Learn how and why Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance.

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Gustav Klimt and Vienna

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Mahler's Vienna



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VIENNA

Has history been tampered with?




Learn how and why Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented and crafted during Renaissance. Discover the Old Testament as a veiled rendition of events of Middle Ages written centuries after the New Testament. Perceive the Crusaders as contemporaries of The Crucifixion punishing the tormentors of the Messiah. What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?

Sounds unbelievable? Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, leading mathematician of our time. He follows in steps of Sir Isaac Newton, finds clear evidence of falsification of History by clergy and humanists. Armed with computers, astronomy and statistics he proves the history of humankind to be both dramatically different and drastically shorter than generally presumed.



The city of arts and coffee

The city that at one point of time in the history controlled much of the Central and Eastern Europe still maintains some of the splendours of Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, Vienna serves as the capital of Austria, the city known for imperial palaces and art museums, ornate cafes and beer taverns, baroque churches and stately elegance, and more than anything else the birthplace of Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Brahms, and so on. Come and visit the city that can easily claim to have the strongest musical traditions in Europe and walk around in one of the most charming European capitals.

Gustav Mahler's Vienna


Shop at Amazon Mahler From the composer's lifetime to the present day, Gustav Mahler's music has provoked extreme responses from the public and from experts. Poised between the Romantic tradition he radically renewed and the austere modernism whose exponents he inspired, Mahler was a consummate public persona and yet an impassioned artist who withdrew to his lakeside hut where he composed his vast symphonies and intimate song cycles. His advocates have produced countless studies of the composer's life and work. But they have focused on analysis internal to the compositions, along with their programmatic contexts. In this volume, musicologists and historians turn outward to examine the broader political, social, and literary changes reflected in Mahler's music. Peter Franklin takes up questions of gender, Talia Pecker Berio examines the composer's Jewish identity, and Thomas Peattie, Charles S. Maier, and Karen Painter consider, respectively, contemporary theories of memory, the theatricality of Mahler's art and fin-de-siècle politics, and the impinging confrontation with mass society. The private world of Gustav Mahler, in his songs and late works, is explored by leading Austrian musicologist Peter Revers and a German counterpart, Camilla Bork, and by the American Mahler expert Stephen Hefling. Mahler's symphonies challenged Europeans and Americans to experience music in new ways. Before his decision to move to the United States, the composer knew of the enthusiastic response from America's urban musical audiences. Mahler and His World reproduces reviews of these early performances for the first time, edited by Zoë Lang. The Mahler controversy that polarized Austrians and Germans also unfolds through a series of documents heretofore unavailable in English, edited by Painter and Bettina Varwig, and the terms of the debate are examined by Leon Botstein in the context of the late-twentieth-century Mahler revival.



Architecture


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This architectural guide is the first comprehensive publication on Vienna that can be used both as guide and lexicon. A selection of 500 buildings in the city, ranging from examples of the Gothic period to those of our century was compiled by a team of specialists in the field, and is accompanied by essays on the history of the city, its recent history, residential building and 20th century architecture in Vienna. 450 photos and over 100 drawings give concrete information on the physical fabric of Viennese architecture, and well-known architects have devised routes taking in the interesting examples and given personal tips, bringing to life the icons of the Viennese building tradition.



Vienna's Kaffehauser


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Reading Rick Rodgers's Kaffeehaus is like strolling through the streets of three of the world's most romantic cities--Vienna, Budapest, and Prague--where the coffeehouse is the center of the universe and that little something sweet to go with your afternoon cup is considered high art. Eleven chapters on subjects ranging from "Sweet Yeast Breads" to "Strudels" and "Sweet Dumplings and Noodles" cover the gamut of sweets you're likely to find in the classic kaffeehauser. Rodgers provides recipes for such legendary treats as chocolaty Sachertorte, flaky Sour Cherry Strudel, sugar-dusted Banana Gugelhupf, jam-filled Linzertorte, and rustic but soul-satisfying squares of Plum Cake.
A renowned cooking instructor and cookbook author, Rodgers has developed the patient voice and attentiveness the job requires, and these qualities shine through in his inviting recipes. Though the book focuses exclusively on the impressive desserts found in coffeehouses, rather than those that are home-baked, Rodgers has developed recipes accessible enough for recreating such scrumptious treats in any home kitchen. Filled with culinary lore--from the scandalous story of Rigo Jansci, the handsome gypsy violinist who lured an American millionairess to leave her husband for a passionate affair and inspired the sinful chocolate dessert that now bears his name, to the great Sachertorte controversy that gripped Vienna in the 1830s--Kaffeehaus is a treat for armchair travelers and adventurous bakers alike.

