"Soldatenfriedhof" am Domplatz

The Cathedral has a few special installations for Lent, including this "soldiers' cemetery" of wooden crosses out in the little park in the Domplatz, by the artist Franz Wassermann. The 200 crosses bear the words "My body doesn't belong to me", "My body is a weapon" and "My body is a battlefield", in 6 languages including Latin, Hebrew and Arabic.
Also part of the installation are the six large flags hanging from the neighboring buildings, bearing anonymous portraits. Their intention is to remind one of the "abuse of religion, church, business and politics for nationalist purposes." According to the Cathedral's website, the idea is to provoke thoughts about the inhumanity of war especially now, in this 200th anniversary year of Tirolean Freedom Fighters.

WHY PETS AND PROPS DON'T MIX

(This was after the stage director played "go fetch the hand" a few times!)
This is the theater's unofficial mascot, and master to a colleague in the ballet. The hand was not a prop in itself, but fell off a mannequin that was being used for something. Romeo promptly claimed it.

Mike Brennen Update: Why "Mistaken Identity" is No Excuse

I go over to the site Justice For Mike Brennan now and then to see if there have been any new developments, and the one issue I have not seen addressed (although it may have been somewhere, and I missed it) seems a rather important one:

If Mr. Brennan HAD been the suspected drug dealer, or even a known drug dealer in Vienna, would it have then been acceptable to beat the crap out of him on the subway platform that morning? Is getting your back broken by the police justified when you are the person they are after? When you break the law? Is it the case then, that even suspected drug dealers have no rights in this regard? If this is true, then Austria does need to change these rules. And if not, then the Vienna Police's argument, that they mistook Mr. Brennan for someone else, holds no water at all.

Weekend Garden Blogging

There have been a few days lately like today, when the sun warms up the terrace somewhat and one senses that spring really is on the way, beyond the official calendar date proclaiming it. On those days I have gone out and taken a look around, to see what will need to be done. (And then the cold front would come in and keep me away for another week.) So it was a pleasure to look around this morning and find that things are happening. Above, the Peony's (Paeonia, in German Pfingstrose) first pinkish-red shoots. Below, I'm pretty sure this is the Bleeding Heart (Dicentra, or Tränendes Herz).

The Rosemary (in German, Rosmarin) has looked pretty good even through the ice and snow. In mid-May it will get some new pot-mates; chive, basil and parsley.

First Lady Michelle Obama's kitchen garden project is posted on the White House Blog (I am still pretty impressed with that they're doing over there, communications-wise), and I hope that the White House will keep us posted occasionally on the garden's progress through the growing season. There was also talk somewhere about starting a beehive, which interests me even more, being something I'd like to try myself someday.

Depends on what you mean by "labor"

Yes, I said I wouldn't, but this was too inviting to pass up. I assume Mr. Schwaighofer spoke to the reporter in German, and even if not he may be excused for the unintentional pun. From the International Herald Tribune: (bolds mine)

"I consider a murder conviction rather unlikely," said Klaus Schwaighofer, who heads the University of Innsbruck's criminal law institute.

He added that even making a case for enslavement — a first in Austria — could be tough because its legal definition appeared to be geared toward the exploitation of labor. "But I wouldn't exclude it," Mr. Schwaighofer said.

DNA tests have confirmed that Mr. Fritzl fathered all six of his daughter's surviving children, the authorities say.

Although St. Pölten is not all that far away (well, about 4 hours), I don't see any point in blogging about the Fritzl case. It's well covered by the press and other bloggers.
One thing, though: Elisabeth, the daughter, has said that she is considering writing a book. Probably would be a good therapeutic exercise. It'll sell, too.

Weekend Mountain Blogging

A new angle on the Nordkette, from my hike last weekend.

