The trip from Vienna to Graz was planned in Moscow. From the rather meager information obtained on the Internet, we learned practically nothing about the city, but for some reason we decided that we definitely needed to visit it. And they were not mistaken.
We weren't very lucky with the weather, but we were lucky with our travel companion. My compartment neighbor turned out to be a German, traveling around Austria partly by train and partly by bike. It was he who advised that first of all it is worth seeing in the capital of Styria.
About halfway, when the train climbed into the mountains (quite small, because they were just the foothills of the Alps), the weather suddenly deteriorated and it began to rain. The German and I shook our heads in unison - the rain was not at all to our liking. We didn’t even have umbrellas - in Vienna nothing hinted at a possible worsening of the weather, and the vile liar intellectualist promised in the morning that everything in Graz would be tip top.
As a result of the machinations of the Intellicast, we got out in the rain in Graz, thanks for not the downpour. My friend went to the travel agency to get a map, and I ran off to find out where at the station I could buy umbrellas. And yet I bought it, yes, for only 2 euros - they later saved us in Budapest.
And, armed with umbrellas, we took the tram (as I remember now, number 7) to Eggenberg Castle.
In the summer, there was some kind of repair of the tracks in that direction, and to get to the castle, I had to jump slightly: from a tram to a bus, and then again to a tram. In fact, nothing complicated, but nevertheless, we were supervised by - no less than four locals. And all just because we asked which stop we should get off at. After this thoughtless question, we were almost carried in our arms to the castle. It was even awkward.
When we got to the gate (it took us about fifteen minutes), the rain just stopped. I decided to save up my strength until the evening to turn into a hurricane.
Having paid one euro for entry, we entered the park and were immediately stunned - a peacock was preening on the lawn, not paying any attention to us.
The park is simply stunning - with groves, ponds and romantic lawns.
The birds that walk around it completely freely give a special charm to the park.
I've never seen white peacocks.
Against the background of peacocks, the ducks somehow get lost, but there are a lot of them there too.
As for the castle itself, it dates back to the early 17th century and was built for Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, President of the Imperial Privy Council and de facto head of the Imperial government during the early years of the Thirty Years' War.
Hans Ulrich was a difficult man. Either he was interested in astrology, or astronomy, or maybe both, but the residence was designed for him anyhow. According to the owner's plan, the castle was to become a reflection of the universe.
Oddly enough, the construction was based on the calendar year. The fact is that at the beginning of the 17th century, the calendar theme was extremely popular - at the time of construction, disputes over the Gregorian calendar reform had not yet subsided.
So.
The park wall has 12 entrances, which indicate the number of months in the year.
The 4 towers of the castle symbolize the number of seasons.
The building has 365 windows - they correspond to the days of the year. It’s very convenient - every day you can see something new from the next window.
There are 31 rooms on all floors - according to the number of days in the month.
The three main rooms - the Planetary Room, the Chapel and the House Church - carry additional load. Subtracting them in turn from the number 31, you can get 30, 29 and 28, i.e. all possible options for the number of days in a month.
24 state rooms correspond to the length of the day. They are equally distributed in the two halves of the castle, symbolizing the 12 day and 12 night hours. These 24 rooms have 52 windows, which is equal to the number of weeks (or Sundays) in a year. If we add 8 windows of the Planetary Room to these windows, we get 60 - respectively, minutes in an hour.
This is the arithmetic. Ufff...
I forgot what exactly the three floors are meant to symbolize. Let's say this is the number of months in each season. Or maybe not.
This is all that I managed to remember after the tour of the castle; in fact, there are much more symbols crammed there.
This is such an unusual and very well preserved castle - little has changed here since the time of the last owners.
It is open all year round: April-October - from 8.00-19.00, November-March - from 8.00-17.00.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., tours of the castle are held every hour in English and German; such a tour costs 8 euros.
Eggenberg Castle was built in 1625 by Prince Eggenberg, who was an advisor to Ferdinant II. It is the pearl of Styria, Austria and the whole world. The time of construction of the castle coincided with the change of the calendar, with great scientific discoveries - everyone was looking for the truth. Everyone found it in their own way. Eggenberg saw it in architecture.
