Music, Mining and Madness

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  Salzburg, Austria
Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Music, Mining and Madness

Thursday morning I was feeling a little under the weather, so I got started later than I had intended. As I checked out of the hotel, the desk clerk was having a hard time finding something. She looked at me and said, "Bei mir herrscht immer Chaos; Ich kann nicht überall sein." (Where I am, chaos reigns; I can't be everywhere.) We both chuckled about the saying, and she showed me her 365 days of sayings calendar. Then I headed for the train station. Fortunately, I wasn't catching a plane (That's tomorrow), and trains run between Munich and Salzburg twice an hour. I had intended to stop at Prien am Chiemsee on the way and see the last of Ludwig II's three castles. However, I decided just to go on to Salzburg, thus arriving earlier than I had planned, but that worked out fine.

Upon arrival, I ate lunch at the station (sometimes European train stations have excellent restaurants; and there's always the Schnellimbiss) and watched some of the Montreal Games diving finals. The Canadian Alexandre Despatie was amazing. Everyone else was getting 8.0 to 8.5, and he was getting 9.0 to 10.0. Then I went to a CyberCafe and caught up on reading some of the hundreds of e-mail messages in my box. I hadn't wanted to mess with the personnel's schedule too much by showing up so significantly earlier than I had indicated just the day before. Finally I grabbed a taxi and had the driver take me to the Christ-Koenig Kolleg. When I arrived, my room key and a note were in an envelope in the door.

I let myself in and went up to my room. Christ-Koenig Kolleg is a dormitory during the academic year and a Pension during vacations. It is also where the archbishop has a suite for when he comes to town. I have a room with a bed, night stand, table, wardrobe, sink and mirror. The WC and shower are down the hall. The bed is better than the one in Munich. The location is great. My room is a corner room on the second (that is to say, third) floor, and looking out one window I can see the north side of the cathedral across the square. Looking out the other window I look down at a Balkan restaurant. When the window is open the smells are scrumptious. I just haven't been around at mealtime (other than breakfast) to eat there. The cathedral is essentially the center of the Altstadt (Old City), so I am close to things. About 100 meters behind the Pension is the funicular up to the fortress Hohensalzburg. When I have the windows open, not only do I get the wonderful smells, I also get the sounds of the city: church bells ringing, people passing and talking, and music.

A few quick facts about Salzburg. For centuries it was ruled by prince-archbishops. Not only were they important church officials, but their income from the salt mines and salt trade helped make them extremely affluent secular rulers as well. During the rule of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (ruled 1587-1612) a fire destroyed the old cathedral, and he set about creating the "Rome of the North" (fairly successfully). A lot of Salzburg's architecture is very italianate Baroque. Among other things Wolf Dietrich put a very Italian fountain in the Residenzplatz and created a series of interconnecting squares that lead through the old city.
After settling into my room and taking a little nap so I felt better, I took a do-it-yourself orientation tour. From the Pension I walked to Mozartplatz with its statue of Mozart (go figure!); then I walked past St. Michael's Church to the Residenzplatz with the Old and New Residenz (on top of the Neue Residenz is the Glockenspiel which is adorned with an upside-down heart in flames surrounding the solar system to indicate God's love for everyone); next I went under the prince-archbishop's old "skyway" connecting the Alte Residenz to the Dom (you don't expect such an important person to walk among the rabble on his way to say mass, do you?) and entered the Domplatz (Cathedral Square; unfortunately the whole square is filled with grandstands and a stage for the Salzburg Festival, which started on Sunday); from there I walked under another set of arches to Kapitelplatz, which is also set up for festival events (the fountain in the square is currently the site of a huge screen to show performances from previous festival years; it originally was a horse bath); then I went through another couple of squares to Toscanini Hof, which faces the 1925 Festival Hall (where the von Trapp family gave their "farewell" performance before escaping from German-occupied territory); after going through Max Reinhardt Platz (a mess because of construction) and Wiener Philharmonikergasse I reached the Universitätsplatz, which hosts an open-air market and contains a dual sundial (shows both the time and the month), a fountain and the collegiate church (which has an interesting altarpiece: a representation of Proverbs 9:1 "Wisdom has built her house and has hewn its seven pillars"); then I continued to the end of the street where there was another beautiful fountain that was really a horse bath; making two right turns I reached Getreidegassa, old Salzburg's busy and colorful main street, and walked its length, passing Mozart's birth house along the way; finally I made my way back to Mozartplatz before crossing the river for some wonderful views of the city. At last I made my way back to the Pension and went to bed.

