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Published: August 30th 2013
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Candlelight dinner
Galerie restaurant, family run for 20 years, St. Polten old town St Polten (40 km west of Vienna) is the capital of Lower Austria and it has some fine examples of medieval buildings plus Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque. However, what I loved about this town were the Art Nouveau (or Jugendstil) buildings that we discovered whilst walking around, as well as the modern cultural precinct comprising buildings of glass, metal and steel designed by brilliant architects like Ernst Hoffman.
An absolute wonderful example of the Jugendstil period is the Stöhr House on the corner of the main pedestrianized street opposite the railway station. This was built in 1899 and designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich who also built the Vienna Secession building. The building was home to a Dr. Hermann Stöhr, St. Pölten hospital's first chief physician. It just so happened that the Doctor's brother, Ernst Stöhr was a founding member of the Wiener Secession, and he introduced Olbrich to his brother. There is a large stucco relief portraying the ancient Greek goddess of health, Hygieia, on the facade which was painted by Ernst Stöhr.
The Synagogue of St. Pölten is also a fine Jugendstil building. It was designed by Theodor Schreier and Viktor Postelberg in 1912/13. In 1943 Schreier was
deported to Theresienstadt and was killed there the same year. The synagogue was destroyed by SS troops in 1938, renovated in its original style in 1980-84 and since 1988 the former synagogue has housed the Institute of Jewish History in Austria. Outside is a memorial to the Jews who were killed during the Third Reich's rule. Small stones have been placed atop the engraved plaques of names.
Adjacent to the Old Town in what was an undeveloped eastern area of the city an entire complex has been built. In sharp contrast to the buildings of the old town, this area features signature buildings of contemporary Austrian architecture. It is referred to as the Landhaus (Government) Quarter and the Cultural District because it houses the parliament building of the district as well as other provincial government offices. The Traisen river runs through this amazing area. In this complex is also a concert and theatre building, a museum building and an 80 metre high building called the Klangturm (sound tower). This building deals with sound art - all forms of noises, tones and sounds. However, it was its height that we were interested in - we hopped into a glass lift
Stohr House building
Kremser Gasse 41, St. Polten. Architect: Joseph Maria Olbrich and were shot up to an enclosed viewing platform where we had fantastic views across St. Polten and to the buildings of this new Cultural District. Recorded information was ours at the press of the button marked "English"!
A "stand out" building in Baroque style (painted in white and pink) in the Old Town is the Institute for English Ladies (Institut der Englischen Fraulein). This we discovered was founded as a school for girls by Mary Ward in 1609. The building (1715-69) is a sumptuous building containing portals and statues of saints in true baroque style!
From St. Polten we took a 15 minute train journey to Melk which is located next to the Wachau Valley along the Danube. The Wachau is a 30 km section of the Danube running from Melk to Krems. From Melk we travelled on a ferry along the Danube between the picturesque vine covered hills of the Wachau. We passed old castles, palaces and charming villages with church spires. The ferry stopped at a few towns along the way and we alighted at Durnstein while the ferry went onto Krems (where we had already been). Durnstein is a very small town and a
major wine growing area - we were able to see most of the old town in the hour and a half we had before we caught the ferry back for our return to Melk - and enough time to enjoy a glass of white wine from the region. The town's major souvenir items are all products made of apricots - schnapps, liqueur, jam, mustard, soap, cakes - everywhere! Apricots are abundant in the Wachau in Summer and are of supreme quality. It took about 2 hours to get back to Melk. A bit longer than the trip to Durnstein as we were travelling against a very strong current. The day had been cloudy but the rain held off which we were very grateful.
There was still the famous Benedictine Abbey to see in Melk which we couldn't visit the same day as our ferry ride. So the next day we caught the train to Melk from St. Polten again to specifically visit this enormous Baroque structure that is situated on a rock overlooking the Danube and towering over the town of Melk. We found the steps leading up to the Abbey and reached the top relatively dry because, of
course, the rain that stayed away for our ferry ride, poured down for our Abbey visit. Lucky we had waterproof raincoats! The Abbey visit starts with a Museum where we had to squeeze past groups of guided tours before we reached the Marble Hall where Austrian rulers had dined in Baroque opulence attended from above by golden statues holding up the ceiling! We managed to get ahead of the endless tour groups by the time we reached the Church and the Library. The Church was incredibly ornate, sickeningly High Baroque in style! I moved onto the Library which suited me much better. The Library I read contains about 10,000 identically bound books. It also contains a huge very old globe which added to the atmosphere of serious scholarship! The Abbey also houses a secondary school of around 900 students. There are 30 Benedictine Monks and only 3 of them teach in the school. The Abbey would get heaps of money from tourism and so the upkeep of the buildings are not a problem but are ongoing as it is an absolutely huge complex. The Abbey park is also huge and beautiful with ancient trees, sculpted hedges, fountains, manicured lawns, flower
beds, herb garden, statues, a garden pavilion and surrounding views down to the Danube. All we needed to really enjoy it was sunny weather, however, we made the most of it in the rain!
We headed back down the steps to the cobbled streets of Melk where we enjoyed 2 glasses of Wachau wine. Then train back to St. Polten. Tomorrow we head back to Germany.
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