History of the Coffeehouse (Kaffeehaus) in Vienna


The Viennese coffeehouse-tradition goes back to the year 1683 when the Turks besieged Vienna. Georg Franz Kolschitzky, born in Armenia and working as translator for the oriental trading company, who knew Turk language went through enemy lines to Poland's king Sobiesky who sent army to free Vienna. The Turks fled off head over heels. As rescuer of Vienna he had first choice of booty. He left gold, weapons and other goodies. He only was interested in sacks of brown beans nobody wanted. Kolschitzky knew about from his travels to Turkey.

Later he opened one of the first coffeehouses named 'to blue bottle' ('Zur blauen Flasche') - the basis of the old tradition. The fist documented founding of a coffeehouse was in January,17 1685 when Johannes Deodat in his livinghouse at Haarmarkt, today Rotenturmstrasse 14, opened his coffeehouse. He held a 'Privileg' (what a licence was called this time) for retail of coffee. Until 1700 there were 4 more licences by Kaiser Leopold I. 1804 there were already 89 coffeehouses and after Vienna congress (1814/15) there were 150 Cafes and around 1900 the number increased to about 600.
The typical offer was coffee-specialities, cacao, tea, milk, chocolate, mineralwater, limonade, icecream, wine, spirits and liqueur.
From the beginning only men went to coffeehouses. Around 1870 it was up-to-date to go to coffeehouse with the family. Even lady's parlors were opened. In the sequel new types of coffeehouses developed: Kaffee-Konditorei (with bakery), Espresso und Cafe-Restaurant. During 1938 there were 1283 coffeehouses, the number decreased to 584 in 1994 plus 705 Cafe-Restaurant, 182 Cafe-Konditorei und 1083 Espresso.

Although the situation of Coffeehouses nowadays is better than other branches, Coffeehouses have a successor-problem. A succession nessecitates a revision, what is an expensive procedure. Moreover the landlord may raise rent to a standard. These high costs for rent may be payable for fastfood-restaurants. But these fix expenses, not to forget costs for employees (waiter and waitress), cannot be payed with 1 Melange, 2 glasses of water and 3 newspapers in 4 hours. For New Yorkers it may be not unusual that after the last sip the bill is presented, but in Vienna this kind of 'kickout' is not imaginable! This problem is especially vacant for big coffeehouses with quite low sales per sqm. The Cafe Haag and Englaender does not exist, the Florianihof is closed, the Braeunerhof is in economic crises - is the coffe house as typical viennese 'institution' out? But Hans Diglas, speaker of coffeehouse-concessioners, said, that there is no crises (1998). Now there are taxual easements for successions and inheritance.

Viennese Coffee-Specialities Variations of that drink how it is served in Vienna. Only strangers order simply COFFEE, the knowing orders precisely.

Mokka or Schwarzer - Small or big Mokka. Pure coffee with creme without milk.

Doppelmokka or Mokka gespritzt - Mokka with brandy

Verlaengerter - Mokka with much water

Einspaenner - Double Mokka with much cream (Schlagobers - only germans say Sahne).

Tuerkischer - Mokka strained

Brauner - Big or small Brauner. Schwarzer with milk.

Kapuziner - Brauner with not little milk.

Gold - Brauner with much milk.

Kleiner Brauner - Double portion pure coffee served with cream, good brown.

Melange - Pure coffee with effervesced milk and chocolate.

Fiaker - Powdered sugar and cherrybrandy heated, double Espresso with much cream, cherry on top.

Maria Theresia - Big Mokka with Orange-liqueur, powdered sugar, cream and coloured pieces of sugar.

Pharisaeer - Sugar, cacao-powder, rum heated, double Mokka, cream, cinnamon and rubbered lemon

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