Funkmeister is German for 'Radio Operator'

Field trip to Niederösterreich, where we got to see Klosterneuberg. Kloster means monestary, but unfortunately I didnt see any monks. The place was founded back in the days of the Babenburgs as part of one of those 'monestaries with a built in palace' deals, presumably so that God will forgive you if youre completely corrupt. Anyway, it became the obsession of Charles VI of the house of Habsburg, (a Habsburg in the 17th century), who tried to make it into a huge baroque thing out of it. The monks here apparently are the largest single producer of wine in Austria, so the whole monestary smells like... a lot of wine is being made.

Following this, we went to a .. i guess 'restored' castle nearby. It wasn't really 'restored' so much as just plain built out of spare parts. Here is what happened. In the 19th century, this guy, Graf Hans Nepomuk von Wilczek, decided that he needed a medieval castle (having fancifiul interpretations of the middle ages was really cool then), and he owned one that was in severe disrepair (as in... was naught but a pile of rubble). So, to fix this problem, he learned a whole lot about medieval stuff, and became quite the scholar apparently. Anyway, he bought all these parts of medieval buildings and walls and stuff, and then a LOT of medieval furniture, books, and apperati and built a castle out of it. It is quite possibly the coolest thing ever. Also, Teddy Rooseveldt liked it a lot, and chilled in the drinking room with the Graf.

Also, the Castle's website can be found here, it is auf Deutsch, but thats not the worst thing in the world. Kreuzenstein


P.S. Thanks to Sammi for naming my album... but it has nothing to do with anything I actually saw, and I cannot vouch for the validity of the statement therein. Prices may vary.

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