Margarete E. Schachermeier, Akademische Übersetzerin
Description:
Study of the rich cultural history of Austria from the Celtic and Roman heritage (150 B.C. – 400 A.D.), the Bajuvarian immigration from Southern Germany (starting about 500 A.D.), the Babenberg dynasty (976 – 1246), the Habsburg Empire (1278 – 1918), the proclamation of the Republic of Austria after WWI (1918), the Austrian Civil War (1934), the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germany (1938) and the occupation of Austria after WWII (1945 – 1955) which was ended by the State Treaty (1955) re-establishing the sovereignty of Austria. In 1995 Austria joined the EU and in 2001 Austria introduced the Euro currency.
Prerequisites:
Intermediated German or equivalent
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course students will have achieved intercultural competence and will have developed an awareness of the rich cultural history of Vienna and Austria. The course aims at the refined ability of students to understand the impact of social history on political and artistic ideas. Special emphasis is being laid on the improvement of German language skills and on the enlargement of German vocabulary.
Method of presentation:
Combination of lectures, discussions, student presentations, field trips every week to numerous museums in and around Vienna, written journals in German, video shows, CD- ROMs.
Field study:
2nd week on the traces of the Romans (tour of the Roman excavations on Hoher Markt) and of the Babenbergs (visit to Vienna's oldest church Ruprechtskirche, to Schottenkirche, its Romanesque chapel and the tomb of Heinrich Jasomirgott, to the Schottenstift Museum with an altarpiece with the first authentic view of Vienna dating back to 1480)
3rd week on the traces of the Middle Ages in Vienna (tour of the oldest parts of the first district, site of the first building of the University of Vienna founded in 1365, short tour of St. Stephen's Cathedral [legends of Hans Puchspaum, "Dienstbotenmadonna", "Zahnwehherrgott", tombs of Prince Eugene, Rudolph the Founder and Emperor Frederick III])
4th week on the traces of Baroque art (tour of Wien Museum [2 Turkish sieges] and St. Charles' Church [elevator ride to the dome])
5th week short tour of the Baroque National Library (Hall of State) and of Kapuzinergruft (burial place of the Habsburgs)
6th week tour of the Hofkammerarchiv (archive of the Aulic Chancellery, the central financial authority of the Habsburg empire [1527–1848]) and the Imperial Treasury (insignia of the Holy Roman Empire)
7th week Upper Belvedere Castle (Biedermeier paintings)
8th week tour of the Natural History Museum (Venus of Willendorf [25.000 years old], view of the Ringstrasse buildings from the roof of the museum) and of Café Central (coffee house literature)
9th week tour of the Art History Museum (paintings by Bernardo Bellotto, also called Canaletto, and Velasquez, court painter of the Spanish Habsburgs)
10th week tour "Hitler in Vienna"
Special Activities:
• performance of Mozart's opera "Die Zauberflöte" at the Vienna State Opera or Volksoper (standing room)
• field trip to the Klosterneuburg Monastery (unique Verdun altarpiece dating back to 1181, Albrecht's altarpiece with oldest view of Vienna of 1439, Baroque palace of Charles VI)
• tour of Beethoven's retreat at Heiligenstadt, where he wrote his Heiligenstädter Testament
• optional "Hausmusik" in class
selfguided tour of the Habsburg summer palace of Schönbrunn
selfguided tour of the Collection of Musical Instruments at the Imperial Palace
Required work and form of assessment:
Regular attendance and participation in class-work, regular reading and writing assignments, regular oral presentations and reports, class-room discussions, video work, essays, tests, midterm exam, comprehensive final exam and one paper.
