vienna

The old and the new

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I love the way you can see the old city 5 story buildings of Vienna in the foreground, and then suddenly the massive 5 story buildings of the modern city shoot up in the background. It’s such a startling contrast!

St Peter’s Church, Vienna

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St Peter’s Church is in the middle of Vienna’s old town. I went to visit because every day they put on a free organ recital, and when I went to visit I was delighted to hear Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, which is my favourite piece organ music.

The recital is usually at 3pm, but best to check the full programme on their website.

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Get their early (or linger a little after), because the inside is magnificent, and you can easily spend an hour wondering around inside.

I hope I was allowed to make a recording, because here it is.

Cemetery Church, Vienna

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This church is in the middle of the Central Cemetery in Vienna. Its really quiet, not many tourists visit graveyards, but I find them really interesting. In particular I was there to visit Beethoven. But I’m really glad I popped into the church. In German it is called “Katholische Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Gedächtniskirche”, which means the “Karl Lueger Memorial Catholic Church”. Karl Lueger is a somewhat controversial figure, in that he is credited with transforming Vienna into a modern city, but he was a strong Antisemitic, to the point that Hitler credited him as an inspiration for his own Jewish views. I am somewhat baffled to see that this church would be named after him – it is a very sensitive topic in Vienna.

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The dome is surprisingly modern, just a simple pattern. No biblical scenes like you see all over the other churches in Vienna. Incidently this is the second dome, the first was destroyed in World War 2.

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A view from outside.

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