The castle was built in the true traditions of Buddhism, although the people of that time did not even know about it. There are 365 windows in the palace - as well as the days of the year - and the sun peeks through each window during the day. The park located next to the castle has twelve gates - the number of months in a year. And in the corners of the castle there are four towers, which symbolize the four cardinal directions and the four elements. Perhaps the architect wanted to tell us about the combination of cardinal directions and elements.
Eggenberg Palace is completely different from the buildings of the Renaissance. There is no pretentiousness or pomp in it. He is simple, and in this simplicity he is brilliant.
Story
Eggenberg Castle began to be built in 1625 by order of Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. He was a kind of Richelieu, only Austrian, and was a close adviser and favorite of Emperor Ferdinand II.
The palace was built according to the design of the prince's favorite architect, Giovanni Pietro de Pomis. The famous architect was probably born in 1565. He studied with the Venetian artist Jacopo Tintoretto. In 1595 he was invited to take the place of court painter to Archduke Ferdinand (who soon became emperor). Around 1600, de Pomis began working in Graz, where he subsequently received an order from the prince.
The architect, knowing about Hans Ulrich's passion for astrology, designed the castle in the spirit of the Renaissance. In addition to the house, the palace and park complex included a late Gothic style chapel, built by the prince’s ancestors.
According to the architect's idea, the castle was designed to remind of the movement of the stars and the passage of time. 52 rooms symbolize the number of weeks in a year, 24 service rooms - the number of hours in one day, 12 gates - the number of months, 365 windows - the number of days in a year. Another feature of the castle is that the sun shines through every window throughout the day. This theme was continued in the interior design of the castle. For example, the walls of the main hall are painted with zodiac signs, and the planetary system is depicted on the ceiling. It is for this reason that the hall is called the Room of Planets.
The construction of the palace was completed after the death of Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. The main finishing work was carried out from 1641 to 1646. In 1666, the prince's grandson gave the artist Weissenkircher the task of completing 600 paintings to decorate the castle. By the way, these paintings still delight the eyes of visitors. The interior of the castle is designed in Rococo and Baroque style, filled with ceiling paintings, stucco moldings, crystal, antique furniture, and paintings.
After the death of the last of the Eggenberg family, the castle was inherited by their close relatives, the Herbersteins. They owned the house until 1939. After 1939, the Styrian government became the owner of the castle. Count Meran, a morganatic descendant of the Austrian emperors, founded a hunting museum here, which was part of the oldest museum in the country, the Graz Art Museum.
Currently, part of the castle premises is used to display the archaeological collection, the crown of which is the Stretweg cult cart. This exhibit dates back to 600 BC; it was discovered in 1851 in the burial of a prince in the village of Stretweg. Along with the cart, many other items were discovered: bronze jewelry, iron weapons, amphorae. In addition, objects on display include ancient objects from the Middle East and Egypt.
Another attraction of Eggenberg Palace is the collection of coins, the second largest in Austria. This numismatic wonder contains over 70,000 items.
Eggenberg Castle can be seen on the 10 euro coin. The date of issue of the coin is October 9, 2002, the series is Austria and its people. Castles of Austria. The coin is made of silver and has a mintage of 200,000. The reverse side of the coin depicts Johannes Kepler with his model of The Secret of the Universe. He became acquainted with the architecture of the Eggenberg Palace and taught in Graz.
For tourists
Entrance ticket price:
- adult – 9 $
- student – 4 $
- child – 4 $
Schedule:
The castle is open to the public from April to October, daily from 10:00 to 17:00.
The Archaeological Museum and the Mint are open
- from 1st to 31st March, Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00–18:00;
- from April 1st to October 31st, Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00–18:00;
- from November 1st to November 30th, Tuesday – Sunday: 10:00–16:00;
- Exhibitions are closed from December 1st to February 29th.
The only thing I didn’t see in the glorious city of Graz was Eggenberg Castle, which is the largest aristocratic residence in Styria. It was already afternoon, I risked not being able to make it during the castle’s opening hours, so I had to hurry. The path to Graz station and then in the opposite direction to the west. The area of the Eggenberg park and castle began there.
From the central part of the city to the castle we had to walk about 4 kilometers, of which the last one was completely suburban. Here you don’t even feel that this is the 2nd largest city in Austria. It’s quiet around, grannies with dogs are walking around (and looking closely at suspicious running tourists like me). People from universities return and go about their business. In general, a very relaxed suburban life. I haven't noticed any public transport here.
