Chapter 56 - Colors of Austria

After being over here for awhile, some things that startled us at first have become commonplace. One of those is the color of houses. Of course you see plenty that are white or cream, but a large percentage of houses over here are brightly colored.

Houses are built of big blocks made of some terracotta-type clay material (don't you just love it when I try to describe something technical). It takes a year to build a house over here, partly because of strict environmental codes, but also because after the outside is built of these blocks, the structure is left alone for (I think) several months to allow it to "settle." Later, plaster is applied and painted.

Here's a house that has been left to "settle."


We wondered why there are so many brightly-colored houses. It certainly is different from the limited choices in Kingwood. And you see the bright colors equally on houses that are 400 years old and on brand new ones. I wonder if it's because the winters are so long and gray. Perhaps like the popular flowers that decorate homes during the summer, a brightly-colored home is cheerier during the long cold months.

And now for the colors. Let's start off with a bang - red! There aren't many, but the ones you do see are this bright crimson.


Various shades of orange










I think yellow is the most popular color. Here are some examples from pale to blindingly-bright.










There are some lovely pink houses, from pastel to hot pink.










Less common are lavender and purple houses.








Green is a popular color.










Blue is another popular color.








I know this isn't a house - it's a club in nearby Sopron, Hungary - but I just had to include it. Too bright to believe!

Chapter 55 - Klingenbach History, Pt. 2 ... Rome and the Dark Ages

The Celtic kingdom of Noricum - stretching across much of modern Austria - supported itself with the salt trade until the Romans said "gimme." Rome forced out the Celtic tribes and took over the iron, salt and wine trades along the two main traffic arteries of the east-west Danube and the north-south Amber road (leading from Jutland near modern Denmark to Rome). Whale tusks and amber from the north were traded with bronze swords and oil pictures from the south.

Rome named its new province Pannonia which covered territory encompassing present-day western Hungary, part of Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Rome had to fortify the border areas of Pannonia to prevent barbarian incursions. The pesky Germanic tribes continued to cause trouble, and Rome had to fight several wars led by famous generals like Caius Marius, Augustus, Tiberius, Germanicus, Marcus Aurelius and Hadrian. Pannonia was productive with minerals and agricultural products like timber, oats, barley, beer, grapevines, olive trees and also hunting dogs.

On this map of the Roman Empire in 200 CE (the empire at its greatest size), note that Klingenbach is in Pannonia, near the border. Throughout history, you will see that Klingenbach is usually near the border of empires, never a comfortable place to be. Klingenbach is the red dot.


A bronze brooch from Pannonia.


This glass bottle is from 200 CE. How did it never break?


Always one of the most important items - a Roman coin.


In the year 296 Emperor Diocletian redrew boundaries and called the Austrian area Pannonia Prima. The situation gradually deteriorated as first Huns and then Visigoths continually raided the area.

Barbarian invasions in 350 CE. Klingenbach (the green dot) is getting it from more than one direction. The red part of the map is the Western Roman Empire, the pale green the Eastern Empire.


Imagine seeing these guys coming at you.


Alaric, King of the Visigoths (370-410), sacked Rome, then died of a fever.


Attila the Hun (406-453) led his army in invasions all over central Europe. He choked to death after getting drunk at his wedding to a very reluctant bride.


By 427 CE Pannonia was assimilated into the Huns' territory, never again to be controlled by Rome. After the fall of Rome in 476 to the Visigoths - the historically-accepted date for the beginning of the Dark Ages - central Europe continued to be invaded. The area was successively controlled by the Ostrogoths, Lombards, Avars and Slavs. In the sixth century the Bavarians fought back against the eastern tribes, and today's Austria still has place names divided along a rough north-south line from Freistadt and Linz to the Eastern Tyrol. Even 1,400 years later, people and towns on either side of that line have names distinctive of Bavarian or Slavonic languages.

Barbarian Kingdoms of Europe in 530 CE. Klingenbach is the red dot.


With the power of the Barbarian kingdoms came profound and catastrophic societal change, including the collapse of urban life, loss of literature, limited building activity, cessation of art patronage and the end of artistic training and production. The culture of northern Europe was determined by the tribes, and crafts important to them were work in fine metals, leather, wood and semiprecious stones. Only in Italy did art production continue.

