Austrian Sights

[J. A.]

Thank you, Dave!

 

[squib]

Johanna, why is it called the machinery pond?


Peace begins with a smile.
M Teresa

 

[J. A.]

The house on this photo is called "engine house":




It used to contain the first Watt steam engine of the Habsburg Empire. It got the water it needed from that pond. The engine in that building pumped water to other parts of the park.

 

[J. A.]

One thing people like to do in my region, is ride their bike. We have an extended cycle path network, especially in my district, some of them connecting Austria to Hungary.

One of these leads to the Bridge at Andau, which I visited today. I've never been there, so the length of the road to the bridge starting from Andau was surprising - almost 10 km.

Both sides of the route, which is called "Road to Freedom", show sculptures, created by international artists. They're made of wood, metal or stone, the first one I post here consists of three pyramids (acrylic glass?), filled with different materials:

What can be found on each of them is a plate with the name of the artist, his country, the title of the sculpture and the year of it's creation.
As an example:

These sculptures were created during symposiums from 1992 - 1996.

 

[scifan57]

Thanks for sharing the photos from your bike ride, they're very interesting.

 

[J. A.]

The bridge itself was a narrow wooden bridge that lead over the Einserkanal (Einser Canal). The Hungarians used it to cross the border from October 23rd 1956, when the Hungarian Revolution started. From November 4th the same year, refugees crossed the border at that point in crowds. The bridge was destroyed by the Russians on November 21, 1956. The border was watched closely by Russians and Hungarians. This didn't stop people fleeing to Austria, though. It's estimated that 70.000 to 80.000 Hungarians crossed the border that year.

There's no picture of the old bridge. The new one was built up after the fall of the Iron Curtain, in 1992.

This is what it looks like from the Austrian side:

Hungarian side, view to Austria:

Einser Canal:

Memorial in Hungary:

Tower in Austria:

Some years ago, part of a movie was made here. (Der Bockerer III - The Bridge at Andau). This border fence was used for a few scenes of the film:

 

[J. A.]

Thanks for sharing the photos from your bike ride, they're very interesting.

Thank you!

I don't want you to get a wrong impression: if I had enough time, I'd go there by bike. Andau is 20 km from here, and then there are 10 km to the border.
Yet, today I had to "kill time" while waiting for Judith: 90 minutes, so I decided to take a look at the (for us) famous bridge, using her car.

 

[mydave]

Hi J.A.,

Thanks for sharing all those great pictures. Austria, an absolute beautiful country with extraordinary history. Please continue to share whenever you can. Thanks

Btw, I tried, unsuccessfully, to search for Lucius' House to understand its history.

 

[J. A.]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I'll only stay in my district this year. I know a few locations that could be interesting as well. If possible, I'll take pictures and post them here.

This will explain a little bit about Lucius' house: http://www.carnuntum.co.at/rekonstruktionen-en/rekonstruktionen-en/haus-des-lucius

 

[mydave]

Thanks for the link.

I viewed again the previous two pages that you started a year ago. Your skills in photography brought to life all those great achievements and places of your country. Too bad there are not a whole lot of wiki about the places in pictures. I found these though:

http://www.liechtensteincollections..._work&lang=en&sid=87294&oid=W-138200414452830

http://www.eisenstadt-tourismus.at/leopoldine-temple.html

Please continue as your time permits

 

[J. A.]

Vila Vita Pannonia - Mile of Fame

About 80 km from Vienna, and approximately 5 - 7 km from my village, there's a "village", sponsored by a German hotel group, and built after 1993. First, only a hotel was opened, offering meeting venues. When you visit it now, you'll find the hotel

This picture was taken after X-mas

Seewinkelhalle (place of events)

Pannonia Tower:

A small chapel which can be used for marriages, e.g. - Martinskapelle:

as well as lots of small houses, organized into "villages" - one of them Schilfdorf (reed village) e.g. These are bungalows where you can spend your holidays.

Various activities are offered, such as miniature golf, swimming and bathing, picnics, nature trails, carriage rides, ...

Among the outdoor activities, there's the Mile of Fame. That's a shock-absorbent mulch track that should be easy on the joints.

It's starting point is here:

When you take a closer look, you'll find winners of past foot races engraved on the badges:

That's not the reason why it's called "Mile of Fame", though. The reason for it's name is that many known persons from sports, politics and business have mastered the route (it's not really long) and left their handprints.

They can be found along the route. It looks like this:

A closer look will reveal the name of the "celebrity" (the people are - in any case - known in Austria and Germany):

This is the hand print of Austria's first (and only) astronaut:

 

[J. A.]

Mile of Fame - continued

There are also fitness stations with instructions:

There are benches, inviting to rest:

Or not so inviting:

This is what the path looks like:

You pass a beautiful pond:

And a high rope course

 

[scifan57]

Wonderful pictures, Johanna! It must be nice to live close enough to such an area to enjoy it on occasion.

 

[J. A.]

Thank you, Robert!

The route is beautiful and quiet, and in summer it's great to walk in the shadow of the trees when it's hot.

 

[Bennettb]

It's really interesting that they made hand prints and stationed them on the path.

Bobbi