Winter Break 2012: Vienna

The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt

Note from Program Director Anne Ulmer: 

Vienna is FULL of wonderful museums and architecture.  In early December students will also find countless Christmas markets and probably some snow.

We will see more Klimt and Schiele paintings than one can imagine, and other works from the early 20th century.  We will also see some of the early modernist architectural works by Adolf Loos and Otto Wagner, among others.  Of course there are other earlier works (the Ringstrasse buildings, the Opera, various castles); and there are wonderful later works, such as various buildings by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.  We will explore a variety of Viennese coffee houses.

There will be a guided tour of the Freud house, where Sigmund Freud saw patients.  We surely should be able to get tickets to some interesting music (though I can’t guarantee it will be from the turn of the century). I hope we can see at least one play. Bring warm clothes, an umbrella, and good shoes – standing room at the opera is very affordable, and surprisingly pleasant, if you have the right shoes!

 

Eligitibility and Course Description: 

Prerequisites

German 204, or consent of instructor

Course of Study

This winter-break program is part of two linked 6-credit courses offered in Fall, Winter Break, and Winter Term.

Fall term: German 345 Vienna: Dream and Reality

The course will examine the beginnings of Modernism in Austrian culture, music, theater, art, architecture, and philosophy, focusing on literature within its wider context. Students will look at such thinkers and artists as Freud, Schnitzler, Hofmannsthal, Hermann Bahr, Karl Kraus, Robert Musil, Peter Altenberg, and Wittgenstein, as well as the great musicians, architects, and painters of the time. The group will survey the history and culture of the period between 1870 and 1930, with the primary focus on the period from around 1890-1920. Lectures and discussions will be in German. Prerequisite: German 204 or the equivalent.

Winter Break/Winter term: German 346 Viennese Culture on Site

The first part of the course consists of a two-week field trip to Vienna, Austria, to visit museums and see the architecture and art the group discussed in German 345, including many works by such artists as Loos, Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka. The course will conclude on campus when students will give oral presentations on topics selected in the fall term and investigated during the winter break trip. Prerequisite: German 345

The winter-term course on campus meets once early in the term, and then involves individual meetings with Professor Ulmer to work on individual projects. Paper drafts are due at mid-term break. The course will meet regularly in the second half of winter term, when each student will formally present his or her project to the rest of the group, with discussion to follow.

 

Cost and Housing:

Housing

Shared rooms (doubles, triples) in Pension Lehrerhof, near the museum district and the Inner City.

Costs

You are responsible for the flight to Vienna, and partial board (and pocket money). All other expenses (local transportation, tickets to productions we see as a group, tours) are covered. The program will include some meals. At least one of these will be at the nearby Schnitzelwirt, which has fabulous (and relatively inexpensive) Wiener Schnitzel – not to be missed.