Almost-evening light in the Austrian countryside

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A late afternoon in November in the Austrian countryside gave nice light for today's Theme Day on Highlight and Shadow.

See what other CDP bloggers did with this subject at the website, City Daily Photo.
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On Good Friday, tall ladders to the cross

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It is now late afternoon in Israel.
This is the day my Christian friends call Good Friday, and this is the hour when they solemnly reflect on the taking down from the cross.
Very soon it will be Shabbat evening. 

It was in Friedberg, a small town in the rolling green hills of Styria, Austria, that I first saw  statuary such as this!

Please click a few times to enlarge the photos and get the beautiful details.

The church was first mentioned in writing in 1377.
In 1706 it was expanded and magnificent frescoes were added.

The Baroque pilgrimage church and its surroundings can be seen here.
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I try to imagine how you Christian readers out there experience the Triduum, the three saddest days, as you await the joy of Easter Sunday.   Blessings to you.
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(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday.)

Beware of devilish Krampus tonight!

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You surely recognize good St. Nicholas.
But do you recognize his opposite, the evil devil Krampus?
Every child in Austria knows about this demon, but I first learned of him only a few weeks ago when my hosts in Vienna gave me these chocolate figures and told me to eat Krampus -- the one with horns, chains, and claws -- only on December 6.
Dec. 6 is St. Nicholas Day but the night before is Krampusnacht, which looks to me to be a scary night to be out on the streets of Austria and some of the surrounding countries.
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I can't begin to explain it well, having never experienced it, so I ask you to read some of these really interesting articles (with great photos!).
BTW, apparently this year there is a spurt of interest in all this in America too!

An explanation from the Archdiocese of Vienna, in German:  Der Krampus hat mit dem Hl. Nikolaus eigentlich nichts zu tun

In German:   Von altem Brauchtum bis Alpenerotik


From National Geographic:
 Krampus the Christmas Devil Is Coming to More Towns. So Where's He From?

Another from National Geographic:   How Krampus, the Christmas ‘Devil,’ Became Cool

Official trailer for the new American horror-comedy movie "Krampus"
("Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, a darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul, reveals an irreverently twisted side to the holiday.
When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.
All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive")

Merisi Vienna's blog post: Saint Nicholas and Krampus: Were you naughty or nice?

Bolzano Daily Photo, South Tyrol / Italy offers a short video (narrated in Ladin language!) of the actual festivities on Krampusnacht in the village of Urtijëi / St. Ulrich / Ortise.
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Good luck. Be good.  Watch out tonight!
And tomorrow, a happy St. Nicholas Day! 
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Meine Damen und Herren

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Today being World Toilet Day,  just wanted to show you these cute Damen und Herren signs on the door of a new WC in rural Austria.

It is inside this little cabin called Wanderhütte Fernblick, in the state of Burgenland, Austria.
Apparently here you can get refreshments and a sit-down during the hot summer hiking months.
The panoramic vista of the hills and valleys is free.

Next to the typical wayside shrine they have a weather stone suspended.
Enlarge the photo a few times to read how it works.
Weda-stoa is Austrian dialect for German Wetter Stein.

Stone wet - Rain
Can't see the stone - Fog
Stone is quiet - No wind
Stone white - Snow

Stone warm - Sunny
Stone ice cold - Frost
Stone is swaying - Storm
Stone is hopping - Earthquake
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(Linking to signs, signs and SkyWatch Friday.)
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Berlin by night and home again

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Last night was the first time for me to fly Air Berlin, now Germany's second largest airline.
My Vienna to Berlin and Berlin to Tel Aviv flights were pünktlich, exactly on time and pleasant.
Plus, the cabin crew stands at the door with a smile and a basket of red heart-shaped Lindt chocolates as a way of saying a sweet goodbye!

Too bad my first and only time to see Berlin was only from above.
Maybe someday ...

 

I waited a few hours in Ben Gurion Airport until the first train to Beer Sheva and was rewarded with a nice sunrise on the way south.

Back home already at 8:15 am with the good earth of Israel smelling fresh from RAIN (so pleasant when you haven't seen rain since last spring).