Some initial first impressions: Salzburg is one of the most musical cities I have ever visited. First, there is the music of the church bells. From my room I can hear numerous bells ringing throughout the day (and part of the night). First the cathedral bells ring, and then various other churches toll their bells in turn. While I enjoy it, I can imagine it could get on one's nerves long term. Then there are the street musicians - most of them playing Mozart, though other composers are represented as well. During my walk I heard flautists, violinists, a small string quartet, a balalaika group, a Mozart-era "living statue" who played tuned drinking glasses, and two guys playing Bach's "Tocatta and Fuge in d minor" . . . on accordions. Amazingly enough, it sounded pretty good. One guy did most of the fancy runs while the other guy provided the harmonies. Of course, I arrived at the start of the Salzburg Festival, so there are concert venues throughout the city. In the Kapitelplatz below my window, I heard the Vienna Philharmonic on Sunday night; on Monday night I listened to "Cosi fan tutte." Before that started I heard another concert from a different square a little farther away. I am definitely liking Salzburg!

On Saturday I returned to a couple of places from my orientation tour of the night before. This morning the open-air market was in full swing, and the square was filled with stalls and people. It was cloudy, so I wasn't able to check on the sundial. (Somehow they just don't work without a shadow!) I also went past St. Peter's church and cemetery and the waterfall that is part of a canal system that has brought water into Salzburg from Berchtesgaden, 16 miles away, since the 13th century. Enough water was brought in to power factories, provide fire protection (which didn't work in the case of the cathedral), and flush out the streets.

Then I walked along the river to the train station and bought a "Salz Erlebnis Ticket." This provided me with train service to Hallein, a bus ride to Bad Dürrnstein, entrance into the "Salzwerken" (salt mines), and return. On the train I met an American couple, David and Jeannie, also on their way to the salt mine, so we hung out for the tour.

Upon arrival at the "Saltwelten" we got our tickets and then went to the "changing room" where we put on miner's clothes over our street clothes. The tour takes you in groups of 40-50 to a "train" that takes you inside the mountain. Just before you get on, they take your picture so they can sell it to you later. The seating for the train is astride a long bench, all scrunched together.

After getting off the train, we began the walking portion of the tour. Along the way the guide told us interesting facts about the mine and its history. (Salt was mined here as early as Celtic times; the temperature is a consistent 10 degrees Celsius; humidity is about 70%) At various points in the tour we also saw video presentations about Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, who built the Residenz, the Baroque cathedral and the Mirabell Palace, and who spent the last 5 years of his life as a prisoner in the fortress above Salzburg. Although he may have been an important secular and religious leader, he wasn't particularly pious: he loved a woman named Salome and fathered 15 children. (So much for vows of chastity!)
The guide also told us that St. Barbara is the patron saint of miners - and then showed us an altar to St. Ruprecht. I haven't quite figured that one out. He said that the mine tunnels shrink about 1cm a year because of the weight of the mountain. Salt was transported as brine via pipes to Hallein, where it was evaporated out and formed into cones for drying and storage. Another name for salt in this area is "white gold" because of its value to the economy.

During the tour we crossed into Germany, slid down two chutes, took a boat ride across a 70-meter long brine lake, tasted the brine (27% salt solution), saw various dip lays including a reproduction of a Celtic "mummy" found in the 1600s, listened to the guide and watched the videos. At the end of the tour we went up an escalator and too the "train" back to the entrance. Then we got out of the miners' outfits, looked at our pictures (I chose not to buy mine), and exited. Oh yes, near the start of the tour some Americans began singing "Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go" - shortly before passing a statue of a mountain dwarf.

After the tour I said good-bye to David and Jeannie, who were going to spend the rest of the day in Salzburg, and headed for the re-created Celtic village next to the salt mine. It was a fascinating look at an ancient civilization. Those Celts just got around all of Europe and even made it to Asia Minor. Then I had a late lunch before catching the bus back into Hallein. In town I got off near the Zentrum and went to the Franz Gruber Museum. Gruber composed the music for "Silent Night" to Fr. Joseph Mohr's words. The museum is in the house where Gruber lived later in life and died. I saw the guitar on which the piece was originally played and several autographs of the song by Gruber. The very first autograph, however, is lost.

From the Gruber Museum I walked to the Celtic Museum and went through the exhibit. No pictures allowed. L I did stop for a while to watch an Asterix and Obelix cartoon. They were dealing with the bureaucracy of the Roman Empire. At the entrance of the exhibition was a display of a Celtic chariot pulled by two horses. One Celt was driving, and another was on the wagon tongue, wild eyed and ready to throw a spear.

Then I returned to the Bahnhof, caught the train to Salzburg, got dinner and went to the Pension. There I wrote in my journal and listened to the sounds of the city before going to bed.

