Things to do in Semmering and Graz
In Semmering, Austria, new life has been breathed into one of the oldest hotels, the Pannhans. Much of the decor is almost a parody of Alpine art-deco, but it still has something of the atmosphere of pre-war Semmering, although it rarely seems more than a tenth full. Over the Semmering lies Styria, and Graz, the second largest city in Austria and with Salzburg the most enjoyable of the provincial Austrian capitals.
The station and its immediate environs were bombed during the war and were rebuilt with little inspiration, but the Annenstrasse soon leads to the small dolomite plug which is the Schlossberg, around which huddles the largest concentration of Baroque architecture in Austria.
Crossing the rather muddy-looking river Mur, you will soon reach the Herrengasse and the Hauptplatz. Because of the city's proximity to the Adriatic it is barely three hours away in a fast car several Italian artists have left their mark on the architecture of the city. Its Baroque and later art-nouveau buildings have a lightness and modest scale com-pletely remote from that encountered in Vienna. The soft colours, yellows and greens, with white stucco work combine with the shutters guarding each window from the fierce southern sun to give Graz an atmosphere faintly Balkan in its indolence.
From the Herrengasse runs the narrow Sporgasse, with its cobbled surface, sensibly pedestrianized. Past the magnificent wooden facade of the Edegger bakery is the Biedermeier Franzensplatz with its statue of the Emperor Francis, while beyond lies the Gothic cathedral. Its interior, inevitably Baroque, was recently restored, revealing traces of several giant medieval frescoes at the west end. The best way to fully explore the sights of Austria is to pre-book a hire car at Vienna Airport.
Opposite the cathedral the remains of the castle have little of interest but we should go under the arch to examine the remarkable fifteenth century double spiral staircase, which is one of the chief architectural glories of the city. The arch to its right leads to the magnificent Stadt¬park, and at the back of the cathedral stands the picturesque mausoleum, whose architecture is the clearest expression of the value Graz once had in Central Europe. Built by the emperor Ferdinand II in 1614, this remarkable Mannerist building with its gazing putti, broken pediments and romantic campanile was designed by Pietro da Pomis. The interior decoration is the work of Fischer von Erlach the elder, who was born in Graz.
Graz the seat of the Habsburgs
From 1564 to 1619, Graz was the seat of a branch of the Habsburgs, who made the town the administrative centre of Inner Austria. The mausoleum, as Austria's oldest early Baroque building of note, is a fitting testament to this. Ferdinand II, who is buried with his wife Anna Maria in the mausoleum, was a highly complex personality. Sometimes called the begetter of the Thirty Years War, he was a fervent Catholic whose Jesuit upbringing made him a zealous opponent of Protestantism. Under his leadership, Catholic Austria crushed the flower of Protestant nobility at the battle of the White Mountain near Prague, so obliterating Bohemian culture for more than two hundred years.
The Stadtpark Austria
The Stadtpark was formerly the fortifications of the city, its layout as an 'English garden' dating from the second decade of the nineteenth century. The fortifications which had proved so formidable against the Turk even defended the city against an army of Napoleon three times larger than the defenders. Vienna's capitulation in 1809 resulted in the Napoleon demanding, as a condition of peace, the demolition of Graz's defences. The result is not only the delightful park but, at the summit of the Schlossberg, a veritable garden in the air. The view from the Schlossberg reveals the long grey Italianate university buildings beyond the park, followed by the green Leechwald woods with the yellow Baroque Maria Trost church on a rise in the distance beyond.
To the south, the hills become gentler, while west and north rise the last peaks of the eastern Alps. The Schlossberg itself is full of delightful architectural devices scattered about its gas lit paths. At the summit rises a Belvedere, while on the principal path below stands the one part of the fortifications which the people of Graz, by contributing their personal fortunes, managed to save from Napoleon's demolition men, the clock tower, now the symbol of Graz.
The Sackstrasse Austria
At the foot of the Schlossbergstiege, steps built this century by Russian prisoners of war, is the Sackstrasse (dominated by the severe Baroque Palais Attems) and the entrance to what proclaims itself to be Europe's largest 'grotto' railway two miles of track piercing the Schlossberg through dark and mysterious caverns. Despite the Noddy Land adver¬tising, the thin rails have a rather sinister character which is not dispelled by the hunchback driver who shouts out in incomprehensible Styrian dialect the names of the illuminated scenes which rush by.
