The History of Linz (my version) + other stuff

Last week I went on a walking tour of Linz, sponsored by the Austro-American Society.  I was joined by a few other TAs, a couple high school students who will be studying abroad in the US next year, and a bunch of older Austrians who are interested in American culture and have therefore joined said society.  Since I am a huge dork, I was extremely fascinated by the history lesson.  However, as is always the case with walking tours, I remember only bits and pieces…so here is my recreation of the history of Linz as told by me with about the amount of detail one remembers from those things and with appropriate interruptions and asides so that you get the proper feel for the atmosphere of the tour:

Our Walking Tour in a Few Paragraphs flat: as told by Johann the tour guide and remembered and retold by Madeline

So 2,800 years ago a Celtic band lived here, except a little further up the river from where the city center is today.  They called the place Lentos, which means “bend in the river.”  Then the Romans came in and were like, “This is ours now, but Lentos doesn’t sound very Roman, so we’ll rename it Lentia.”  So then the Romans ruled for awhile, and after that there was a period of chaos for 200 years before the German tribes moved in and started calling the place Linzer.  At one point the Linzians built the Dreifaltigkeitssäule (or Holy Trinity Column) in the main square.  It was built to ask God for protection from the Black Plague...and to ask for protection from fire.... and for protection from the Ottoman Turks.  So basically they were like, “Uh, we have a lot of concerns, let’s just build one column to ask God for security against all of them.”  The Virgin Mary is actually depicted stepping on a crescent moon, the symbol of Islam…so not PC.   

 Dreifaltigsaeule:I made it huge so you could check out the Virgin Mary in the middle

Then we skipped forward several hundred years: Hitler went to school in Linz and that his parents graves are nearby in a town called Leonding.  Hitler considered Linz his hometown and built some steel mills here. After that Johann was like, “Linz was being nominated the cultural capitol of all Europe in 2009, ja!!” Johann went on to explain that it was good that they had this title because many of the cultural projects focused on the Nazi era and finally taking their share of responsibility.  Johann said that historically Austrians have claimed to have been the first victims of Hitler, when in actuality they welcomed him into the main square and he gave speeches from the balconies accompanied by much cheering.  At this point an old Austrian lady piped up, “Yes, but it is important to remember that before Hitler came Austrians were very poor, we had nothing and were starving.”  And another said, “But this is no excuses!”  And then I was like, oh man, let’s not talk about this right now…Johann said, “Yes, human rights are always the most important thing…now let’s go view a church!”

 Jesuit church

So we went to see the Jesuit church nearby.  Apparently at one point (1600?) 90% of Linzians (I don't actually know if this is the proper term, but I like it) were Protestant, so the Catholic church got upset and sent the Jesuits in to basically force everyone to convert back to Catholicism.  A lot of people were persecuted.  Because of this there is a phrase in German that literally translates to “to make one Catholic” but means, “to make someone do something by means of brute force.”  Then we saw another church where Anton Bruckner used to play organ.  And another that still contains the internal organs of Frederick III of the Holy Roman Empire…..yay churches.

 Anton Bruckner's organ

At this point we take a leisurely stroll by the Danube over to the old castle.  When we get there, Johann is attempting to tell us more interesting information about the castle, but I am distracted by one of the high school students, Andreas, who has cornered me, so this is the next bit of the tour:

Andreas: So have you ever been here to Altstadt at night?  It is really cool!  Big party!!

Me: I heard it’s where the 16 year olds party, haha.

Andreas: No, you should go!  Not only 16 year olds are there!

Me: Uh huh (trying to listen to Johann)

Andreas: So, how is drinking in the US?

Me: You can’t until you are 21.

Andreas: Yes, but is this strict?

Me: Well, they won’t sell it to you.  You’ll have to make some friends.

Andreas: Can I go to clubs?

Me: Not usually.

Andreas: Well, how do I make friends to buy me alcohol if I can’t go to clubs?

Me:….I made all my friends at school.

Andreas: I wonder if I could start attending a high school? 

Me: (not listening to Andreas)

Andreas: Can I join a dance class there?

Etc, lol

 The bakery

We then got to see the hotel where Mozart stayed when he wrote the Linz Symphony.  And then we went to k.u.k. Hofbäckerei Rath where we had some lovely Linzer torte and warm beverages and were informed of our automatic membership in the Austro-American Society and were given these amazing pins (See below). 

 The infamous pin, I don't know if you can see, but it's a tiny Austrian flag and a tiny American flag intertwined

I was so proud of my pin in fact, that whilst visiting Ross later at his dorm I pounced on the first Austian who entered the kitchen to show it to him.  (In German)“Hello, what’s your name?  I’m Madeline, check out this amazing pin I just got!!”   He was a little alarmed, and Ross was like, “…I can’t take you anywhere, bloody American.”

So there you go, some Linz history.

In other news: I found an Austrian “Mädels Treff” (Ladies Night) group online and went to a couple meetings.  We went to Eat, Pray, Love last week, and then also went out for drinks on Saturday.  So I’m FINALLY getting to speak some German and BONUS these ladies are over the age 21.  So hopefully my friend group will diversify now, in terms of age and language.  One of the Mädels already asked me to come meet her horse (strange, I know) and another invited me to stay at her second apartment in Nürmberg. 

So far so good!

Fact:  I mailed in my absentee ballot last week.  Yayyyy!

Anecdote: I was out with the Mädels on Saturday, and the British TAs were simultaneously celebrating one of the TAs birthday, which I was planning on dropping in on later on.  So I get a call about 11:00, just as I’m finishing up with the Mädels:

Me: Hallo?  I mean, Hello?

Mädels: giggling at my awkward language transition

Josh: (imagine thick British accent) Ma-ddieeee.  Maddie, where are you?

Me: I’m coming soon, Josh, don’t worry.

Josh: Ma-ddieee.  I miss you , Maddie. 

Me: Awww.  

Josh: Ma-ddieee.  You’re my favorite, you’re my favorite American ever.  I love you!

Me:  I love you too, Josh.

Mädels: Laughing uproariously.

Josh: I love you, I love you more than I love concrete!

Me: How very nice of you, Josh!

Later on, I told the Mädels about the “concrete” comment.  They looked at me strangely, “Oh, is this a phrase in English?  In German it would be more like, I love you more than the sea, or the flowers or something…?”  Uh…no, my friends and I are just strange…lol.

This is getting really long…glll.  But ONE more story:

This evening I went to this weird-ass modern-techno-music-visual-art-performance thing with Ioan (my Romanian roommate).  First off they showed a video of eye surgery accompanied by high pitched buzzing, and I couldn’t even watch it.  The other pieces were just very strange and it was dark and the music was repetitive so I got very sleepy.  Apparently I don’t “get” this type of art.  BUT point of the story is I met a kid named Motoi from JAPAN who is studying abroad here for three months.  He would be like, “Eto nehhhhh….bitte?”  I’ve never heard such an adorable mixture of German and Japanese in my life.  It made me very happy :-)

And that’s all for now!