And here we come to the gates of the Eggenberg residence. There they sell me a ticket and warn me that everything inside the castle will work for at most another 40 minutes and that they say I need to have time to see what I want during this time. Yes, I know, I know, it’s my own fault with the morning train, otherwise I would have arrived earlier. But what to do, don’t turn around now, having walked so much.
Here it is, the pearl of the Unesco collection in Austria. We enter the courtyard.
In fact, there is some disingenuousness on my part, since this is not a separate UNESCO site, but just an extension of the main “historical part of the city of Graz”, which I just visited.
This creation was built in 1625 by Italian architects for the local governor Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. The castle was considered the largest noble estate in Styria and the concentration of local political power. This Eggenberg was a kind of “Richelieu” of the local bay, a prominent politician and intriguer.
Or like this. I assume that it would be impossible to take photographs there, so you can always find an excuse why it’s not scary that you didn’t get here.
And we continue through the Alta gallery. There are exhibits from the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century.
At the entrance I was greeted by sliding doors and a guy checking tickets. “Is it allowed to take photographs? - I ask. “Yes, it is allowed.” - the guy answers after checking the ticket - “But why should you take photographs, sir, there’s half an hour left before closing, you won’t have time...” And the truth is, I say, there is a risk But I will try to familiarize myself and take photographs. Therefore, I had to quickly go around everything, without hanging around the exhibits for a long time, and take good photos of them and the signs next to them, so that later I could reconstruct in my head what I saw with their descriptions.
In addition to his modest person, about one and a half dozen people met visitors.
Middle Ages. Very strong emphasis on Christian themes. Various frescoes, engravings, church statues of saints. Some paraphernalia.
And this is post-Medieval art - Renaissance and Baroque. Many works by leading masters.
For example, Jacob de Backer (1540/50-um 1600), Die Last des Lebens
Something like that...
Most of the exhibits are wonderfully lit, just for the purpose of a person with a camera.
Statue of the Virgin Mary of Admont. This is also one of the lands of Styria.
This is the door to the Catholic church room where vestments and ritual objects are stored (vestry room). Found in Carinthia, in the city of Friesach. Dated 1280 AD. It depicts St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
But I won’t have time to say. I managed to walk around everything, all the halls. Fortunately, the floor was not very big. Tea is not the Louvre or the Tretyakov Gallery. But this castle has some charm and connection with the history of the region.
I say goodbye to the castle in the rays of the setting sun. I was already late for the next train; I couldn’t even get to the station in 15 minutes. I prefer to while away the time with a walk through the castle park.
The park is not very big, but there are several nice places. Gazebos where walking locals relax. Lawns and flower beds.
The impudent birds of paradise are walking around again.
And they are absolutely not afraid of tourists passing by. Why should we be afraid, this is civilized Austria, no one will pull our tail here. Almost.
The heat of the day had already begun to subside, although the air was warm and I really didn’t want to leave the park.
But it was necessary to do this little by little, otherwise I risked not catching the next train back to Vienna...and arriving back closer to midnight.
I walked back towards the station at a measured pace, after which I realized somewhere in the middle of the way that I needed to start running. As a result, I flew into the station building 4 minutes before the train departed. For several seconds I was tossing around whether to go and drink a cola or a good Styrian beer at the local buffet. But caution took its toll, he climbed onto the train, and at the same time took a more comfortable place in the carriage.
The carriage was no longer as deserted as during the day; it was already about a third full. And again they were amused by a crazy Russian tourist, dangling from one side to the other (that is, me). Well, whatever you want, personnel decides everything. You never know, maybe you won’t be able to ride along this railway again.
Again outside the window are the landscapes of summer Styria...
We climb the mountains...
Sometimes along the way we came across such forest areas with “windows”...
Still, this Semmering road is extremely picturesque.
On the mountain are the ruins of some ancient castle. I wonder what it's called...
We are getting closer and closer to Vienna.
Pass after pass, view after view. We're going down to the bottom... 
And here we are again at the Vienna Meidling station. I already have a good sense of direction and how to get home to our apartment. I share my impressions with everyone (they were again in the Viennese museums today). No, I understand everything, but not Vienna alone...
In general, I visited Graz. Will I go there again on purpose? I think no. Will I stay there for a day while passing through, if this happens? I think so. An interesting town, both tourist and non-tourist. Large and at the same time unknown to the general public.