The train rattles past the polystyrene debris of various Nuremberg-style toy houses. Terrifying dwarfs clamber out of giant boots. Witches, evil stepmothers and wolves, all rather uncomfortably realistic in their doll-like shapes, provoke a chill which the hastily issued blankets are unable to combat. Several of the tableaux have still to be completed and their darkened silhouettes only add to the impression that, by accident or design, in the heart of Graz's fortifications some Styrian civil servants have created a most ingenious and frightening ghost-train.
Back to the Hauptplatz, where numerous cafes ply their trade - the most fashionable at present is the small Cafe Mur beyond the tram stops.
From here, the Herrengasse (with fine frescoes at NO.5) leads to the Landhaus on the right, with a delightful Renaissance courtyard erected by Domenico dell' Allio. A notice on its facade dating from the 1580s cautions us against drawing our breadknives.
An interesting door within this courtyard leads to the impressive arsenal, where armour was stored in preparation for Turkish sieges in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is the largest collection of its kind in Central Europe and contains over 30,000 implements of war. Unlike similar collections in other European cities, this is an arsenal rather than a museum. The visitor wanders through rooms of halberds, swords and shields, stacked for easy use rather than inspection.
Places to visit in Graz
Between the Herrengasse and the cathedral runs a series of narrow streets all of which repay a quick reconnaissance. The Glockenspielplatz has an art-nouveau facade with a mechanical clock chiming the hour to a folk-tune. A fitting conclusion to the visit is to wander across the park to Laufke, on the Elisabethstrasse, for lunch or dinner. Finding somewhere reason¬able to stay in Graz is less easy than finding a good place to eat. The days when the Erzherzog Johann was the smartest hotel in Styria are long past. The newer Schlossberg Hotel at the end of the Sackstrasse is, if expensive, the only really personal and comfortable establishment in the city and we shall awake in the sixteenth-century rooms refreshed with the sun pouring through Biedermeier windows and the waters of the Mur below.
Budget airlines now fly into Vienna, and you can make the most of your stay by pre-booking airport car hire at Vienna or any other airport in Austria. Car hire provides an economical and comfortable way to explore Vienna and all the other cities in Austria which offer visitors some of the most fascinating sights in Europe.
The station and its immediate environs were bombed during the war and were rebuilt with little inspiration, but the Annenstrasse soon leads to the small dolomite plug which is the Schlossberg, around which huddles the largest concentration of Baroque architecture in Austria.
Crossing the rather muddy-looking river Mur, you will soon reach the Herrengasse and the Hauptplatz. Because of the city's proximity to the Adriatic it is barely three hours away in a fast car several Italian artists have left their mark on the architecture of the city. Its Baroque and later art-nouveau buildings have a lightness and modest scale com-pletely remote from that encountered in Vienna. The soft colours, yellows and greens, with white stucco work combine with the shutters guarding each window from the fierce southern sun to give Graz an atmosphere faintly Balkan in its indolence.
From the Herrengasse runs the narrow Sporgasse, with its cobbled surface, sensibly pedestrianized. Past the magnificent wooden facade of the Edegger bakery is the Biedermeier Franzensplatz with its statue of the Emperor Francis, while beyond lies the Gothic cathedral. Its interior, inevitably Baroque, was recently restored, revealing traces of several giant medieval frescoes at the west end. The best way to fully explore the sights of Austria is to pre-book a hire car at Vienna Airport.
Opposite the cathedral the remains of the castle have little of interest but we should go under the arch to examine the remarkable fifteenth century double spiral staircase, which is one of the chief architectural glories of the city. The arch to its right leads to the magnificent Stadt¬park, and at the back of the cathedral stands the picturesque mausoleum, whose architecture is the clearest expression of the value Graz once had in Central Europe. Built by the emperor Ferdinand II in 1614, this remarkable Mannerist building with its gazing putti, broken pediments and romantic campanile was designed by Pietro da Pomis. The interior decoration is the work of Fischer von Erlach the elder, who was born in Graz.
