Lentos was originally settled by Celts and the word means welcome. According to our guide two hundred ships per day came here before the pandemic. She told us that this is the second walking tour that she has done since the pandemic. People seem happy that they are seeing Americans again. At this moment in time, there don’t seem to be that many … yet.
The Trinity Column representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit of the Christian faith is a very common statue in Austria.
Hitler wanted to study art in Vienna, but they determined that he had no talent. (It would have been better for the world if he had studied art.)
Hitler designated five places as cultural Fürher cities. He spent much of his youth in Linz and wanted to retire here. His parents were buried here but have been relocated to an undisclosed location.
Sadly, there is a big international tourism market for Neo-Nazis. They want to visit the Eagles Nest, the Fascist Garden, etc.
Hitler’s five cultural cities were:
- Linz: European Cultural Centre.
- Berlin: Renamed to Germania.
- Munich: Capital of the [Nazi] Movement
- Hamburg: Capital of German Shipping
- Nuremberg: City of the Reich Party Conventions
Mozart wrote his Linz Symphony while vacationing here at a friend’s house. He wrote this work for a full orchestra in three days. Mozart rarely made any changes to his first drafts. The Linz symphony is 20 minutes long. You can listen here:
Kepler, famed astronomer lived here. Johannes Kepler University is located here.
They ring in the new year with the Pumerrin bell, which is located at St. Stephens church in Vienna. Pumerrin means curvy … like a woman which is like a bell. Austrian women prefer to be called curvy. Men like curvy especially in the “balcony” (top half of the body).
After the bell rings, The Blue Danube is played. Only then, can the new year begin. This seems analogous to the ball dropping and the playing and singing of Auld Lang Syne…if you know the words!!
When digging around the city center, they discovered a perfectly preserved Roman bridge. Romans built things to last forever … and it was made from granite.
Granitehead is the word used for someone that doesn’t change their mind. Hard headed might be our word.
We crossed a street called Pig Street. It got its name from when they would have pigs come to eat the garbage on Pig Street once a month to clean the streets. But then the feces from the pigs were a problem.
When they began building the cathedral in Linz, they wanted to make it the tallest cathedral in Austria. Vienna caught wind of this and passed a law that no building can be higher than the St. Stephens Cathedral. The people of Linz abided by that rule but put a five foot cross on the top.
There are 64 stained glass windows predominantly about church history. Most are original; only the three front windows sustained damage during WWII.
The organ is massive, the third largest in Europe. There are two smaller organs in the front. I bet an organ concert there is unforgettable.
There is a hermit tower in the cathedral. A hermit used to live up in the tower to watch for fires, etc (Think Hunchback of Notre Dame). They no longer have that, BUT one can sign up to spend a week up there and enjoy the hermit life of solitude and prayer. When they first offered it in 2009, there were 500 who signed up so they had a lottery Only one person can live there, and you can only come down the narrow spiral staircase of around 400 steps once a day for food and prayers with congregants.
The Linz Cake is the oldest cake recipe in the world. It is sold in all of the coffee shops, and they have to make the same recipe. The top of the cake was breaking so they made a criss cross pattern with a sugar topping. It is dry and should be eaten with coffee or tea or even better, whipped cream. Since it is so dry, it lasts for quite a while … which reminds me of fruitcakes!!!
Linz had no shelter from allied bombings so much is destroyed from that time. Today, Linz is known for its steel factories.
There are some interesting movies and series about what Germany and Europe would be like if Hitler had succeeded with his diabolical plans. Fatherland is one that would be interesting to watch.
We boarded the ship in Linz just in the nick of time. Soon we went through a lock. We have gone through many locks on this voyage, but they are usually at night.
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