Vienna Interlude: 70 year old graffiti in the Lainzer Tiergarten

In the week between my trip to Florence and setting out for the greek islands (all for work mind, no holidays here!) I snatched the chance for a brief walk in the Lainzer Tiergarten. It was the first week of September, the beginning of one of the best months of weather Vienna has to offer, and I was a little sad to be missing so much of it.

The weather for our walk was obligingly autumnlike, not too hot, not yet cold, plenty of bright sun but lots of dramatic clouds too. The original plan for a very small walk soon stretched out into what for me and one of my fellow walkers still counted as a short walk, although the third member of our group wasn't so sure (and he certainly wasn't expecting to still be out at dusk, as he was wearing his prescription sunglasses... sorry!).

'Damen haben Antwort zu erwarten' / 'Ladies should expect a reply'

The grounds for extending our walk were to reach the viewing tower in the centre of the Tiergarten. There i took a few shots of the dramatic light breaking through the clouds, and also for the first time some shots of the rather unique graffiti to be found there. The tower was finished just prior to the outbreak of world war two, and scratched into its metallic cladding around the parapet is a veritable history of postwar Austria, first featuring Austrian army members advertising their addresses to prospective lady correspondents. 'Ladies can expect a reply' writes one soldier under his address, complete with rank and barracks.

'die Welt in Ruhe'/ 'the world calmly/quietly/peacefully'

After the war there comes graffiti from British/Americans, such as 'Bill Stallings, 1948, Vienna 1946-49' and also plenty of Russian graffiti too. It is actually almost rarer to see more modern graffiti in some areas, which were obviously filled up quite early, but one particularly romantic graffito from 1961 portrays the changing times, reading '2nd July 1961, I looked at the world quietly and at peace. Erich und Helmut, 30 years old' ('2. Juli 1961 sah ich die Welt in Ruhe und Frieden, Erich u. Helmuth, 30 Jahre alt'). Our modern scratchings are rather put to shame by the beauty of the handwriting, not to mention the depth and richness of sentiments of those from earlier times... The view is still good though!

The full 6 photos can be accessed here. Sometimes the handwriting is hard to figure out, and I only just now think I have puzzled out that Helmuth's name is Helmuth... Do check up on my work!

Der Tom