Eisenstadt and Stations of the Cross

The German Word of the Day is: Wohin which means Where


Before going to the Alps we stopped at Eisenstadt. Eisenstadt is a well known city because the great musician Haydn lived, played and practiced there. Eisenstadt was a small village that became popular because the great Family of the Esterhazy decided to build their prime residence there. The Esterhazy family was a great patron to Haydn and the arts. They were one of the richest families in Austria, making more money at times then the king. Nikolaus Esterhazy born in the year 1720 was the principal employer of Hayden he is well known for greatly increasing the Esterhazy wealth and being a benevolent employer. Patronage was very important for musicians at this time. This was the only way for one to become recognized and make a living at preforming.

I was very impressed with the palace in Eisenstadt. For just being one palace out of many I could see that the Esterhazys were very wealthy.



Inside was the art exhibit, “Haydn Explosive.” This art exhibit was strange and not suited I felt for the material that was in the museum. Instead of making the museum friendly and comforting, it made the museum feel like a mad house. From crazy carpeting to a large projection of a giant beetle and dooms day, this new found expression distracted from the art work and artifacts. I was turned off by the countless distractions and noises. Instead of adding to the exhibit it took anyway and made me gloss over items just because I was annoyed with its surroundings. One item I did find amazing was the sheet music that Hayden himself corrected. It really made him feel like a live person not just an untouchable great musical genius from the past.



After the Haydn museum the class proceeded to walk up hill to a church that was dedicated to the Stations of the cross. First thing I noticed was the unique style of architecture. One side of the building was a church while the other was this large dome type structure. Once inside a person proceeds from the bottom to the top of the structure and you follow the different steps of Jesus Christ and the Passion. This idea was new to me and I found it very vivid. I thought it was a very unique and great way to explain the Passion story. Even within this church their was Anti-Semitism. Many of Jesus’s tortures were wearing the trademark Jewish hat. I find it interesting that churches feel the need to put down other religions so that they can reinforce their own.