Judenstein, or The Jews' Stone

Here's something I thought about blogging for a while. Long ago when I first moved to Innsbruck I set out one afternoon on a little day hike, hoping to find the name and location of a particularly pretty duet of onion-dome church towers which I could see from my window. From my hiking map it was difficult to figure out just how far away they might be, and I ended up overshooting and headed toward the hills above the next town over. Not knowing the name of the church, I looked for a "+" symbol on the map which signifies a chapel, and went for the one which looked like it might be in the right place. The area was called Judenstein.
It wasn't the chapel I was looking for, but it turned out to be much more interesting. The church at Judenstein has a history.

The story goes like this: in 1462 (or so) three-year-old Andreas (Anderl) Oxner disappeared from his village. His body was found later, in the area. (This much might be true.) Roughly a hundred and fifty years later, a counter-reformationist and anti-semite named named Hippolyt Guarinoni invented a story from Anderl's death, modeled after a popular story going around at the time about a little boy named Simon in Trent (as in the Council of Trent.) In Guarinoni's new fable, traveling Jewish merchants bought the boy from his stepfather, then performed a ritual murder, cutting his throat open and collecting the blood. Guarinoni got a lot of traction out of this story, and with it built a church on the scene of the crime and started up a cult venerating the "martyred" child. On top of this the Brothers Grimm had picked up the story and took it all over Europe, if not the world in their tale, "Der Judenstein" (The Jews' Stone).
The little church, while quite lovely, has frescos on the ceiling depicting the disappearance of Anderl (one shows the grief of his mother when, while working in the fields, she learns of her son's death). If you visit this church the one fresco you will NOT see is that which has been (thankfully) painted over — depicting little Anderl actually being cut open by Jewish men. I kid you not, I wish I were.
I need to point out that, while the Roman Catholic church was instrumental in this kind of story gaining traction to begin with, in 1953 Paul Rusch, then Bishop of Innsbruck, struck the holiday commemorating Anderl's "martyrdom" from the church calendar. In the 1980s Bishop Reinhold Stecher began to dismantle the cult by having Anderl's bones removed from the altar, having the offending fresco painted over and officially banning the cult from the church (in the 90s). There is now a plaque inside the church explaining the myth and it's falsehood. Problem was, Anderl's fans were not to be dissuaded by that time — the annual pilgrimages occur every July on Anderl's "day", hosted privately (not through the church) by various right wing extreme factions and catholic fundamentalists.
Tirol's anti-semitic and anti-other roots are complicated — more religious than racial, reflecting the fear of outsiders often encountered in mountain people, and encouraged by the church (right there alongside hatred toward heretics and Protestants) by calling Jews Christ-killers and all that other fun stuff. Then the Nazis took over and took things to extremes.
Today, religion plays very little part in the local bigotry. The right-wingers tend to harp on "preserving our way of life and our culture", keeping brown people and slavs out. (Note to the BZÖ: It's not working.) The right-leaning view Turks and other eastern European nationals today much in the same way American wingnuts view Mexican and Central American immigrants to the U.S. At the turn of the last century, even Italians were suspect. I know of a family who won't talk to one of their daughters because she married a German. And another who can't accept their daughter-in-law, for the crime of being (gasp) Swiss.

I am speaking of things I have heard and personally learned, not of Tiroleans in general — there are lots of friendly and open-minded people here too, especially in the cities but out in the countryside as well. But things like this, the stuff not talked about, are embedded in the culture.

Because I love a nice ruin

Returning from a hike I passed by this old heap of a former inn, just across the river from Hall in Tirol. The left side of it looks genuinely old...
while the right side seems to be either added on or renovated later. The advertisement for espresso leads me to think that it must have still been open in the 60s. And from checking Wikipedia, I learned that the Inntal Autobahn from Innsbruck to Kufstein (at the border) was built in the late 60s-early 70s, removing a lot of tourist traffic from the secondary roads and putting inns and rest stops out of business. I don't know but I can imagine that the Gasthof, with it's terrace and espresso bar overlooking the river, would have been a popular place to stop for travelers making their way from Italy to Munich. It would have also been a lovely place to stay when one visited Hall, which is a lovely little historic town, before the high fences erected around the rail line nearly cut it from the town completely.
But I'll stop with the nostalgia. Although traveling to Munich on the old roads looks pleasant enough in old movies, the truth is that it took the better part of the day, as well as a control stop at the border. Now you can drive there in 90 minutes or less.