Graz the seat of the Habsburgs
From 1564 to 1619, Graz was the seat of a branch of the Habsburgs, who made the town the administrative centre of Inner Austria. The mausoleum, as Austria's oldest early Baroque building of note, is a fitting testament to this. Ferdinand II, who is buried with his wife Anna Maria in the mausoleum, was a highly complex personality. Sometimes called the begetter of the Thirty Years War, he was a fervent Catholic whose Jesuit upbringing made him a zealous opponent of Protestantism. Under his leadership, Catholic Austria crushed the flower of Protestant nobility at the battle of the White Mountain near Prague, so obliterating Bohemian culture for more than two hundred years.
The Stadtpark Austria
The Stadtpark was formerly the fortifications of the city, its layout as an 'English garden' dating from the second decade of the nineteenth century. The fortifications which had proved so formidable against the Turk even defended the city against an army of Napoleon three times larger than the defenders. Vienna's capitulation in 1809 resulted in the Napoleon demanding, as a condition of peace, the demolition of Graz's defences. The result is not only the delightful park but, at the summit of the Schlossberg, a veritable garden in the air. The view from the Schlossberg reveals the long grey Italianate university buildings beyond the park, followed by the green Leechwald woods with the yellow Baroque Maria Trost church on a rise in the distance beyond.
To the south, the hills become gentler, while west and north rise the last peaks of the eastern Alps. The Schlossberg itself is full of delightful architectural devices scattered about its gas lit paths. At the summit rises a Belvedere, while on the principal path below stands the one part of the fortifications which the people of Graz, by contributing their personal fortunes, managed to save from Napoleon's demolition men, the clock tower, now the symbol of Graz.
The Sackstrasse Austria
At the foot of the Schlossbergstiege, steps built this century by Russian prisoners of war, is the Sackstrasse (dominated by the severe Baroque Palais Attems) and the entrance to what proclaims itself to be Europe's largest 'grotto' railway two miles of track piercing the Schlossberg through dark and mysterious caverns. Despite the Noddy Land adver¬tising, the thin rails have a rather sinister character which is not dispelled by the hunchback driver who shouts out in incomprehensible Styrian dialect the names of the illuminated scenes which rush by.
The train rattles past the polystyrene debris of various Nuremberg-style toy houses. Terrifying dwarfs clamber out of giant boots. Witches, evil stepmothers and wolves, all rather uncomfortably realistic in their doll-like shapes, provoke a chill which the hastily issued blankets are unable to combat. Several of the tableaux have still to be completed and their darkened silhouettes only add to the impression that, by accident or design, in the heart of Graz's fortifications some Styrian civil servants have created a most ingenious and frightening ghost-train.
Back to the Hauptplatz, where numerous cafes ply their trade - the most fashionable at present is the small Cafe Mur beyond the tram stops.
From here, the Herrengasse (with fine frescoes at NO.5) leads to the Landhaus on the right, with a delightful Renaissance courtyard erected by Domenico dell' Allio. A notice on its facade dating from the 1580s cautions us against drawing our breadknives.
An interesting door within this courtyard leads to the impressive arsenal, where armour was stored in preparation for Turkish sieges in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is the largest collection of its kind in Central Europe and contains over 30,000 implements of war. Unlike similar collections in other European cities, this is an arsenal rather than a museum. The visitor wanders through rooms of halberds, swords and shields, stacked for easy use rather than inspection.
Places to visit in Graz
Between the Herrengasse and the cathedral runs a series of narrow streets all of which repay a quick reconnaissance. The Glockenspielplatz has an art-nouveau facade with a mechanical clock chiming the hour to a folk-tune. A fitting conclusion to the visit is to wander across the park to Laufke, on the Elisabethstrasse, for lunch or dinner. Finding somewhere reason¬able to stay in Graz is less easy than finding a good place to eat. The days when the Erzherzog Johann was the smartest hotel in Styria are long past. The newer Schlossberg Hotel at the end of the Sackstrasse is, if expensive, the only really personal and comfortable establishment in the city and we shall awake in the sixteenth-century rooms refreshed with the sun pouring through Biedermeier windows and the waters of the Mur below.
Budget airlines now fly into Vienna, and you can make the most of your stay by pre-booking airport car hire at Vienna or any other airport in Austria. Car hire provides an economical and comfortable way to explore Vienna and all the other cities in Austria which offer visitors some of the most fascinating sights in Europe.
Labels: Places to visit in Graz, Sackstrasse Austria, Stadtpark Austria
posted by The Car Hire Guy at
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