a couple of reasons: I love doing things for my wife, I was interested too, and I want to spend as much time as I can in the Muttistadt.
My Vienna travel-pass. (It was much easier to display a screenshot than to delve for the e-ticket each time. shopping
Day 2 (Friday 10 July)
I took a lot of photos today, trying to capture all of the exhibition. This is mostly because my memory is very poor but partly because I wanted to share the experience and learning. Until today, I had no idea that the Danube Island (Donauinsel) wasn’t a natural phenomenon. It’s not – it’s part of flood defences built in the 1970s and 1980s. Links in the captions are bold, because otherwise they’d not be seen.
This video gives an idea of why Vienna needs flood defences. Basically, the Danube channels meandered a lot. (The wee grey blob to the south-west is the city.) By the 19th century, the main channel was to the north-east of the city, with just what was to be named the Donaukanal skirting the city at Handelskai (literally ‘trade quay’). In the middle of this century, the main channel was straightened and running almost straight northwest-by-north to southeast-by-south. A loop, known as the Alte Donau (Old Danube) remained to the northeast of that.
So this, along with some dams on the main channel’s banks, regulated the Danube – but not enough. In the winter of 1850 (as had happened previously), ice-induced floods were heading towards the city. (I seem to recall reading that the river had frozen upstream, holding back water. When if thawed, it released a flood.) In any case, this year, the city received warnings thanks to Austria’s telegraph network. Despite the warnings, there was a lot of harm and danger for these floods. (You’ll see some photos later.) So ways to prevent future disasters were needed.
The idea was to dig a new channel, of course called Neue Donau (new Danube), parallel to the main channel. Normally, it would only be partially full, but when floods threatened, its gates would open so it could swallow the impending flood-water and safely deliver it south-east of the main city. I guess that this also helped smooth the flow so areas downstream had more time to prepare against floods, and so that the floods would surge less. I’d like to know what the downstream counties made of this. (Right now they are desperate for water.) The area between the main and new channels would naturally be called the Donauinsel (Danube Island).
However, this work didn’t start until quite a way through the 20th century, affected by lots of arguments over practicalities, politics, how the island (if it was created) would be used, and how it would be paid for. Here are ‘before’ and ‘after’ plans.
These photos are about the need for flood defences.
blurbThe Danube island goes beyond Vienna’s boundaries, so Niederosterreich had to be involved.wrestilng with the riverThe biggest floods since 15011784 – the year of catastrophesearly hydraulic engineeringsudden inundation1830 flood-deaths register the city is floodedsome statistics about ‘before the island’major regulation: 1870-1875How this regulation was donedredger-buckets, and an 1875 cross-section through the Danube ‘One flood too many’ (1862)the city is floodedThe ice-flow – a charity performance at Josefstadt theatre1898 changespaying for itareas affected by significant floodsand there was more flooding stillThe basic ‘extra channel/Donauinsel’ idea had been thought of much earlier.postcards from 1929 and 1940, when the river froze overA flood in 1954 prompted the decision to actually do something. (The sign reads ‘Residents of the houses are requested not to step onto the footbridge, so that the idle gawkers have room.’)
However, there was still flood-plain near the river, often used for recreation.
about the flood-plain…… and the freedom it brought.getting to the floodplaingetting there by tramthe floodplain as an airportusing the floodplaincyclingenjoyingromance!Fussball!drinks and ice-creams(nude) bathingmore (nude) bathingswimming‘baywatch’hiding your bitsor notpoliticsWWII bombingaccommodating refugeesresisting the Nazisbut ‘Kraft durch Freude’early plansSo it’s ‘goodbye’ to the floodplain.
1919 ideaschronologyA city with two rivers? (Why not? Birmingham has three.)some optionscost-savingpolitics based on data!1958 ideas1962 idea – a green island1968 idea – s sport islandheated debatesbetter uses for the money?Who builds the better city?Death of the Lobau? Not if WaLuLiSo (Water, Air, Light, Sun) has any say. a slightly more legible close-upEven though the project had the go-ahead, decisions on how to use the island weren’t made. So the City Council organised a competition.It took 15 years after a devastating flood to decide to do anything.Of course the military tried to muscle in.seeking ideasclose-uppossibly using part of the island for accommodationclose-up of the blurbthe competition entriesanother entry, focussing on expanding the university onto the islandclose-up of the blurbresults of the competition’s first phasepolitics!Phase 2 begins, after a decision not to build on the island …… but the arguments continue.more about the argumentsOne Idland, two planning teams‘the Vienna model’no more steep banks
In this part of the exhibition, there were videos of interviews with people involved in deciding how the island was to be made and used, how habitats should be linked up, the political situation and so on. I didn’t stop to video these but we bought a book about the exhibition which may explain. (I’ve not read it yet – my German isn’t good enough to read it quickly.)