active class participation: 30%,
paper and essays: 25%,
midterm: 20%,
final: 25%
content:
The Celtic and Roman heritage:
tour of the Natural History Museum (early cultural findings, Venus of Willendorf [25.000 years old]) and of the Roman excavations in Vienna, work with the newly edited CD-ROM on the Roman camp of Vindobona
The Beginning of the Middle Ages in Austria and Germany:
• the Romanesque period: political and cultural movements, the importance and function of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation and the Church as patrons of fine art and education
• the Babenberg dynasty in Austria (976 – 1246): daily life during the Middle Ages, Minnesingers (reading and discussion of texts by Walther von der Vogelweide, e. g.: Ich saz
ûf einem steine, …), die Minne (idealized love), legends, monasteries as centers of learning
(field trip to the Klosterneuburg Monastery [Verdun Altar, …])
The Habsburg dynasty (1278 – 1918):
its impact on the intellectual, political and cultural development in Central Europe, impact on the arts and sciences, impact on the urban development of Vienna as residence of the Habsburgs
• Gothic art: comparing Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture, visits to Ruprechtskirche
and St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Habsburgs as founders of universities (1365: foundation of the University of Vienna) and monasteries, visit to the Imperial Treasury, Kapuzinergruft
(Imperial Burial Vault) and site of the old university quarters
• "Heiratspolitik": territorial expansion of the empire by marriage (Burgundy, Spain and Spanish colonies overseas, Bohemia, Hungary), the exchange of ideas in art, music, academic life, court life
• Renaissance and Humanism: Emperor Maximilian I as founder of the Vienna Boys' Choir in
1498, tour of the Art History Museum: Bellotto ("Canaletto"), Velasquez
• The Turkish threat, tour of the Wien Museum
• Baroque period: comparing the different styles of art, Baroque music (Emperor Leopold I as a composer), Baroque architecture (tour of the Belvedere Palaces, the National Library, St. Charles' Church)
• The Age of Enlightened Absolutism: Maria Theresia, Joseph II, classical music (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven), tour of Schönbrunn Castle, reading of Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" and performance at the Vienna State Opera or Volksoper, tour of Beethoven's retreat at Heiligenstadt (reading and discussion of the text of "Heiligenstädter Testament")
• The Vienna Congress: Napoleon, Metternich, the dawn of the revolution of 1848
• Biedermeier – a culture of the home: painters: Georg Ferdinand Waldmüller, … musicians: Franz Schubert, …, tour of the Upper Belvedere Castle and Hofkammerarchiv (archive of the
Aulic Chancellery)
• The era of the Ringstrasse: urbanization of Vienna, creation of the so-called Ringstrasse style of architecture (visit to roof platform of the Museum of Natural History overlooking the buildings on Ringstrasse), reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I
• Fin de Siècle: Jugendstil, Secession movement (Gustav Klimt, Adolf Loos, Otto Wagner), Second Vienna School of Music (Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, Anton von Webern), tradition of the Viennese coffeehouse and "Kaffeehausliteratur" - field trip to a famous coffeehouse
• WWI and the end of the Habsburg Monarchy
20th century:
• the rise of Adolf Hitler (as a young man he spent a few years in Vienna as an unsuccessful painter) – field trip: Hitler in Vienna
• Anschluss and WWII
• State Treaty signed at the Upper Belvedere Palace on May 15, 1955
• Austria becomes a member of EU on January 1, 1995
• the Euro is introduced as currency in Austria on January 1, 2001
Required readings:
Folder prepared by M. Schachermeier
Johannes Sachslehner: Wien – Stadtgeschichte kompakt, EDITION WIEN in der Pichler Verlag GmbH, 1998
Reinhard Pohanka: Eine kurze Geschichte der Stadt Wien, Böhlau Verlag, 1998
Reinhard Pohanka: Hinter den Mauern der Stadt, Herold Verlag, 1987
Martina Pippal: Kleine Kunstgeschichte Wiens, C.H.Beck Verlag, 2000
Brigitte Hamann: Die Habsburger, Ueberreuter Verlag, 1988
Brigitte Hamann: Hitlers Wien, Piper Verlag, 2001
Peter von Baldass, Walter Buchowiecki, Wilhelm Mrazek: Romanische Kunst in Österreich, Forum Verlag, 1962
Peter von Baldass, Walter Buchowiecki, Wilhelm Mrazek: Gotik in Österreich, Forum Verlag 1961
Bruno Grimschitz, Rupert Feuchtmüller, Wilhelm Mrazek: Barock in Österreich, Forum Verlag 1962
Emanuel Schikaneder, W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Additional texts TBA by instructor
Recommended readings:
• Hanna Domandl: Kulturgeschichte Österreichs, Österreichischer Bundesverlag, 1992
• Henriette Mandl: Altstadtspaziergänge, Verlag Ueberreuter, 1987
• Dietmar Grieser: Schauplätze der Literatur, Insel Verlag 1996
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Margarete E. Schachermeier earned her degree of "Akademische Übersetzerin" from the University of Vienna and her diploma of organ from Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität. She pursued studies of English, French and Russian. She was a Fulbright scholar and teaching assistant at the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio.