These bronze cloaks and hoods depict typical Dark Ages clothing.


The little art that survived was religious in nature. This early Nativity is a wood carving dated to 500 CE.


This bronze beaker embellished with silver and gold has been dated to 500 CE.


This is typical clothing in 500 CE.


In the sixth and seventh centuries, the Bavarians fought against Carantania (roughly the modern southeastern Austrian province of Carinthia) and other eastern tribes. Bavarians settled across the area of modern Austria, a process that enabled it to become the mostly German-speaking country it is today. In 788 the Bavarians were defeated by Charlemagne, an event that profoundly changed the history of Austria.

Europe in 800. Note that Klingenbach is on the eastern edge of Charlemagne's Frankish kingdom. I'll bet they continued to face invaders from eastern tribes though. The light brown circles on the map aren't that far from Klingenbach.


There were still marauders. This is a Viking ship from 800.


But things were changing. On Christmas Day, 800, 58-year-old Charlemagne was crowned the first Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.


The reappearance of painting in northern Europe was due to the conversion of the barbarians to Christianity. Iconography was important in the Church, and painted Christian images were indispensable as were relics of early Christianity.

This is reportedly a piece of Mary's dress worn when she gave birth to Jesus. It was given to Charlemagne by Irene, Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire.


This is Aachen Cathedral, begun in 805 by Charlemagne.


The Dark Ages were slowly fading, and the Middle Ages were about to begin.

Chapter 54 - Graz

We visited Graz last Sunday. It's the second-largest city in Austria with a population of almost 300,000 and the capital of the state of Styria. You never know if you're going to like a place or not, and although I always expect to enjoy the places we visit, neither of us cared that much for Graz. It's pretty in the Old Town area and is a World Cultural Heritage Site, but we just didn't get a good feeling.

First settled in the Copper Age, the town's name comes from a South Slavic word, "gradec," which means small castle. Apparently, a heavily fortified "castle" was built for protection sometime during the Dark Ages. The German name, "Graz," was first used in 1128 when Babenberg dukes ruled the area. Graz is close to the Slovenian border and was frequently assaulted by Hungarians and Turks who never took the town. It later came under the rule of the Habsburgs which used it as a city of residence for its Inner Austrian line.

The first university was founded in 1585. Among the great scientists who studied or taught at Graz universities are Nikola Tesla, Otto Loewi, Johannes Kepler and Erwin Schrodinger. Today 44,000 students attend six universities.

Some of the less savory incidents in Graz history include ruthless control of the university by the Catholic Church, the burning of 20,000 Protestant books by Archduke Charles II, the banning of Lutherans from the city (which is why Kepler moved to Prague) and the destruction of the thriving Jewish community by the Nazis and the burning of the grand synagogue.

At first I thought this was a plague column, but it isn't. It's a column commemorating victory over the Turks in 1664.


This is a fountain in the square in Old Town next to the column.


Part of the pedestrian area in Old Town


Beautiful flowers in Old Town


Some buildings in the Old Town area






I love the way these buildings have interesting statues decorating the corners.


Bob liked this copper weathervane.


This is Sacred Heart Church. It was built in Gothic Revival style in the 19th century and has the third highest spire in Austria at 359.6 feet.


The side entrance


Looking down the nave toward the altar


The main altar


The pulpit


Two of the Stations of the Cross that adorn the side walls


The church has some of the few extant examples in Austria of Neogothic stained glass. Here are two of the beautiful stained glass windows.




We found this graffiti to be particularly unsettling. To have anti-Nazi sentiments expressed, one presumes that there is neo-Nazi activity in the area. We did notice that Graz has a more varied ethnic population, probably because of the universities, so maybe that has contributed to some of these problems. One always hopes that mankind does learn from the past, especially after our recent visit to Mauthausen. Perhaps this contributed to our diffident reaction to the city.




This cheered Bob up. He loves the way these pigeons are so totally unafraid of people.


This is the first in what we had planned as a series of pictures of the Landhaus, a Renaissance building designed by Domenico dell'Allio, and now used as government headquarters. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the last picture we took that day. The batteries died in the camera, and since nothing is open in Austria on Sundays (except restaurants), we couldn't replace them.