"Why did this have to happen?"

Definitely the nicest part of today was my first visit to the Naschmarkt at lunchtime. We found this really great cheese shop there and the man running it was so nice and welcoming to us that he had us get our picture taken behind the counter, with countless wheels of cheese on the shelves behind us! He said we had such great California/west coast smiles too. As everyone else was walking out to go elsewhere in the Naschmarkt, I slowly walked out backwards, wondering out loud why we hadn't bought any cheese (for I get easily excited by large selections of unique cheese). Seeing this, the owner invited me back in and gave me four balls of mozzarella from southern Italy for free. I've been planning on visiting the Nashmarkt again on Saturday, and I will definitely visit his store again.

Much of the rest of the day was spent at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, where Austria displays its military history. It's in a very large and grand brick building, which looked somewhat odd to me at first sight.I am not well-versed in architecture, but the exterior didn't strike me as particularly Austrian, or at least nothing like the rest of Vienna. The exact word that I thought of was "Turkish," which would be rather ironic considering Turkey's role in Austria's history. Those episodes are certainly displayed within the museum, and in particular there's one such item that especially captured my attention. It's this painting:

The painting is a depiction of a battle against the Turks (I wish I could remember which one). On the lower left you can see the Austrians, with noble, handsome faces and serene expressions. Directly across from them are the Turks, with rather opposite depictions. Austria met the Turkish armies more than any other country in Europe, and this must have certainly affected their views of them.

I visited many other exhibits covering the late Reformation and early Baroque eras (maybe not the best way to define the periods in this context, but you get the idea). One thing I found interesting was about the uniforms of the Austrian soldiers. They were typically white with some sort of bold color trim. These uniforms were certainly very impressive-looking and I imagine that a whole army of men wearing them would look like a united force to be reckoned with. However, display captions informed me that these uniforms were actually dangerous in the sense that the soldiers were so much easier to see and target. If these stylistic choices were of the Hapsburg's decisions, then I guess they preferred style over substance - or rather safety.

Certainly the thing that I was most interested in seeing before I went to the museum was the car that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was sitting in when he was assasinated. I am fascinated by very specific things and locations from which monumental historical events sprang forth. This was one of them. I could look at the black leather seats in the car and say "This is where World War I began." The coat that Franz Ferdinand was wearing at the time was just a few meters away too; you can see the hole that the bullet made. I won't post any pictures of these incredibly significant pieces of history as the event they are related to is still incredibly tragic. In fact, words of Ruth Kluger came into my mind at this time; I will undoubtedly discuss her later in the month.

One more wing of the museum that held my attention was that of the period between the end of World War I and the end of World War II. Propaganda posters, Nazi armbands, SS helmets...these were what I found there. I don't think I've ever seen old Nazi insignia and uniforms in person, so it was not undisconcerting to me. I even saw old flags from the brief Austro-fascist era, which fit in well with their future Nazi replacements. There are two items from this wing that I would like to note: one is an old American army jeep, which is interesting as the United States was fighting against Austria...or at least the country that Austria had been absobed into. The other is a collection of three-dimensional art, feauring graphic and disturbing depictions of Hitler, brandishing bloody knives over human brains amidst barbed wire and torn-off body parts. Certainly, the artist is against Hitler (as I would be) but the art is nonetheless disturbing since it holds no punches and aims directly for the heart of the viewer with it's graphic imagery. I almost took a picture of one section of the piece, showing Hitler with a real wolf's head in place of his face, but even this I found too nightmarish to capture. You really have to see this piece for yourself.

I interpret the inclusion of this artwork (which has no direct military significane) as Austria trying to show that it recognizes what it was a part of, or what it let itself become a part of. Some Austrians may want to focus on the future and keep the difficult past out of mind, but here Austrians have dragged the past out into the exposing spotlight for all to see, with absolutly no sugar-coating and an audio-guide that implores "Why did this have to happen?" I think the country is still struggling with it's role in World War II, and I can only guess as to when Austria can unanimously look at it's past without looking away.

The German word of the day is "wahrscheinlich," meaning "probably."