Happy International Women's Day

To all you International Women out there, this International Woman salutes you.
Yeah, I know, that's not what it means. But do women need a Special Day? An International Men's Day would seem pretty ridiculous — how about equal, fair treatment and pay throughout the entire year? That's a long way off from reality in so many parts of the world, that it seems that, sadly, yes, we've got to take advantage of having this holiday, if only to boost awareness of inequality.
Let's start with one thing that Austria has, and the US should have: after her maternity leave (Mutterschütz: 8 weeks before and 8-12 weeks after giving birth) is up, a woman can go into Karenz, a longer, unpaid leave* (until the child's 2nd birthday) in which her job is guaranteed when she returns. But here's the cool part — the father can take it instead. Or they can split it between them, if they wish. How cool is that?

* No pay from your employer but you start getting the Kinderbetreuungsgeld (Child Allowance ), which is just a little extra pocket money (a hundred euros or so each month) until your child begins a full-time job or turns 26. Yes, you read that right, 26. Because most university students are enrolled until about that age.

Ghost Drivers

I had never heard of a Geisterfahrer, or "ghost driver", until I began spending time in Germany and Austria. The radio stations have regular traffic updates, and every so often (once a week at least) there would be an alert about a ghost driver on one of the Autobahns. This means someone is driving in the opposite direction on a limited access highway, where U-turns or shifting over to the correct lane is not an option.
So how does one end up being a ghost driver? Alcohol plays a big role, but is not always present. Sometimes older drivers get confused or distracted, and drive up the exit ramp. Sometimes it's on a dare, for a kid to impress his friends. But, sadly, often enough it's a drunk driver who doesn't have the faculties to realize what he's doing. Recently a 55-year-old man drove — under the influence — for a good 12 miles before he exited the highway. He was lucky in that he only lost his license. There have been head-on collisions and deaths.
I still haven't figured out whether this is either not a problem in America, or whether it's simply not reported. The name was completely new to me. It can't be because Americans are better drivers (they're not) but there might be something about how the ramps are designed, or the signage.

But here's a sort of silver lining for the DUI-driver who loses his license: in Austria one can buy a "license free" car, a little thing about the size of a Smart, which only goes up to 45kph (28 mph) and therefor is not allowed on Autobahns, where 45 is the minimum speed. They were originally made for older people living in rural areas. They are basically mopeds in a car body, and I think they are great. The one disadvantage, however, is that other people assume whoever is driving one is an alcoholic (the "45" is clearly displayed on the back of the car, so you know that he can't speed up for you.)

Police State Austria: Update on Mike Brennan

Colin Peters has an article in the Vienna Review about Mike Brennan's "meet-n-greet" with the Polizei. It turns out that, despite police claims that Mr. Brennan must be faking his injuries, x-rays have shown him to have a fractured L2 vertebra which will require at least three weeks of sick-leave for him to recover. Especially interesting is what the police said to him and his girlfriend after they realized their mistake and stopped beating him.


Unfortunately, the officers’ aggression didn’t stop after the attack, says Brennan. They then pulled him to his feet, searched his bag and took his phone, and demanded identification. Brennan handed over his identity card, which was never returned. He felt an excruciating pain in his back and sunk to the floor, demanding to be taken to a hospital or allowed to contact the U.S. Embassy. One of the officers replied by telling him to “stop crying” – the only words said in English and addressed directly at Brennan during the whole incident, he says. The officer, referring to Brennan, then told his girlfriend in German that “they always act like this.”

"They?" — Meaning, foreigners? Brown people? People who get their spines pounded with no warning?

Just shameful.