First Weekend

The Naschmarkt is a huge outdoor market covered by awning. In the entrance near the Opera house, there are two rows of restaurant, serving all different types of cuisine: Asian, Austrian, Mediteranean, and Turkish (to name a few). After traveling further down, they offer a lot of fresh produce. There were many stands that sold fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and nuts. There were also stands that sold freshly made ravioli, tortellini, pickled vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives. I noticed that most of the salesmen were Turkish and I even found a few stores that sold Turkish Delight. It reminded me a lot of the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It was interesting to see that most of the stands sold the same thing. There were over 40 stands selling the same exact thing. I wonder how they make money, the competition must be very high since everyone is selling the same thing. Since it was Saturday, the Naschmarkt also puts on a flea market. It was full of a bunch of antiques and used goods.
Kaisergruft is the final resting place of many of the Habsburgs. Originally called the Capuchin Monastery, it was commissioned by Empress Anna to be her final resting place along with her husband Emperor Matthias. Since Ferdinand III, the Kaisergruft has become the burial place for the Habsburgs. Among the bodies buried in the vaults, 12 are emperors and 17 are empresses. Some famous Habsburgs that are buried here include: Leopold I, Karl VI, Sisi, Maria Theresa, Joseph I, and Franz Joseph I. Along with the emperors and empresses buried here, their family members are also buried here. The tombs are made of metal and have very intricate designs on the surface. Inside the vault, Jesus being crucified is an omnipresent idol, whether carved onto the tombs themselves or hanging on the surfaces of the walls. It is very easy to tell who the important figure’s tombs are, they are very extravagant, large, and have intricate carvings decorating the surface. The most magnificent vault in the building belongs to Maria Theresa. It is very obvious that her tomb is the oversized metal coffin in the direct center of the vault. Her remains are surrounded by Joseph I and Franz I. There are also some very small coffins, which I suspect may have belonged to babies who have passed away. Vienna a Cultural History states that the Kaisergruft was the burial place for only the Habsburg family. There decadent lifestyles were also carried into the afterlife where the coffins decorations and extra adornments could help one to determine the status of the specific person. For instance “coffins draped in black velvet and gold brocade signified that the occupants were rulers or their spouses, while red velvet and silver brocade were for the archdukes, archduchesses and their immediate families” (Parsons, 72).
After visiting the Kaisergruft, we visited the Beethoven house. Since it is not in central Vienna, our guidebook did not have very explicit directions on how to get there. So we proceeded to ask some people we saw on the street, however it did not seem that anyone knew that this attraction existed. We went all over town and checked the maps at the bus stops and finally found Probusgasse 6, where Beethoven’s house was. It was a modest little cottage with two stories and a courtyard in the middle. The actual museum was very small and did not have much besides some two original papers written by Beethoven. That was when I realized why no one knew where this supposed Beethoven’s house was because it is not much of an attraction (it did not even get its own section in the guidebook it was just mentioned in passing). After paying the entrance fee, I entered the house and read an information wall that said something on the lines of: recent research has placed doubts on the fact that this was actually Beethoven’s house, but it give us a good idea of what a house in the 1800s may have looked like. I was a bit disappointed that I had searched so long for a house that may or may not have belonged to Beethoven. Nevertheless, it was nice to get out of the immediate city and see the sights. We actually ran across a Heuliger that used to be Beethoven’s house and an apartment that Albert Einstein once lived in.