On Sunday morning I decided to pretend I was Catholic. At 10:00 I went to mass in the cathedral. The service music for the mass was Mozart's "Missa Solemnis." Of course it was magnificent. The postlude was a Baroque piece. I sat in the nave, but I had read that the best acoustics were in the crossing, so after the service I went there and listened to the choral prelude for the next mass. A choir from Oak Park, Illinois, was visiting and providing the music for 11:30 mass. However, I left after the prelude.

After lunch I wrote some and then took the funicular up to the fortress on top of the hill. I spent about 1 ½ hours there before walking back down to the Altstadt. Once I was down the hill I went back to the cathedral. This time it was for an organ concert. First four visiting organists took us on a short music history journey: a fantasia by Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) on the Renaissance organ; a ciacona by Johann Kaspar Kerll (1627-1693) on the southeast Pirchner organ; a sonata by Anselmo Viola (1738-1798 and definitely Baroque) on the Venetian organ, Partita in C Major by Jan Krtitel Kuchar (1751-1819 and definitely Classical). All of these are "little" organs located in each of the corners formed by the intersection of the nave and the transept. Then the cathedral organist stated the musical theme for improvisation on the BIG organ in the choir at the back of the nave. For about 45 minutes the 5 organists improvised - improvised! - on the tune. First, each organist on the "little" organs improvised on the entire tune. Then each did a phrase or two and handed it off to the next organist. Next two organists handed the improvisation back and forth, at first playing one at a time and then overlapping somewhat. After that the cathedral organist came back in for some improvisation before handing things back to the little organs for even closer and more intricate cooperative improvisation. Finally the big organ came back in for some impressive solo work, only to be joined at the very end by the others. 5 organists simultaneously playing their own improvisations on a theme and making it work. Amazing! This time I was sitting in the crossing under the dome, so I had genuine surround sound, hearing each of the 5 organs from a different direction. I could see two of the organists, so I know that this was true improvisation. They watched each other carefully to know when to come in and made last-second changes of registration to complement what another organist was doing. I was in awe of both the technical excellence and musicality of what I heard and saw.

After the concert I walked around Salzburg a bit before returning to the Pension. As I wrote about the day, I had my window open to the sound of church bells and the Vienna Philharmonic.

On Monday I had another encounter with madness: that of Ludwig II. Today I headed to Herrenchiemsee to see the third of Ludwig's castles. At breakfast someone said it was supposed to rain, but the sky was beautiful, and I decided to take my chances. So, after breakfast I walked to the Hauptbahnhof and bought tickets to Prien am Chiemsee. Once I arrived in Prien, I hurried over to the "Chiemsee Bahn" and rode a "cute little train" from the Bahnhof to the dock. The train was pulled by a coal-powered steam engine: noisy, polluting, but cute. They have the Bahnhof-Dock trips timed with the regular trains into Prien. Although my train from Salzburg was a couple of minutes late, they waited for us to disembark and get our tickets. At the docks I had a short wait for the boat to Herreninsel. (Men's Island; there's a Women's Island as well) After a 20-minute boat ride I made a 20-minute hike to the castle. This was Ludwig II's monument to Louis XIV of France. Ludwig adored Louis and believed in an absolute monarchy, although he wasn't able to practice it. Herrenchiemsee is a replica, though not exact, of Versailles. There are some places where Ludwig deliberately made a room (such as the "Hall of Mirrors") larger than the original. Also, the decorations were more elaborate in various places. Like Neuschwanstein, the only way to see the castle interior is on a guided tour, so I paid the money and went. The basic construction of the castle is brick covered with stucco decorated to look like marble. This was not a cost-cutting strategy (Ludwig didn't know anything about saving money) but an artistic decision, since the stucco is easier to work with and more versatile than marble. To create this monument to absolutism, Ludwig first purchased the entire island and then had the castle built. To give you and idea of Ludwig's extravagance, the most expensive piece of furniture is a writing desk. It cost one fifth as much as the entire island. Also like Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee was never finished. At the end of the tour we saw the unfinished private staircase and a couple of rooms. The kitchen was never installed, so when Ludwig actually spent 10 days in the castle, food had to be brought from the old castle 20 minutes away and then placed on the table that was hoisted up to the dining room, which took another 15-20 minutes. Obviously, Ludwig had no problem eating cold food. We also walked across Ludwig's bathtub, which was 7.5 meters across and 1.7 meters deep. Ludwig was 1.9 meters tall, so this would fill to about neck or chin depth for him.
After the tour I had lunch at the castle café. I sat on the terrace overlooking the fountains and tried to imagine myself as one of Ludwig's guests. Of course, he never had any, so that would be rather difficult. Then I headed back to the dock. When I emerged from the woods between the castle and the dock, the sky was very dark, and a strong wind was blowing. They had the small craft warnings out. I managed to get into the Chiemsee Bahn before rain began to fall. In the train I struck up a conversation with a German lady who recently (in October) returned from a 5-year stay in Kenya, so she knew the places where I'm headed. She is a registered nurse and had been helping try to set up a hospital for poor Kenyans. This was being done through a Swiss agency, but the hospital never opened because the Kenyan contact succumbed to greed. She was pretty disillusioned.

