Rose Garden Fountain Burgtheater building
By a strange twist of fate,
we owe this splendid garden
with its beautiful roses, to the tragic battles
around Vienna during the first week of July,
in the sad summer of 1809.
Almost 70.000 soldiers lost their lives, -
more than 30.000 of the Grand Armée
and close to 40.000 Austrians.
Napoleon's army, and its cannon balls,
destroyed the city walls and the Palace Bastions,
opening up the area which is now known
as the Volksgarten, the people's park.
Today, strolling along the rows of roses
and under the chestnut trees,
nothing but beauty delights the eye.
Temple of Theseus"The Winner"
1922 Bronze sculpture by Josef Müllner
Beyond the trees and the
Rose garden, City Hall
The Temple of Theseus by Peter von Nobile
was built in 1823,
giving shelter to Antonio Canova's "Theseus".
The Italian master began work
on his Theseus group in 1804,
whilst ironically also working on a
gigantic statue of Napoleon,
which, by a twist of fate,
nowadays is exhibited in London.
Canova's Theseus group has long since been moved to
the Kunsthistorische Museum across the street.
Rose Benches
Chestnut Trees
Rose Garden FountainGrillparzer Memorial and the
Museum of Natural History
Evening 
Sunset
Mmmm, I didn't know we've got Canova's Napoleon.
ReplyDeleteI know we've got his Three Graces somewhere - Tate Britain possibly.
Mmmm: very lovely city. And that big ?chestnut tree in pic 3: that's older than one of our city centre trees.
Really fantastic viennese sky!
ReplyDeleteI really admire your energy ,posting every day!
Sally Crawford from London:
ReplyDeleteI have the Napoleon statue in one of my books. I'll look for the location.
I think that the giant tree is a Sycamore.
Bridget:
Thank you. :-)
Posting gives instant rewards,
thanks to you all commenting so generously. Makes it easier to sit down pat and slog through my books. ;-)
Leaves, leaves, leaves...
ReplyDeleteLes jardins de Novembre accueillent vos amours,
Ô jeunesse pensive, Ô saison dissolvante,
Les grands jardins mélancoliques et qui sentent
La fin, la pluie - odeurs humides de l'air lourd,
De choses mortes qui retournent à la terre.
Louis CHADOURNE (1890-1925)
I love the first two photos, the buildings are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteWOW WOW WOW
ReplyDeleteNow this is more my cup of scholade mit schlag!
Sooooo beautiful Merisi
Makes one want to jump on that plane to Vienna tout a suite!
CREAM:
ReplyDeleteI haven't been back to the Volksgarten since Sunday afternoon.
Last night, high winds have stripped many trees of their leaves, and low temperatures threatened the roses.
Your poem is special, as always. Merci beaucoup! :-)
CREAM:
ReplyDeleteI haven't been back to the Volksgarten since Sunday afternoon.
Last night, high winds have stripped many trees of their leaves, and low temperatures threatened the roses.
Your poem is special, as always. Merci beaucoup! :-)
Melissa:
ReplyDeleteThe Town Hall reminds me of Sleeping Beauty's castle in "Disney World", Florida. Walking around in there, makes you feel like a princess too. :-)
Paris Breakfast:
Now can you understand that I just had to linger a bit more, this last Sunday? I Stayed til the sun went down and my fingers were frozen stiff. I had to warm up at Hawelka afterwards. ;-)
(Pssst: What should I do with my leftover roses??? *ggg*)
Hi Merisi, just catching up on my fav blogs, what a marvellous bunch of pictures as usual, I love the dying roses.
ReplyDeleteI love the Volksgarten, especially when there's live music and people are lounging on the grass. Expect to see us there with a picnic lunch and a bottle of wine. In fact, come over and say Hi. We'll bring an extra glass!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see such beautiful Autumn colours so far south.
ReplyDeleteI will be posting on friday some of the most spectacular Autumn colours I have evr seen. All due to our freak weather.
I will have to photo inside a tea room sometime. They are all different but the best ones are comfortable and quaint.
So much enjoyed these splendid scenes touched with autumn...Happy Day ((HUGS))
ReplyDeletei enjoyed your photos
ReplyDeleteas always,
but
i found myself attracted
to those little green chairs
all in a row.
:-)
i bet they are filled
with happy people visiting
in the spring.
Amazing garden, with such a sad history as so many place have... however I too was drawn by the little green chairs, sitting all neatly in a row waiting for their people :-)
ReplyDeleterose garden fountain
ReplyDeletein the twilight dreaming of
the moonshine at night
http://olivia-kroth.blog.de.vu
its almost.. i dunno... like out of a movie!
ReplyDeleteWinter time seems to be in Vienna ..I 'm waiting for spring to come back
ReplyDeleteI think the giant tree is a maple. If you look closely at the leaves, they are quite pointy. More so than a sycamore.
ReplyDeleteBloody Napoleon. He got everywhere didn't he. Still he met his Waterloo, as they say!
Do you go out everyday collecting photos, or do you have a giant stock of them somewhere!
I do think you are clever to do a post every day.
Love Lorenzo.
Thank you for taking these photos and sharing them Merisi. I know I've told you this before, but you are surrounded by such beauty! and you are a great photographer. Since I am not there you bring me along.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful city you live in! What is it that attracts so many of us to the green chairs?
ReplyDeleteHi, Lorenzo: but it's so big. I think it could also be a Plane (also has pointy leaves).
ReplyDeleteThe London Plane is a hybrid (Platanus × hispanica) and it renews its bark and gets patchy looking like this tree.
I'm not sure though. If I were to come over to Wien I'd know immediately. :))
beautiful pictures and lovely information..now I know why people told me that I had missed Vienna
ReplyDeleteThose are just lovely photos. You do a terrific job in capturing the beauty of the city. I have never been, but it is on my list, thanks to you.
ReplyDelete