From Hungary, Toto took a train North to Austria. Austria is a German speaking country with a long history and beautiful green valleys among the Alps mountain chain.
I visited my friend, Bernhard, who invited me to his parents' home in Reichenau, his hometown, which is in the mountains outside of of the capital city, Vienna. For eight hundred years, Austria had an emperor, which is like a king—the difference is that an emperor rules over an empire, which is bigger than just one country. Emperor Karl Josef ruled the Austro-Hungarian empire until the end of World War I, when the empire was disbanded.
At the peak of the empire's wealth in the 1870’s, Emperor Karl Josef built a vacation palace in Reichenau. He loved the beautiful valley, surrounded by mountains, and enjoyed deer hunting there.
There are lots of forests around here, like the kind where Emperor Josef used to hunt. When I was hiking, I saw the longest pile of firewood I’ve ever seen. This farmer sure was busy chopping wood, don't you think? The wood pile even went further around the bend than you can see in this photo.
Berhard's elementary school was built in this same period, in 1888. Here he is in front of the school. "Volksschule" means "people's school" in German, which is their way of saying "public school." I don't know about your school, but my elementary school wasn’t over one hundred years old and still in use! They sure do construct the buildings to last in Austria.
When Bernhard was done with all his schooling, including university, he bicycled all the way from his parents' house to Hong Kong, China! Look on a map or globe and see how far that is. It took him eighteen months of cycling. I met him along the way in India. Here’s a picture of Bernard and his mother in the driveway where he started. She told me that she was really glad to see him return from his bike trip, the way any mom would be after her son had gone on such a long journey. Next time you ride your bike in your neighborhood, think how far and long Bernhard must have pedaled to get all the way to Hong Kong.
Vienna is an attractive city, because the Austrian empire had lots of money to build beautiful buildings and to support many artists, especially after 1700. One of the arts that was popular then was classical music, and many famous composers were Austrian or lived in Austria. One of those is Mozart, who was born in Austria 250 years ago this year (2006). You may think that you never heard any Mozart, but I bet you have. Do you know the song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? Well, Mozart wrote that when he was four years old! That's why they called him a "prodigy," which means someone who, at a very early age, is outstanding at something even adults find difficult, like music, math, spelling, or a sport. Did you know the same tune is used for the song, "Baa Baa Black Sheep?" Next time you sing either song, you can tell everyone that you are singing Mozart! Here is a picture of Toto in front of Mozart's statue in Vienna.
Austrian Travel Questions
- What’s the difference between a king and an emperor?
- What is the name of the mountain range in Austria?
- What is the name of the capital city of Austria?
- What is the German word for "public school?"
- Where did Bernhard bicycle to on his long trip?
- How old was Mozart when he wrote "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?"
- How many years ago was Mozart born?
- What type of music did Mozart write?
Global Citizen Questions
- Draw a picture of an Austrian farmer chopping wood on his farm.
- In addition to Hungary, which countries border Austria?
- If Mozart was born 250 years before 2006, in what year was he born?
- How old is Bernhard's school that was built in 1888?
- There is a third song that everyone knows that uses the "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" tune that Mozart wrote when he was four. Can you think what it is?
- Research Mozart to find out how old he was when he died. List two other songs, operas or symphonies that he wrote.
- Ask a grown up to play some of Mozart's music for you. Do you like it? Write why or why not.
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