Sobering, heart-wrenching, and scary but absolutely necessary to visit.
Tour Day 12: Sobering Mauthausen and Vienna
Morning Photography ~ HallstattIf you decide to do night photography and morning photography in a location with only one night's stay you will be out late and up early. One couple from our tour who saw us on our way out to do night photography, and then as we were coming in from morning photography, asked us if we ever sleep! We smiled. No, we don't. We'll sleep when we get back home. And the lost sleep was well worth it! We got some very beautiful photos that will be going up on our walls. If you can handle it I recommend you do the same. Hallstatt in the morning is peaceful and serene. The main square was empty when we stepped out of our hotel, and the cats were among the few others up.
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The camp gatehouse through which prisoners entered the camp.
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MauthausenConstruction of Mauthausen began in August 1938 after the annexation of Austria into Germany. Between 1938 and 1945 it was part of a network of camps that stretched across the entire German Reich and, later on, across parts of the occupied territory. The first prisoners were political opponents, from social groups considered undesirable by the Nazis, and transferred from Dachau. After the start of the war the majority of prisoners came from the occupied territories on both political and racist grounds with most being from Poland and the Soviet Union. By wars end Mauthausen had played host to prisoners from 40 different nations. The majority worked as forced laborers in the quarry used to meet the needs of Albert Speer's building projects and were subjected to the deadly 'stairs of death,' or worked in the armaments industry.
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Sites like Mauthausen can be hard to visit and absorb, but they need to be seen. Survivors want us to visit and learn from them. We need to educate ourselves about what happened, why, and how so many ordinary people were convinced that places like Mauthausen were the answer to their problems. I had not made it to Mauthausen through my studies yet, so this sight was very important to me to see.
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Hotel Savoy sign, our room and bathroom, and the lobby.
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Vienna Walking Tour
We had an evening orientation walk around parts of Vienna with local guide Gerhard. He showed us how to get to the main square of Vienna, Stephansplatz, from our hotel pointing out areas of interest and places to eat along the way. There are a lot of great museums in Vienna and some wonderful architecture. We will see him again tomorrow for a more extensive walking tour of Vienna.
Night Photography ~ ViennaAfter dinner and walking Deb back to the hotel, Brett and I basically re-did the route Gerhard had taken us on earlier in the day for some night photography. Boy are we glad we did! Vienna lit up is stunningly beautiful! From our hotel we headed through the museum quarter past the Kunsthistorisches and Natural History museums to the Hofburg Palace. These were all magnificently lit and we spent a lot of time in this area. We then continued past the palace and Spanish Riding School admiring some of the water fountains and St. Peter's Church on the way to Stephansplatz.
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