Erasmus - Kultur und Landeskunde Österreichs

I feel like everything became 'hipster' because of the situation with COVID-19. My job was to plan a weekend in Innsbruck, cafes, restaurants etc. Yeah, but actually for most of the time of my stay everything was closed and people were not allowed to meet. That's why I would like to reccomend some places that you can visit and see always, walking on foot, no matter of the time, money and... world pandemic :) For me limited possibilities are sometimes a chance to discover something new, something that I would probably never pay attention to, if I wasn't forced to do that. So, let's take a look on possible relaxing weekend in Innsbruck, of course it requires a bit of sense of humor. Day 1 Alte Höttinger Kirche A beautiful church from 13th century. During pandemic time it was closed, but still worth seeing from the outside. Höttinger Bild A small chapel in the woods - perfect place for a walk, it takes about two hours from the city center to get there...

In today's post I would like to write something about places I visited during my stay in Tirol. This Erasmus was quite unusual because of the situation with COVID-19 but thanks to my local friends I managed to get to know this piece of the world a bit better. To be honest, I've chosen Innsbruck because of the mountains, so the pandemic world crise didn't destroy my plans so much :) (All of the pictures axcept from Serles were taken by me.) Seegrube It's a mountain station (on 1905 m) on mountain range Nordkette and perfect viewpoint - you can see the whole city of Innsbruck and the valley of Inn. There is a cable railway from the center of Innsbruck, but I went there on foot. Ebner Joch 1957 m. Breathtaking view for Achensee - the biggest lake in Tirol. Be careful if you have something to eat, because black birds know tourists well and expect you to share with them everything you have, bread, fruit, even chocolate. Patscherkofel 2246 m. Dur...

When it comes to national heroes and celebrities, I always try to take a look on 'ordinary people' who became famous just because they spent their lives living according to their convictions, values and faith. Today I would like to write a few words about Franz Jägerstätter . There are many important names connected with the World War II, but what I've found fascinating about his life is that he never actually tried to become a hero, rather he just could not avoid it. He was born in 1907 in Sankt Radegung (North Austria). His parents were so poor that they could not afford getting married; his biological father was killed during the World War I and Franz received his family name after his step-father, who decided to adopt him. As a young man, Franz could not find his place on the world, he tried to work as a miner in Styria, was a leader of a motocycle gang, had a daughter out of wedlock, and eventually came back to his family land in order to take care of his step...

 When it comes to medien, we usually think of TV, newspapers or Internet. But what about books or theater play? Today I would like to write some words about famous writer - Elfriede Jelinek, whose works concentrate on feminism, politics and social problems. She was born in Mürzzuschlag (northeastern Styria) but was raised in Vienna by Roman-Germanian Catholic mother and Czech Jewish father. Her parents expected her to become musical 'wunderkind', so from the early age she was taking classes in piano, organ, guitar, violin and viola. Eventually, Elfriede graduated Vienna Conservatory with an organist diploma. She studied art history and theater at the University of Vienna but had to discontinue her studies due to anxiety disorder. In that time she isolated herself from the whole world for a year. She spent time watching TV and writing. Jelinek's output has included radio plays, poetry, theatre texts, polemical essays, anthologies, novels, translations, screenplays,...