And for tomorrow the plans were huge as usual; Yulia and I planned a trip to Salzburg. Mozart's birthplace, alpine meadows, many mountains and castles. Well, the logical conclusion of the Austro-Hungarian trip.
To be continued.
Austria, Styria, Graz. Part 2. Historical center and Eggenberg Castle. October 3rd, 2010
The historic center of Graz is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's like a sign of quality. Now, a month later, I can say that I remember Graz and liked it even more than Vienna.
The center of the historical center and the starting point for a walk around the city is the Hauptplats square and the monumental town hall. The square itself is lined with stalls selling all kinds of fast food, which makes it very difficult to take photographs. But after walking around to your heart’s content, you can snack on the famous sausages on your feet without wasting time.
View of the square from the town hall:
On the square, several houses with unique facades will immediately catch your eye.
Lueghaus:
There are many such images on the facades:
There is also a completely Painted House (that’s what it’s called). Images of Greco-Roman gods have been preserved since 1742.
Hidden courtyards are also known, many of which have their own names. In some of them you can now find cafes. And the passages themselves are illuminated by the windows of small shops.
Herrengasse street starts right from the square.
It is difficult to miss it - trams run along it. We pass the Landhaus building, which now houses the Styrian Parliament (you can bypass security and enter the courtyard, which is considered a masterpiece of Italian Renaissance architecture).
The building next to the Landhaus is the Arsenal.
Formerly the largest weapons storage facility in Austria, it is now a museum housing the world's largest collection of medieval weapons. You can't take pictures unless it's on the sly.
It is worth saying that all museums in Graz are part of the Joanneum association (Joanneum) and to visit them it is enough to buy one ticket, which is valid throughout the day. One day we accidentally threw away the tickets along with an unnecessary brochure. In the next place we explained that we bought tickets, but lost them. They sympathized with us and offered to buy inexpensive student tickets.
The church is famous for the fact that on one of the stained glass windows you can find images of Hitler and Mussolini looking at the scourging of Jesus Christ.
Interesting places can also be found on secondary streets.
Glockenspielplats Square, can be reached by small streets turning from Herrengasse to the east. On the square is the Glockenspiel, a clock tower with dancing figures. Dancing - this is, of course, a loud word, three times a day they twirl to the music. But centuries ago, when the tower was erected, it was a spectacle.
Nearby is the Mausoleum of Ferdinand II, built in 1614-1637.
Next to the mausoleum is the Cathedral (1438-1464). On one of the walls outside you can see an ancient fresco depicting the three disasters that passed through Graz in 1480: the Turks, locusts and plague.
Monument to St. Agidius near the cathedral:
Opposite the cathedral stands the Burg fortress. Despite the fact that the Styrian government now sits here, it is possible to get inside.
Fortress courtyard:
Freiheitsplatz with a monument to the emperor:
On Karmeliter Square:
Outdoor cafe:
Zarau Palace. Near the roof, the figure of a Turkish military commander looks out the window. Once upon a time, the Turks captured the city and tried to besiege the Schlossberg fortress, but they failed. In memory of this, a figure remained, as if threatening the residents from the window of the palace where the military leader was staying.
Nearby you can see the shop window of the Edegger-Tax court bakery. How old she is is written right on the display window. The bakery is open.
You can also walk to the opera building.
Next to the opera stands the Lightsaber sculpture, symbolizing openness and tolerance. The sculpture is the same size as the Statue of Liberty in the USA. It was erected in 1992, and the original design of the statue was made by the famous Eiffel in 1883.
Eggenberg Castle. Located on the outskirts of the city. You can get to the center by tram. In a good way, it’s worth going to the castle for the whole day, and not because it is so huge, but because there is a park around it where you can relax and even have a picnic. But all this should be done only in good weather.
Construction of the castle was completed in 1625. It has 365 windows, so that every day the members of the imperial family could see something new (what a boring life it was). In addition to the windows, the 4 towers represent the seasons, and the 12 gates represent the months.
The castle's state rooms are worth visiting (only with a guided tour). Unfortunately, photography is not allowed.
The castle itself also has an art gallery and a very interesting exhibition of numismatics. And in the park you can find an archaeological museum.
Garden of Planets:
Peacocks walk in the park:
Tree with a “wart”:
________________________________________ __________________________
P.S. A few more good shots from Graz:
Showcase and police bear:
More Herrengasse:
MagaZZin:
All reports from Austria.
