Hellbrun excursion

Hellbrunn Excursion

On Friday October 30, several Bowling Green students went on an excursion for the undergraduate Art History course to the Palace of Hellbrunn on the south side of the city. Built between 1613 and 1619 by Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus, the palace is a mix between late Renaissance and early Baroque architecture, as evidenced by the unimpressive, straight staircase leading to the second floor. In the Baroque period, staircases were centrally located and grand, often having two symmetrical winding sets of steps leading to a large balcony on the second floor. The function of such staircases was to greet incoming guests with ceremony while showing the owner’s wealth.

Hellbrunn is considered a “Lustschloss” (pleasure palace) and was used as a summer getaway for the archbishop of Salzburg to get out of the hot city. Used solely as a day palace, there are no bedrooms for the guests who came to use the grounds for hunting, the favorite pastime of the archbishop. His love of animals can be seen in the many paintings, statues and fountains within the complex, as well as in the zoo he built to keep his exotic pets, which is still in use today.

Hellbrunn, which means “bright spring” in German, is most famous for the "Wasserspiele" (water games) or trick fountains that can be found throughout the grounds. The waterworks at Hellbrunn are unique in that they are the only examples of their kind to be in continuous use since their creation over 400 years ago. Though it was a cold and cloudy day, we were thrilled to see the fountains in action. Next time, though, I am taking an umbrella.

By: Rebecca Arjev

Herbstparty, 30. Oktober 2009

Friday the 30th of October was the Herbstparty for all students at Dr. Guenther's house! We celebrated with a fine assortment of yummy foods, including:

• homemade Käsekuchen

• many different sorts of breads and cheeses

• pumpkin soup complete with Kürbiskernöl (Pumpkinseed oil) and a dash of dill

Some students dressed up for the party, but fun was had by all--after sampling the smorgasbord, a group of students played a few party games, like charades and the "Name that celebrity" game, where a paper bearing a famous person's me is tacked to the back of a handful of players and they must ask yes or no questions to figure out whose name is written on the paper. "Celebrities" included Maria Theresia, die Marquise von O., and Ben Metz (another student in the program).

And there was also some lovely music provided by Rebecca, Dylan, and anyone else who wanted to sing along.
A wonderful autumnal evening--and Dr. Guenther insisted we take all that was leftover, so most folks even came away with a few extra snacks for the next few days!

Video Flashback, 10. Oktober 2009: Climbing Gaisberg/Gaisberg besteigen

For more images from Gaisberg, click here

Die Zeit verfliegt! Time flies!

Already two weeks have passed since most students arrived here in Salzburg, but we’ve all been so busy getting organized/settling in that the time has flown by!

In these two weeks, we’ve already:

• Started—and mostly completed!--process of registering everywhere (University, dorm, Magistrate, Insurance, etc.)

• Gotten our first taste of classes at an Austrian University, the Universität Salzburg.

• Gone on a few adventurous geography excursions in the area. We climbed a mountain (Gaisberg) (Oct. 10), went to the top of Mönchsberg (Oct. 4) and learned what conglomerate is, and visited the many beautifully kept antique houses at the Freilicht Museum (Oct. 9) (see pictures below in right-hand column!)

• Celebrated a Herbstparty (Autumn party) at Dr. Christina Guenther’s house.
  

• Had crazy adventures of our own in magical Salzburg!

We are now gearing up to journey to Wien (Vienna) this weekend. Look for a blog update about our travels there, as well as plenty of pictures!

PS: Did we mention in snowed in Salzburg--which very rarely happens--just a few days ago (Oct. 14)? Many students commented on Facebook. What a phenomenon!