By the time I reached the Bahnhof it was starting to rain fairly hard. Fortunately by this time I was under cover, so Ididn't get wet. On the ride back to Salzburg we had a true "Gewitter" with thunder and lightning. Since it was still raining when I arrived in Salzburg I decided to go into the Cyber Café and send off a posting. By the time I finished that, the sun was out again. I walked back toward town and stopped at the Mirabell Palace to enjoy the gardens, statuary and building. Then I went into the Mozart House (where he lived, not where he was born) and took the audio tour. By the time I finished with that, it had begun to rain again. I hurried across the river into the Altstadt and went into a restaurant I had seen earlier in my wanderings. It was a Chinese restaurant, and I had a delicious beef with carrots dinner. While I was eating various locals came in for dinner (I could tell they were locals by the way they greeted the staff), so I evidently had made a good choice.

After dinner I returned to the Pension and typed up my travel blog while listening to first an orchestra concert and then Cosi fan tutte from the square below.

On Tuesday I had an encounter with a different sort of madness: the Third Reich. This time I took a bus from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden and then up to the Kehlsteinhaus, or Eagle's Nest. This was supposed to be Hitler's private retreat, provided by Martin Bormann, but Hitler almost never came and is said to have disliked it, even though he frequently spent time at Obersalzberg just down the hill. It's a good thing I went on this trip for the historical interest and not for the view: there wasn't any. The whole time I've been in Salzburg the sun has shone intermittently, and it has rained several times, although I've usually been able to avoid being caught out in it. Today was overcast, and it sprinkled as I made my way to the bus stop. When I arrived at the Kehlsteinhaus, everything below us was gray. I decided to walk to the top of the pick, above the house. Before I even reached that point, I could no longer see the house, just the inside of the cloud. Eventually the clouds parted a little bit, so I got a bit of a view, but not nearly the spectacular view that prevails on a clear day. On the back from the peak, I stopped at a panorama picture that identifies the various mountains, valleys and towns one might normally see from that spot. I filmed the panorama picture and then raised the camera to . . . grayness. Still, it was interesting to see the place and consider the technical engineering and sheer work that went into creating the road, carving out the tunnel and elevator, and supplying the house.

Since I was there at midday, I had a late lunch (the restaurant cleared out to nearly empty at 13.00) of Schnitzel, Pommes Frites and salad. It was delicious.

I left the house in the early afternoon so that I could stop at the documentation center that has been erected where you catch the bus up to the Kehlsteinhaus. This is one of the best exhibits I've seen on the Nazi period and its impact on an area. Of course the exhibit centers on Obersalzberg, Hitler's vacation spot and a second center of command for him. There are lots of panels of pictures and explanation, photographs, documents, video and audio. Included in the center is a walk into one of the bunkers that were dug out under the area. I was glad I decided to see the center instead of spending more time looking at gray clouds (although that was somehow fitting for a former Nazi site). This, too, was madness. I think I prefer King Ludwig II's kind of madness.

Now for my "It's a small world" experience. As I was waiting for the bus from the documentation center to Berchtesgaden Busbahnhof (where I caught another bus to Salzburg), I overheard two American couples talking about the documentation center. One couple didn't know about it, and the other couple had just missed getting in because they couldn't get a bus down from Kehlsteinhaus in time. I told them that I had gone and was thoroughly impressed with the center. When our bus arrived, I continued the conversation with the couple that had not known about the documentation center. It turns out that they, too, live in Southern California - Belmont Shore (part of Long Beach) to be exact. They were familiar with where I teach. Then conversation with other people in the group that they were with brought out the fact that this was a trip by a number of graduates of the University of Redlands, where I spent my freshman year in college. Several of them had graduated in the spring before I arrived in the fall of 1968. So far that's the closest I've gotten to meeting someone I know on this trip.

Tonight I pack, and tomorrow I head for London again. I'll spend Wednesday to Sunday in London, leaving Sunday morning for Nairobi, Kenya. My plan is to get the pictures caught up and post one more time before leaving for Africa, since I don't know how readily I'll be able to get on the Internet and post from my brother's house.

So, having gotten everything up to date, I'll sign off once again and

wuenscht Euch allen Gottes reichsten Segen,

Robert

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