Vienna, Austria Part 2

 

Vienna is full of beautiful buildings, as you probably know.  We went on a tour by bus and then walking.  Here are some of the things we saw:

                                              

And St. Stephen’s Church

 

           

                                                                 

 

              

We came across a square that had this sign and these sculpture.

 

                                                                       

What it says is:

“This was once the site of Philipp-Hof, an imposing apartment block built during the prosperous final quarter of the 19th century.  It was destroyed in an air-raid on March 12th 1945.  Hundreds died who had sought refuge in its cellar.  The exact number of the dead has never been verified as bodies could not be recovered from the rubble.  For this reason, it was deemed during the commemorative year of 1988, to be an appropriate site for the City of Vienna to place a Monument against War and Fascism.

The Gate of Violence stands at the front of the square:  It is constructed from Mauthausen granite, identical to the stone that thousands of prisoners were forced to carry up the Steps of Death at Mauthausen Concentration Camp.”

                                     

In front of the Gate of Violence is a statue of man coming out of the violence.

In the evening we had a performance by a couple of performers from Vienna.  They played music from Hungary and Germany and other places, but no Viennese waltzes.  I was sad about that, but many of the passengers had gone to a concert the night before, so we didn’t get to hear Strauss.

So, on we go.