In this post, I’d like to show you several attractions in Vienna off the beaten track. Let’s start with this sculpture. The owl is a decoration created by the Swiss artist and architect Bruno Weber. You’ll find it on the wall of the Vienna University of Technology Library.
After leaving the railway station Mistelbach/Stadt I came across one of my first sundials in Austria. The piece placed on a private home in Lower Austria shows local agricultural products like corn and grapes. The German phrase ‘’Nuetz die Zeit!’ reminds people to use their time carefully.
On my walk through the Ilm Park (Park an der Ilm), I come across this monument to William Shakespeare. What a surprise. I did know that Weimar is known for Goethe, Schiller, and Herder. What is the link to Shakespeare? In fact, Goethe played an important role in this question.
This manhole cover displays the main sights of Berlin. The buildings shown starting from the bottom in a clockwise direction: Brandenburg Gate, Television Tower, Reichstag Building, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Olympiastadion, Federal Chancellery Building, Victory Column.
This house sign in a lane in Graz depicts a bird as well as a star and crescent combination. If you look carefully you’ll see the moon is showing a face. This sign is located on a 17th-century portal at the address Schmiedgasse 20 in Graz.
This sculpture was created in 1987 by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj. It is located near the Old Town Hall on the Lower Bridge in Bamberg. In the background you can see Michelsberg Abbey, which is currently being renovated.
Ehrenburg palace (Schloss Ehrenburg) was the residence palace of the dukes of Saxe-Coburg until 1918. It was built in the 16th century from a Franciscan monastery. The present façade in English Gothic Revival style was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the beginning of the 19th century.
The Coburg Riding Hall (Coburger Reiterhalle) is in the immediate vicinity of Ehrenburg Palace (Schloss Ehrenburg). It was built in 1852 according to the plans of master builder Georg Konrad Rothbart. The sculptural horse’s head in the tondo directly above the pointed arch portal was created by Theodor Behrens.
The manhole covers in Coburg show the city arms. They display the head of Saint Maurice, the patron of the city. According to legend, Saint Maurice died as leader of the Theban Legion a martyr’s death in the 3rd century. In general, this depiction of him is known as Coburger Mohr (Coburg Moor).
On a trip with the Styrian railway in the Lungau we pass this castle high above the town Ramingstein. It looks medieval but well preserved. We wonder if it is still inhabited?
This sundial, located at the parish church of Tamsweg depicts James, son of Zebedee (Jakobus der Ältere) who is the patron of this church. Tamsweg is the largest town of the Lungau region in the Austrian state of Salzburg.
A sator square seen on a facade in Golling an der Salzach. The sator square, also known as rotas square, is a word square containing a five-word Latin palindrome. The oldest datable representation of a sator square was found in Pompeii.