Fans of the wonderful book, The Hare With Amber Eyes we checked out the Palace Ephrussi. Now home to Casino Wien. Once home to the Ephrussi family. Hard to imagine. Edward De Waal tells his family’s history so well. If you haven’t already done so, read the book. I was pleased to see the famous facade.
There is no mention on the facade of the building’s provenance, but we have seen the book displayed along with some netsuke in an antique shop just around from our pensione. Cynical marketing opportunity? We are thinking about it. They are very beautiful objects and I have a little bone chest bought at the Grand Bazaar that could house one – neat book-ends for our wonderful trip.
From the corner of the Ringstrasse and Schottengasse we walked the short to Berggasse where Doctor Freud had his consulting rooms. Ordinary building but a nice staircase and window inside.
His waiting room is all that is left of the original furnishings.
Including a cabinet with part of his very large collection of antiquities.
The other two rooms are full of photographs of people and documents that are very interesting along with some of his things. Anna Freud has donated all this to the museum. We were given little audio devices that when we pressed the number of a room or an object would go on to explain the contents. Great organization. A very easy experience for the international visitor. Here is a copy of his chair, designed to accommodate his very unusual mode of sitting while reading.
We were pleased to see all of this. Joe, being a Freud afficiando knew lots of the people depicted on the walls and had read many of the books about which bits of information were displayed so he was busily snapping the photos of Adler, Jung (looking remarkably like Michael Fassbinder who portrayed him in A Dangerous Method, yachting cap and all), Anna, Lou Salome etc. etc. We finished by watching some home movies of the Freud family in England, having been helped out of Austria by Marie Bonaparte – there was a picture of their final flight. Also of Hitler being welcomed into the Heldenplatz. Austria’s rich intellectual life sundered.
On our way to visit the good doctor we passed the Votivkirche – built by Fran’s Joseph I to celebrate him surfing an assassination attempt by a knife wielding Hungarian – so much history here, sigh! Beautiful neo-gothic building. Being renovated inside, we saw a young woman clime an enormous scaffolding, having first sent up her bucket and working tools on a rope. Terrifyingly high up. A beautiful altar the most striking thing about the church. Beautiful stained glass windows are par for the course here.
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