29 May 08

First, thanks to Maria for the information about yesterday's photo. The sculpture is Alfred Hrdlicka's MEMORIAL AGAINST WAR AND FASCISM (Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus, 1986).

Following this time is that of Ulrike Truger, "Zwang – Flucht – Freiheit" a sculpture dedicated to Empress Elizabeth at the Hermesvilla. The statue presents the areas of "obligation - escape - freedom" which are all being faced by the empress at the same time. These are shown by the three sides of the sculpture that stands for the ambivalence of personality, the subjects for the obligation, the coat for the escape and the wing for the freedom.

It is made of carrara marble and weighs 6,5 tons! (The kids in front are from the kindergarten, plus my daughter.)

29 May 2008

During our trip at the Lainzer Tiergarten(zoo), younger son would often ran away and spy on the animals, one of which is a ram below.

29 May 08

As I mentioned in yesterday's comments, we went to the Tiergarten (zoo) as a Kindergarten field trip. My 2 boys were there and daughter tagged along as she goes to school only until 12, the field trip is until 2pm and there'd be no one to pick her up (because I went with the boys too lol).

I had fun photographing the kids there, this is the side of the Villa itself, few steps down and some steps up will get you to the building posted yesterday.

At noon, just before lunch, we spotted some of the deers. The zoo is a 6,054-acre wildlife preserve, which I assume is owned by earlier royalties as a place for hunting.

True enough, wikipedia says that the Lainzer Tiergarten was created by Emperor Ferdinand I in 1561, when the area was fenced off by a wooden fence, to allow for a private hunting ground. In 1781, the wooden fence was replaced by a stone wall. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the hunting grounds became a public nature preserve, and have remained so ever since, with the exception of the time period of 1940 to 1955, when the entire grounds were closed. An admission fee existed until 1973, after which the preserve became accessible for free.
A large portion of the Lainzer Tiergarten was lost after World War I.

Today the Lainzer Tiergarten is home to between 800 and 1,000 wild boars, 200 to 250 fallow, deer, approximately 700 mouflons, and 80 to 100 red deer (elk).

29 May 08

This part of the villa caught my eye. It is separated from the main manor, each on the left and right of the structure.

Below, supposedly a working fountain, too bad that day it wasn't...notice how the plants are trimmed btw.

29 May 08

Before I continue with the Schloss Belvedere series, I would interrupt it for a few photos of the Hermesvilla. A villa constructed as a gift of Kaiser (Emperor) Franz Joseph for his empress, Elisabeth, in the year 1886. It was built ala country manor-house style. The interior has been decorated by Hans Makart, said to have been an important influence to fellow artist, Gustav Klimt.

The villa is situated at the heart of the Lainzer Tiergarten (zoo), a 15 minute walk from the entrance. Today, the villa has been rebuilt as a museum, housing memorabilias of Empress Elizabeth.

(This photo is courtesy of Wikipedia)