The end of a marvelous 37 days in Austria.

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A strange sky

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A strange sunset here in rural Austria.
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(Linking to SkyWatch Friday.)
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The Simpsons, in a little medieval village?

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The colorful colors were out of place.
Was I seeing right??

The Simpsons on an old Gasthof in the medieval village of Friedberg, in the state of Styria (aka  Steiermark), Austria??

But there was the name: Simpson PUB.
Yesterday was Monday, their Ruhetag or rest day, and it was closed; otherwise I would have popped in to check it out and take a picture.  :)
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One of the Austrian synagogues destroyed on Kristallnacht

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Tonight is the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
Israel Museum just posted this good summary on Facebook:

November 9 - 10 1938.
"Kristallnacht," the Night of Broken Glass.
The Nazis unleashed a wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms against Jews in Germany, Austria, and in occupied areas of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.

30,00 Jewish men arrested.
7,500 Jewish-owned business had their windows smashed and their wares looted.
267 synagogues destroyed, countless Jewish cemeteries desecrated.
91 Jews murdered.
Zachor.  Remember.

This used to be a synagogue in Stadtschlaining in Burgenland, Austria.
It was devastated on Kristallnacht.

We discovered it yesterday, on Sunday, so the gates were locked.

"Synagogue, built in 1715
In commemoration of the ordeal of our Jewish fellow citizens --
 many of whom were murdered in 1938-1945
-- Israelitische Kultusgemeinschaft Graz  1988"

The former synagogue now houses an organization for peace work and conflict resolution.

Jews first lived in the village in 1697.
By 1857 there were 650.
By 1934 all but 19 had moved away.
In March 1938, with the Anschluss, these 19 were driven out of their hometown.

This is part of the history in German.
But you can read more in English:
A factual and brief history of the Jews of Stadtschlaining in the Austrian Archive of Synagogues.
or
A fascinating story of what one American woman found when researching her grandmother's life in this town.

(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
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Friendly Austrian sheep

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When I worked at Heifer Ranch in Arkansas, the joke was "If you had to look through a slatted fence all day you would have rectangular pupils in your eyes too."

Here is Austria we went for an Ausflug today and visited an open-air museum of centuries-old farm buildings in Bad Tatzmannsdorf.
This big mama ewe was on display too.

Giving the sheep sugar treats was verboten.

But we did pick up some apples from the grass and the sheep loved them.

Unlike in America, sheep are allowed to keep their long tail.
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(Linking to Camera Critters.)
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Tow this into the forest

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In Israel we carefully plant trees, one by one, and nurture them.
People around the world donate money to Keren Kayemet to plant trees in barren landscapes.
It is against the law to cut down a tree without special permission.

But here in Austria it is almost like a mitsvah, a good deed, to fell some trees.
I was told that the forests are simply taking over the land.

We saw this by the wayside while hiking from down from Hochart.

You just tow it into the woods and start sawing.
The logs fit neatly into the back part.

You see woodpiles everywhere here in rural Austria.
I'm a bit envious, especially when I read this report from the 1990s about Austria's forest harvesting:
"Forest land: 3.9 million ha (46% of the total area, 0.5 ha per capita). The forest area is steadily increasing by some 2,000 ha a year ..."
One hectare (ha) = 2.47 acres.    Sigh ...
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UPDATE:  Merisi of Vienna (do see her lovely blog!) gave us this good info in her comment:
"Woods and trees in Austria are well protected where necessary.
It is a fact that wood acreage is increasing here. Alpine landscapes are often cultural landscapes, created by farmers. Once they stop cultivating the meadows, those are quickly overgrown by bushes and later by trees developing into forests. Keeping this cultural heritage is one of the reasons farmers in high alpine zones receive subsidies."
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All Souls Day in a rural Austrian cemetery

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 The graves had special candles and many fresh flowers today.

It is All Souls Day today and yesterday was All Saints Day.

These are special days here in Austria. 

This was just a small cemetery in rural Burgenland, but the graves were quite ornate.

I wish I could see it at night when the candles are lit.
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
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