House for Mozart in Salzburg

12 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  6 minutes

The stage © Martin Kraft/cc-by-sa-3.0

The stage © Martin Kraft/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Haus für Mozart, or House for Mozart, is a 1,500-seat theatre of the Salzburg Festival in the city of that name in Austria. It was established in 1925 when horse stables were converted into a venue for the mystery plays that were a main facet of the five-year-old festival, becoming the festival’s first dedicated performance space, its Festspielhaus. This name it retained through three rebuildings until, in 1960, the larger Neues Festspielhaus opened next door, whereupon it took the name Altes Festspielhaus, or Old Festival-House. But three seasons later, to end confusion in the minds of visitors unaware of the history, both theatres were renamed for their sizes, and the smaller was now the Kleines Festspielhaus. For forty-two seasons, through 2004, the nomenclature was settled. Then the theater was closed for its fourth gutting and reconstruction. It gained its current name upon reopening in 2006 as the festival’s principal theatre for Mozart and Rossini operas as well as Baroque stageworks.   read more…

Bad Ischl in Salzkammergut

20 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  7 minutes

Kongress- und Theaterhaus © Peter Haas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kongress- und Theaterhaus © Peter Haas/cc-by-sa-3.0

Bad Ischl is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the cadastral community Ahorn, Bad Ischl, Haiden, Jainzen, Kaltenbach, Lauffen, Lindau, Pfandl, Perneck, Reiterndorf and Rettenbach. It is connected to the village of Strobl by the river Ischl, which drains from the Wolfgangsee, and to the Traunsee, into which the stream empties. It is home to the Kaiservilla, summer residence of Austro-Hungarian monarchs Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth. In 2024, Bad Ischl will be one of the European Capitals of Culture – the third city in Austria after Graz (2003) and Linz (2009).   read more…

Deutschlandsberg in Styria

1 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Gliwi/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Gliwi/cc-by-sa-4.0

Deutschlandsberg (pronounced -lands- as the name derives from Deutsch-Landsberg) is a town in Styria, Austria, with a population of 11,676 (as of January 1, 2022). It is the seat of the district authority Deutschlandsberg. There is a small gold deposit in the southwest of Deutschlandsberg. At the beginning of the 1970s, the heaviest mountain crystal in Styria and the largest titanite crystals in the Alps were found south-east of Deutschlandsberg Castle, in the former quarry of the “Schwemmhoisl” farm in Warnblick.   read more…

Streif in Kitzbühel

21 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Sport Reading Time:  8 minutes

Hahnekammrennen 2011 - The lower section © Michael Fleischhacker/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hahnekammrennen 2011 – The lower section © Michael Fleischhacker/cc-by-sa-3.0

Streif is a World Cup downhill ski course in Austria, located on Hahnenkamm mountain (Kitzbühel Alps) in Kitzbühel, Tyrol, competing for the Hahnenkamm Races since 1937. It runs on natural terrain (pasture in summer) with minor modifications done over the years, next to “Ganslern” course.   read more…

Large Festival Hall in Salzburg

18 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Optimale/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Optimale/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Large Festival Hall in Salzburg (from 1960 to 1962 New Festival Hall, since 1963 Large Festival Hall) is one of the venues of the Salzburg Festival and is located in the old town, it is partly built into the Mönchsberg.   read more…

Lake Wörth architecture

21 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Johann Jaritz/cc-by-sa-3.0-at

© Johann Jaritz/cc-by-sa-3.0-at

The so-called Wörthersee architecture shaped the appearance of the cultural landscape around the Wörthersee between the opening of the then private Southern Railway and the “Anschluss of Austria” from 1864 to 1938. Castles, villas, boathouses and bathhouses around the lake have been built in the so-called “Wörthersee style”. Examples can be found in Pörtschach, Velden, Krumpendorf, Klagenfurt and on the southern shore of the lake.   read more…

Grand Hotel Wien

1 April 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, Hotels Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Bwag/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Bwag/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Grand Hotel Wien is a five-star luxury hotel in Vienna, Austria. It is located on the Ringstraße at Kärntner Ring 9. The hotel has a long history and tradition. The architect was Carl Tietz, and it was opened as the first Viennese luxury hotel in 1870. It originally had over 300 rooms, 200 bathrooms, a steam-powered elevator, and a telegraph office.   read more…

Theme Week Burgenland – Eisenstadt

28 August 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  13 minutes

Esterházy Castle © Zei Andrei Meriae/cc-by-sa-3.0

Esterházy Castle © Zei Andrei Meriae/cc-by-sa-3.0

Eisenstadt is a city in Austria, the state capital of Burgenland with a population of 14,900. In the Habsburg Empire‘s Kingdom of Hungary, Kismarton (Eisenstadt) was the seat of the Eszterházy Hungarian noble family. The composer Joseph Haydn lived there as Hofkapellmeister under Esterházy patronage. Eisenstadt lies on a plain leading down to the river Wulka, at the south foot of the Leitha Mountains, about 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the Hungarian border.   read more…

Theme Week Burgenland – Parndorf

27 August 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  11 minutes

McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Parndorf © Steindy/cc-by-sa-4.0

McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Parndorf © Steindy/cc-by-sa-4.0

Parndorf is a bilingual municipality with 5100 inhabitants in the Neusiedl am See district in Burgenland. The western part of Parndorf extends into the Leitha Mountains and is located on the Parndorf Plain. The town is 7 km north of Lake Neusiedl.   read more…

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