At the beginning of March, we spent five days on an academic excursion in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Our Spring semester students shared their impressions of Vienna:
(Photo: McKenna, Grear, Noah, Abby, Riley, Gabe, and Dr. Ludwig in the St. Stephen’s Cathedral)
Abby was especially impressed with Vienna’s architecture: “One of my favorite parts of Vienna was how beautiful the architecture of many of the old buildings is, so it was super cool to see an exhibit in the Wien Museum with blueprints and modals of Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral). The cathedral is so beautiful in person, but its scale makes it impossible to notice all the details. This museum was very memorable for many reasons, but this exhibit detailing the cathedral is definitely near the top of the list for me.”
Dickinson-in-Bremen student McKenna majors in Art History. She visited the Vienna Secession, which is an exhibition for contemporary art. McKenna notes that the secession was smaller than expected but she enjoyed her visit there, nonetheless. Her favorite was the Beethoven Fries, but she liked other pieces there as well!
Spring student Riley described the city as “enriching, inspiring, and historic.” According to Gabe, Vienna is “a must-visit city in Europe. Not only is it home to a wide variety of historically significant sights to see, but also serves as a cultural hub. For example, Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, which is a beautiful catholic church, serves visitors from all walks of life in order to introduce them to the historic cultural significance of the city.”
Grear was particularly interested in Vienna’s history: “As a practicing Catholic, I greatly enjoyed the rich religious history surrounding the city of Vienna. I found learning about the interconnectedness of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church with the Habsburg Dynasty to be particularly interesting. My attention was also grabbed by the extensiveness of Catholic/historical artifacts found in the Austrian Imperial Treasury as well as the tradition surrounding the burial of Habsburgs in the Imperial Crypt.”
Overall, our excursion was a great success!