The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-07-11 00:00:00


A FEW DAYS IN VIENNA.

(BT 0.11 LONDON CORRESPONDIKI)

t
• 1

As Parliament is en the aye of breaking up, and as
a brief holiday has br.en ordered ma like me sow-
advice that is i. the one seas much more agreeable
than in tho other- I crave your own and your readers'
ind)d.gence while I gossip in and about sue sif the
finest cities of the world.
Vienna might be called an intensely historical
city, to important a part has the famous town plays)]
in European history over since it was made an
imperial city, in the early part of the twelfth century.
The annals of Vienna, indeed, are almost synonymous
with the political history of Europe. It owed much
of its ancient magnificence to English money, for it
was with £40,000 paid for the ransom of Richard
the First of England that the city was enlarged and
walled. Vienna is emphatically a city of sieges and
of treaties. It was besieged by the Turks, with an
army of 300,000 men (but it is difficult to believe that
the number was so large), in 1a29; it was besieged by
the Poles under John Sobieski; it was besieged
and captured by Prince Murat in 1805; and four
years afterwards it was again captured by the French.
As to the treaties and congresses with which Vienna
is identified, they are innumerable. During the early
part of the present century treaty after treaty was
signed here ; and in Vienna territories were signed
away and potentates moved about like the pieces on a
ehess-board.
Modern 'Vienna is certainly a very fine city-some-,
what sombre, perhaps, compared with Paris, but not
AS compared with London, Berlin, or many of the
Italian cities. There is an air of solidity and
grandeur about Vienna which tells of a famous history,
and there is a business activity which seems to re-
pudiate its being • city of pleasure; and yet, as we
shall see, ',lie Viennese know how to thoroughly enjoy
thenBo;eves. As seen from the Danube, or Donau, as
it 1, called, the view is imposing and interesting; and
any one looking clown from the steeple of St.
Stephen's cathedral, or taking a more distant view of
it from the Kahlen hills, cannot fail to be struck
with the extent and grandeur of the city. This steeple,
by-the-bye, is several feet higher than St. Paul's,
London. The cathedral-as is usually the case with
Continental cathedrals - has been for years under
repair, and will be under repair for years to come; but,
like most Continental cathedrals again, it is always
open to visitors, as though the builders wanted tourists'
money to go on with. The building, or, at least, parts
of it, is more than five centuries old. It is noted amongst
other things for a monster bell, weighing 360 cwt.,
which was cast out of Turkish cannon, and for the
tomb of Prince Darin°, the hero of the siege of
Belgrade. And RA I have commenced by mentioning
one celebrated cathedral, let me follow it up by briefly
noting a few of the many churches that should be
especially visited. The Church of the Capucines con-
tains the mortal remains of many imperial and royal
notabilities. Here is the sarcophagus of the Emperor
Frederick 111. of Germany, who was a contemporary
and rival Emperor with that Louis of Bavaria whom
some call Louis 111, and some Louie IV., so troublous
was the fourteenth century. And here, too, bi the sarco-
phagus of the unfortunate Duke of Reichstadt, son of
the great Napoleon, and who for a short time had the
misfortune to be King of Rome. A fine church s that
of St. Carlo Borromeo, which was built, from religious
motives, at the expense of the Emperor Charles VI.,
in accordance with a vow made during the period of
the plague raging in Vienna-a calamity which carried
off many thousands of its inhabitants.
Vienna is very rich in museums, picture-galleries,
and scientific and artistic institutions, cabinets of ,
antiquities, &c. It is well known that people visiting
a foreign city think it is the correct thing to "do '
these places, though, perhaps, they have come from
cities where museums and galle iii of antiquities also
abound, though the travellers have never thought it
*worth their while to visit them. I will venture to
assert, for instance, that comparatively a very few
Londoners have ever visited the British Museum.
Such an assertion may be laughed at, but it is true
nevertheless. Our country hien& when they come up
to London, seem to think it a religious duty to go
there, and go accordingly; but we "can go any time,"
and so most of us never go at all. But, if we go to
Vienna we must do-not as the Viennese do, but as
tourists do -and visit the Royal Ambras Museum, the
Royal Cabinet of Egyptian Antiquities, the Gallery
of Paintings in the Belvidere, the Alsergund Wahringer
goose, and the rest of it. Without boring and tiring
oneself, however, by visiting artistic and scientific
show-places, there is an immense deal for a stranger
and a sojourner to see, and this in the most pleasant
way-by merely rambling about the city, or driving
through it 'in a hackney cab, at a florin the
hour; and very comfortable these vehicles are.
Like most cities, the central parts are the most ancient,
and the outer circle and the suburbs the newest and
most agreeable. The city proper is irregularly built, and
some of the streets are narrow and crooked, while you
seldom in this part of the city meet with even a plate or
square with noble proportions; but it need scarcely be
added that Vienna, sea whole, contains many splendid
streets with shops worthy of the capital of Austria.
Among the beat public places are the New Parade,
the Hof, the Josephplatz, the Hohe Markt, and the
Graben. The new Parade is a splendid place. It is
about 1,000 feet long and 650 feet broad, and is adorned
with avenues of trees, grass plots, and flower-beds
Among the places of popular resort for relaxation and
pleasure are the Bastei, a fine promenade round the
ramparts of the old town; the Glacis, a splendid
esplanade between the city and the suburbs, where the
horse-chestnut trees rival those of Bushey Park; the
Volksgarten, or people's garden; and the Prater,
which is an immense park in the Leopoldstadt suburb.
The Prater has been called the Hyde Park of Vienna,
but it is much larger than the famous London parks.
It is, indeed, Rome four miles long. It is divided into
three parts--one for carriages, another for equestrians,
and the other for those who possess neither carriages
nor horses; but pedestrians are not debarred from the
equsstrian and carriage avenues. There are six noble
r ws of h '1..2.e-chestnut trees ; and a ramble in their
shade, watching the gay and busy throng-or idle
throng rather -is one of the pleasantest of lounges.
If we are fortunate enough to have an admissible
vehicle, we shall find the drive in the most fashionable
part of the Prater, any time between four and seven, a
gay and lively scene. If the equestrians do not
"witch the world with noble horsemanship," they evi-
dently enjoy themselves and give joy to others, and
that is something. The carriages are splendidly ap-
pointed, and the loungers are all well dressed. And
here let me note a contrast which is not flattering to
the Londoner. Nowhere in Vienna do you see-at least,
in rambling about all parts of it I have not seen-
anything approaching to the poverty-to use no more
disagreeable word-that you may see in so many parts
of the richest city in the world.
The masses, the working classes, the people, empha-
tically so called, of Vienna, have abundant oppor-
tunities of enjoying themselves, and they largely avail
themselves of them. Whether it was originally inten-
tional or not I will not attempt to discuss, but certain
it is that the bulk of the holidays of the Catholic
Church come in the finest time of the year. But for
thine who choose to do so and who are about such •
surfeit of pleasure, there is a continuous effort to
=Mei

