Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Hütteldorf WWI Memorial

Memorial to soldiers from Hütteldorf who fell in WWI. The memorial is in front of the Hütteldorfer Pfarrkirche.

Memorial to the Victims of the Nazi Regime

Memorial to the Austrian vicims of the Nazis at Schwedenplatz. A transcript, where I have inserted capitalization and punctuation as I see fit:

Niemals Vergessen

Hier stand das Haus der Gestapo. Es war für die Bekenner Österreichs die Hölle. Es war für viele von ihnen der Vorhof des Todes. Es ist in Trümmer gesunken wie das tausendjährige Reich. Österreich aber ist wiederauferstanden und mit ihm unsere Toten, die unsterblichen Opfer.

Approximate translation (trying to preserve idioms) into English is:

Never Forget

Here stood the house of the Gestapo. It was Hell for the confessors[a] of Austria. It was the antechamber of death for many of them. It is buried in ruins, as is the Thousand-Year Reich[b]. But Austria is reborn and with her our dead, the immortal victims.

The Gestapo, however, was not some kind of all-knowing Big Brother - in order to inflict its suffering on its victims it was almost entirely dependent on a complicit population:

As historian Robert Gellately's analysis of the local offices established, the Gestapo was for the most part made up of bureaucrats and clerical workers who depended upon denunciations by ordinary Germans for their information. Indeed, the Gestapo was overwhelmed with denunciations and spent most of its time sorting out the credible from the less credible denunciations. (...) 80% of all Gestapo investigations were started in response to information provided by denunciations by "ordinary" Germans; while 10% were started in response in to information provided by other branches of the German government and another 10% started in response to information that the Gestapo itself unearthed.

— Wikipedia[c]

Unlike Germany, which has done more than any other nation to uncover its crimes during WW2, Austria has hidden behind the excuse that they, too, were invaded by Hitler. But the fact that large parts of Austrian society was totally behind Hitler can't be denied, and it is only recently that Austria has started to examine its own actions during the Nazi era.

Wienfluss

Dominikanerkirche (Dominican Church)

Graben with Christmas Decorations

Situated in the ultra-trendy MQ opposite the entrace to the Museum of Modern Art, Halle has everything from a six-euro lunch to gourmet food - and it all tastes great. For the times when you're hungry and prefer quantity with your quality, you can go for the Cheeseburger or the Club Sandwich. Both are excellent, and both will keep you full for the rest of the day. Even if you speak no German, you may want to ask for the German menu, as the lunch specials are not printed on the English one.

Right opposite Halle near the QDK (Quarter for Digital Culture) in MQ is Kantine. Not as big as Halle, and with less "upmarket" food while still being of high quality, you can get a great filled pita or Asian here, as well as soups and breakfast.

I don't even think it has a name, but here it is, marked on the photo. And on the map. Best döner and dürüm I've ever eaten in, well, anywhere. Lean, tender, grilled chicken meat with tomato and yoghurt sauce, all packaged with onion and salad. If you've ever only eaten Swedish kebabs - this is nothing like them. The kebabs served in northern latitudes are rubbery strips of brown meat. These are not. About as addictive as crack cocaine these greasy divine gifts from Turkey make for an excellent snack or late night emergency food.

This ice-cream bar just north of St. Stephen's is probably the easiest and most pleasurable way of gaining weight. My preferred mode of doing so is the strawberry crepe, seen to the left.

Along the Wienfluss, the stream that goes through Vienna.

The Wienfluss, up close.

View from the top of the library at Burggasse / Stadthalle U-Bahn.

Market at the Rathausplatz.

The Gasometer. Old gas storage tanks now emptied and repurposed as the outer shell of a shopping mall.

Housing block built against the Gasometer.

Taken from the Donaupromenad across the Danube river. Geocode was ok.

Taken from the Donauinsel. Geocode agrees - sort of - Google maps places me in the water by the shore when using satellite imagery, but right when using the "Map" view.

Spot on geocoding places me in Leopoldau, at the northernmost end of the U1 subway line.

This one is also spot-on geocoded.

Really bad geocode places me several kilometers off.

Geocode is slightly off - I'm supposed to be at Mahlerstrasse, which is about 100 meters south. GPS:s don't work that well in cities with big, sky-and-satellite-blocking buildings, though, so this is only to be expected.

This is the church at Karlsplatz, about a hundred meters from where I live. Every evening at 1800 until the 24th of December, there is a light / music / dance show called "The Angel".

This is, in its own words:

Memorial to the honor of the soldiers of the Soviet Army that fell during the liberation of Austria from fascism April 1945.

The memorial has a quote from Uncle Joe that I unfortunately can't translate.

View from the hallway into my apartment at Mühlgasse 15.

The outer door opens into the kitchen.

Past the kitchen is the living room.

Living room (left).

Living room (left back).

Living room (right back).

Living room (right).

The door to the right in the living room leads to the bedroom.

The bedroom.

Just a few subway stops to the north of me is Schwedenplatz (Sweden-square).

Of course with a Schweden-Shop, although I could not for the life of me find anything particularly Swedish in there.

The Stephansdom is the center of Vienna.

With its huge 140-somthing meter tower it is - I think - the largest example of gothic architecture in Europe.

Inside the Stephansdom.

The candles.

The altar.

School children in their yellow hats.

I found this in a subway magazine under the "what is new and great in town":

We take care of your balls

The "No-scalpel-vasectomy" is quickly and easily done by our experienced urologists. The safest insurance for fun without consequences.

Well, I guess the ol' nazi sterilization programs had to go somewhere. (Besides it is only without consequences if you ignore STDs...)

The Spittelau Heating Plant, designed by Hundertwasser. I think it looks like a death camp furnace designed by Willy Wonka.

The Donaukanal by Spittelau.

Me, on the Donaupromenad, a walkway along the bridge from the south bank of the Danube to the elongated island in the middle of the Danube (Donauinsel), with the Danube in the background.

A picture from the Donauinsel toward Millennium City.