Nails and Narwhals
The Wien Museum and the Imperial Treasury
Yesterday I finally made it to Cafe Museum!
A meeting place for many of Vienna's most prominent artists, the cafe was deisgned by minimalist designer Adolf Loos who was also responsible for American Bar in Stephansplatz and Looshaus in Michaelerplatz. Loos was notorious for hating ornamentation and decoration of any kind. He viewed requiring a craftsman to spend time on ornamentation for an everyday object as a crime because they could be spending more time making a second object or refining the design of the object's function. Rather than focusing on beauty, his designs are solely about functionality. This design style makes sense and I can see how he got there but it isn't for me. Next to the beautiful, very heavily ornamented halls of the Kunsthistorisches or the gardens at Schonbrunn, a place like Looshaus just isn't as aesthetically pleasing even if it is "more functional." No wonder the Emperor hated it.
While the design may not be my jam, the melange and cake definitely were and these are some of the best (and also most expensive) I've had on the trip so far. Once I left Cafe Museum, I met up with a couple friends to head to the Wien Museum. I'm a sucker for dioramas and this museum is full of them.
From Vienna's beginnings as the Roman city of Vindabona to its status as a present day metropolis, the surprisingly free Wien Museum tracks Vienna's development and shows models, artworks, interactive displays, and digital media that help tell the story of this beautiful city.
One of my favorite museums back home is the Oakland Museum which follows the history of Oakland as a hub of nature, Black culture, civil rights, food, music, and Bay Area life in a very similar format to the Wien Museum. Being at the Wien felt like being back there and it was super cool to see a different city's history told in such a similar way.
One of the best parts of the Wien was its beautiful balcony that showcased a view of Karlsplatz. It was a feature of the Leopold Museum that windows were strategically placed to turn the city itself into art but I found this a far more effective example of that same idea and it gave me a chance to see one of my favorite places in Vienna from a new vantage point.
This morning, I headed to the Imperial Treasury with some friends to explore the treasures of the Habsburgs. I had been looking forward to this museum for a very long time for a very specific reason: narwhals. When I was in 7th grade, I entered a research competition where I studied narwhal migration patterns and they way they were impacted by climate change. By looking into changing data over time and their diet, I was able to reach the conclusion that warmer oceans were killing the food source for narwhals, meaning they had to change their migration routes so they could find new places to feed which are becoming fewer and farther between.
While I may have been fascinated by the fact that this narwhal horn (which is actually a tooth) is a lot longer than average, the reason it's in the Imperial Treasury of the Habsburgs is actually very interesting as well. Emperor Ferdinand I received this "Ainkhürn" (Unicorn Horn) as a gift from King Sigismund Il of Poland in 1540. During this age the mythical unicorn was held to be an actual animal, which might only be captured in a virgin's lap creating an idea of it as an allegory of Christ, with its horn becoming a symbol of divine power. This horn, which was also thought to be an antidote to poison, was traded in Europe at tremendous prices. Finally, in the 17th century, scientists revealed that it was, in fact, a narwhal tusk.
Exiting Narwhal Corner (TM), the rest of the Treasury was also very cool. I was particularly drawn to the reliquaries and different relics from Christian figures such as saints or Jesus himself. Here are two of my favorites:
The treasury claims this is the nail from Jesus's right hand when he was nailed to the cross. During Constantine's reign, he actually affixed this nail to the front of his battle helmet as an ornamentation. Adolf Loos would not have been pleased.
This is the Veil of Veronica. Apparently, while Jesus was on the cross, St. Veronica wiped the blood and sweat from his face and you can still see his face imprint on the cloth. One of the things I love most about relics is that nearly anything can be one. Cloth with face imprint that might be Jesus? Relic. Crust of bread that was "chewed by Jesus"? Relic. That I saw in Italy.
Also on display at the Treasury was this badge from the Order of the Golden Fleece, a Catholic Order of Chivalry deeply tied to the Austrian Habsburgs. So tied, in fact, that the current head of the Order (which still exists) is European populist politician Karl von Habsburg, the current head of the Habsburg family.
The Order of the Golden Fleece was originally meant to increase the prestige of the Duke of Burgundy by showing his commitment to upholding chivalry and order. When Mary of Burgundy married Maximilian I Habsburg, the Grand Mastership of the Order passed to the Habsburg family where it remains to this day.
Once I had finished at the Imperial Treasury, I headed to a beer garden called Otto that I had read good things about for dinner. While there, I ordered a blood sausage entree that came with fennel salad and it was delicious. The blood sausage was like butter in my mouth and the crisped outside only heightened the experience. The fennel salad was also great and a very welcome addition to what has, so far, been a very vegetable-lacking program.
For a while I was at this beer garden by myself which was nice, if a little sad. Luckily, my friend Anna came to join me and we had a wonderful time.