The Prater contains a Wiirstel Prater (the sausage
Prater), which may be regarded as a permanent fair.
Here are innumerable liquor-shops, beer-houses,
swings, roundabouts, shows, marvels and monstrosi-
ties, conjurors' establishments, and almost every pos-
sible attraction ad captamlum raga*. On Sundays
and holidays this place is thronged, everybody "on
pleasure bent," and yet, in the matter of amusement,
having 'a frugal mind." Originally, no doubt, "from
a time whereof the memory of man runneth not to
the contrary," this fair was established for the sale
sausages from various parts of Germany and Italy,
and present practice is in accordance with old tradition.
Of what these sausages are made it would not do, per.
haps, too curiously to inquire, especially if you have
any prejudice against horseflesh; but they are indis-
putably excellent- if you like them ; and if you don't,
the old classic proverb tells us it is of no use to argue
about tastes.
Any one wandering about this great fair, and bear-
ing in mind that it is kept up all through the livelong
spring and summer, cannot fail to come to the con
-
elusion that the Viennese dearly love pleasure. Nor
can I believe that they verify Madame de Steel's
remark that in the pursuit of pleas-ire:we often lose
happiness. The throngs, go where you will, look
happy, at all events. And the business of pleasure
seems to pay well. Year after year, lam told, you
may see not only the same shows, the same round-
abouts, the same restauratons, and so on, but the
same proprietors and earrepreraurs, or whatever they
call themselves in German. Needs not to be said that
there is plenty of opportunity for refreshing the inner
man. You need not confine yourself to the sausages.
infinitely various though they be. Almost every
variety of what we will call lunch food is at your com-
mand in the open sir, in more or less osy retreats;
and you may enjoy light em! refreshing Deer—much
better than that of England—unless it be such es that
af Bass—to your heart's content, without having too
seriously to "think of your head in the morning."
Desiring to speak with the modesty that becomes an
observer of Viennese manners and customs for a few
days only, I may, nevertheless, express a decided
opinion that they are quite as pleasure-loving a peoille
as the Parisians, and that is saying a good deal; and
they ass as lead el ent4ser life as tha Italians sea

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