She has been teaching at IES since 1971 and since 2001 has been appointed faculty consultant to the AP GERMAN Reading by the US College Board's Advanced Placement Program. Her teaching areas include all levels of German language courses, The Cultural Heritage of Austria and Business German.
Study of the rich cultural history of Austria from the Celtic and Roman heritage (150 B.C. – 400 A.D.), the Bajuvarian immigration from Southern Germany (starting about 500 A.D.), the Babenberg dynasty (976 – 1246), the Habsburg Empire (1278 – 1918), the proclamation of the Republic of Austria after WWI (1918), the Austrian Civil War (1934), the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germany (1938) and the occupation of Austria after WWII (1945 – 1955) which was ended by the State Treaty (1955) re-establishing the sovereignty of Austria. In 1995 Austria joined the EU and in 2001 Austria introduced the Euro currency.
Intermediated German or equivalent
By the end of the course students will have achieved intercultural competence and will have developed an awareness of the rich cultural history of Vienna and Austria. The course aims at the refined ability of students to understand the impact of social history on political and artistic ideas. Special emphasis is being laid on the improvement of German language skills and on the enlargement of German vocabulary.
Combination of lectures, discussions, student presentations, field trips every week to numerous museums in and around Vienna, written journals in German, video shows, CD- ROMs.
2nd week on the traces of the Romans (tour of the Roman excavations on Hoher Markt) and of the Babenbergs (visit to Vienna's oldest church Ruprechtskirche, to Schottenkirche, its Romanesque chapel and the tomb of Heinrich Jasomirgott, to the Schottenstift Museum with an altarpiece with the first authentic view of Vienna dating back to 1480)
3rd week on the traces of the Middle Ages in Vienna (tour of the oldest parts of the first district, site of the first building of the University of Vienna founded in 1365, short tour of St. Stephen's Cathedral [legends of Hans Puchspaum, "Dienstbotenmadonna", "Zahnwehherrgott", tombs of Prince Eugene, Rudolph the Founder and Emperor Frederick III])
4th week on the traces of Baroque art (tour of Wien Museum [2 Turkish sieges] and St. Charles' Church [elevator ride to the dome])
5th week short tour of the Baroque National Library (Hall of State) and of Kapuzinergruft (burial place of the Habsburgs)
6th week tour of the Hofkammerarchiv (archive of the Aulic Chancellery, the central financial authority of the Habsburg empire [1527–1848]) and the Imperial Treasury (insignia of the Holy Roman Empire)
7th week Upper Belvedere Castle (Biedermeier paintings)
8th week tour of the Natural History Museum (Venus of Willendorf [25.000 years old], view of the Ringstrasse buildings from the roof of the museum) and of Café Central (coffee house literature)
9th week tour of the Art History Museum (paintings by Bernardo Bellotto, also called Canaletto, and Velasquez, court painter of the Spanish Habsburgs)
10th week tour "Hitler in Vienna"
Special Activities:
• performance of Mozart's opera "Die Zauberflöte" at the Vienna State Opera or Volksoper (standing room)
• field trip to the Klosterneuburg Monastery (unique Verdun altarpiece dating back to 1181, Albrecht's altarpiece with oldest view of Vienna of 1439, Baroque palace of Charles VI)
• tour of Beethoven's retreat at Heiligenstadt, where he wrote his Heiligenstädter Testament
• optional "Hausmusik" in class
selfguided tour of the Habsburg summer palace of Schönbrunn
selfguided tour of the Collection of Musical Instruments at the Imperial Palace
Regular attendance and participation in class-work, regular reading and writing assignments, regular oral presentations and reports, class-room discussions, video work, essays, tests, midterm exam, comprehensive final exam and one paper.