On Vienna’s longest construction site…… work begins.Actual planning began in 1977.Here are some plans.The island emerges.And people came to see the work,The first four miles were opened in 1981.advertising the ‘Vienna Lido’Lido politics!landscape designnatural design of the northern sectionconstruction work at the middle of the islandplant-planningisland furniturethe island in 1980the island in 2026how the island became the centre of Vienna’s sewage systemmajor infrastructure for sewage. As a visitor, I had never noticed anything but the bridges.In the middle of construction, a major bridge collapsed. So the project management had to cope with this as well as the planned building. I don’t envy them! It was an opportunity to build a double-decker bridge: top deck for motor-vehicles, bottom deck for U-Bahn (including a station) footpaths, cycle-paths. (There are utility tunnels too.)The island takes shape (1979)scale model from 1977construction in 1978the island’s u-Bahn stationArguments about the Brigittenauer bridge
bridgesIn the middle of construction, a major bridge collapsed. So the project management had to cope with this as well as the planned building. I don’t envy them!It was an opportunity to build a new double-decker bridge: top deck for motor-vehicles, bottom deck for U-Bahn (including a station) footpaths, cycle-paths. (There are utility tunnels too.)construction in 1978the stationarguments about the Brigittenau bridgehighway along the embankmentÖMV pipe-bridge
not nohow!competition resultscitizen participation? Shock, horror!The failed expo – origins of the UN cityrowingboozingmore boozingnew attractionsclimate management
creating a ‘natural’ habitatconnecting habitatssome statisticsoxbow lakes in the floodplainengineered natureclimate changediverse habitatshow many species?beaver activitymore about beaverseven more about beaversfishfish-blurbsfish and birds!amphibians and insectsbeesgrasshopperstree of heavenprostate speedwellfield eryngocypress spurgeaquatic plantsaquatic plant diversityuses of aquatic plantsboat-mowing!what’s on the islandsheep and species-conservationadapting to climate-changeThe island is cool (in at least two ways, I think).climate monitoring
By now we were in need of a break. I’m sure you are too after looking at all the photos so far. (You did look at every one, didn’t you?)
It was baking hot, so the café provided moisture.steaming (movie)aarrgghh! Caught short‘Einlauf’ on its own can mean ‘enema’.available in the museum shop
AKA ‘and we’re back into the exhibition for more!’. These photos are about how people use the island.
This seems like a good ideal to me, especially if it means ‘freedom from worry’ rather than ‘freedom to be an arse’introduction to this section of the exhibitionIt’s often used for events, such as the annual Doinauinselfest …… supposedly Austria’s biggest festivalDoinauinselfest postersDoinauinselfest postersDoinauinselfest postersThe festival has its own beer!There’s a school on a ship moored next to the island.You can stay (unofficially) on the island.It’s very diverse.Barbeque safety is a thing.People dive in the Danube.It’s a summer destination.People row.People fish.People fish.People enjoy themselves in many ways.People get their kit off. (We saw this later in the day.)People play cricket. Blind people can train safely.LGBT+ people enjoy the island, often in the Toter Grund area.People skate.People share food.People understand and plan.
vox populi!Of course, my opinion is very naïve and written in poor German.I believe this person said it’s too hot.These people wanted cost-free toilets.According to GiggleTranslate, ‘Relax and enjoy the Danube Near the U-Bahn station, there are many quiet spots where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the view—ideally with a good glass of wine.’
After this, it was time to spend some time on the island. I swam for a few minutes from one of the pontoons, but wasn’t brave enough to swim out to the road-bridge piles, let alone try to climb them. (I’ve seen people do this.) Here are our meanderings from the museum to the island, and back to our hotel, according to cyclemeter.
postersparty-invitationpanorama from our swim-spotThe loveliest three words are ‘food is ready’. This is Very true of Plein, our favourite fast-food restaurants in Vienna
Do not alight in Köln!another museum I’d like to visit in GermanyAmerica is in the Netherlands. So is Amerika, apparently.
Day 14: Friday 18 July
We took a quick visit to the Amsterdam city archives, one of Elly’s favourite places in Amsterdam. The exposition about AFC Ajax didn’t enthral me – I don’t understand a word of spoken dutch (and almost no written dutch) but I love the time-lapse cartoons about the growth of Amsterdam. I still don’t understand why these appear to show the Amstel being damed just where it flows into the sea (the Damrak). Perhaps there were bridges rather than a full blockage.
Then we took the bus to IJmuiden, and started the ferry-journey back to the UK.
Apparently I didn’t take any photos today. We simply arrived in North Shields, encountered UK bureaucracy, took the bus to Newcastle and then the train back to Edinburgh.
Postscript
Readers might think the I didn’t enjoy this latest trip to the Muttiland, but that would be wrong. It’s true that I didn’t enjoy the pain that limited my walking, but it was lovely to get to understand a bit more about my maternal home-country, to enjoy long train-journeys ‘with my thumb up my bum and my mind in neutral’ (a phrase from a school history teacher), to achieve a conversation in German that enabled me to buy Guglhupf tins, to find excellent chocolates for my wonderful better half, to relax with her – and to see her relax. It’s just that the cantankerous old git in me often takes over the keyboard.
We went to the Strandbad today. I didn’t take any photos but I recall hiding from the sun because it was too hot, and going on the water slide several times. I think I slightly alarmed a staff-member because I got water up my nose when I landed, and so couldn’t immediately stagger out of the landing area.
Today was our travel-to-another-town-in-Kärnten day. The 7-theme museum in Sankt Veit an der Glan (you just know how I want to write that word!) appealed, not least because there were good train connections from Klagenfurt. So a relatively early meander to Klagenfurt West station, followed by the S1 train to Sankt Veit. According to ‘the internet’ the museum was closed between 12 and 2, and we had arrived around 11:30, so we meandered from the station to the centre of town.