The Celtic and Roman heritage:
tour of the Natural History Museum (early cultural findings, Venus of Willendorf [25.000 years old]) and of the Roman excavations in Vienna, work with the newly edited CD-ROM on the Roman camp of Vindobona
The Beginning of the Middle Ages in Austria and Germany:
• the Romanesque period: political and cultural movements, the importance and function of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation and the Church as patrons of fine art and education
• the Babenberg dynasty in Austria (976 – 1246): daily life during the Middle Ages, Minnesingers (reading and discussion of texts by Walther von der Vogelweide, e. g.: Ich saz
ûf einem steine, …), die Minne (idealized love), legends, monasteries as centers of learning
(field trip to the Klosterneuburg Monastery [Verdun Altar, …])
The Habsburg dynasty (1278 – 1918):
its impact on the intellectual, political and cultural development in Central Europe, impact on the arts and sciences, impact on the urban development of Vienna as residence of the Habsburgs
• Gothic art: comparing Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture, visits to Ruprechtskirche
and St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Habsburgs as founders of universities (1365: foundation of the University of Vienna) and monasteries, visit to the Imperial Treasury, Kapuzinergruft
(Imperial Burial Vault) and site of the old university quarters
• "Heiratspolitik": territorial expansion of the empire by marriage (Burgundy, Spain and Spanish colonies overseas, Bohemia, Hungary), the exchange of ideas in art, music, academic life, court life
• Renaissance and Humanism: Emperor Maximilian I as founder of the Vienna Boys' Choir in
1498, tour of the Art History Museum: Bellotto ("Canaletto"), Velasquez
• The Turkish threat, tour of the Wien Museum
• Baroque period: comparing the different styles of art, Baroque music (Emperor Leopold I as a composer), Baroque architecture (tour of the Belvedere Palaces, the National Library, St. Charles' Church)
• The Age of Enlightened Absolutism: Maria Theresia, Joseph II, classical music (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven), tour of Schönbrunn Castle, reading of Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" and performance at the Vienna State Opera or Volksoper, tour of Beethoven's retreat at Heiligenstadt (reading and discussion of the text of "Heiligenstädter Testament")
• The Vienna Congress: Napoleon, Metternich, the dawn of the revolution of 1848
• Biedermeier – a culture of the home: painters: Georg Ferdinand Waldmüller, … musicians: Franz Schubert, …, tour of the Upper Belvedere Castle and Hofkammerarchiv (archive of the
Aulic Chancellery)
• The era of the Ringstrasse: urbanization of Vienna, creation of the so-called Ringstrasse style of architecture (visit to roof platform of the Museum of Natural History overlooking the buildings on Ringstrasse), reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I
• Fin de Siècle: Jugendstil, Secession movement (Gustav Klimt, Adolf Loos, Otto Wagner), Second Vienna School of Music (Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, Anton von Webern), tradition of the Viennese coffeehouse and "Kaffeehausliteratur" - field trip to a famous coffeehouse
• WWI and the end of the Habsburg Monarchy
20th century:
• the rise of Adolf Hitler (as a young man he spent a few years in Vienna as an unsuccessful painter) – field trip: Hitler in Vienna
• Anschluss and WWII
• State Treaty signed at the Upper Belvedere Palace on May 15, 1955
• Austria becomes a member of EU on January 1, 1995
• the Euro is introduced as currency in Austria on January 1, 2001
Additional texts TBA by instructor
• Hanna Domandl: Kulturgeschichte Österreichs, Österreichischer Bundesverlag, 1992
• Henriette Mandl: Altstadtspaziergänge, Verlag Ueberreuter, 1987
• Dietmar Grieser: Schauplätze der Literatur, Insel Verlag 1996
Margarete E. Schachermeier earned her degree of "Akademische Übersetzerin" from the University of Vienna and her diploma of organ from Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität. She pursued studies of English, French and Russian. She was a Fulbright scholar and teaching assistant at the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio.
She has been teaching at IES since 1971 and since 2001 has been appointed faculty consultant to the AP GERMAN Reading by the US College Board's Advanced Placement Program. Her teaching areas include all levels of German language courses, The Cultural Heritage of Austria and Business German.