The German word of the day is dei der, which translates to "at your place."
The Enlightenment. This blog could be the longest one yet, but I am going to hold back!
The Enlightenment is a broad term used to describe a time in history (the eighteenth century) when people aspired toward freedom for individual thought and reason. Liberty, individual and natural rights, reason and logical reasoning were introduced during this time period. This new way of thinking was spread in places like coffee shops and salons; places where the church and the state did not have a hold. It created a divide within the Hopsburgs between those who embraced old school tradition and those who ushered in the new age.
In France and England the Enlightenment took hold through a "bottom-up process", meaning it was the work of peasants rather than the aristocrats who spread the ideas. Freemasonic lodges took hold that encompassed the ideals of "liberty, equality and fraternity". In many German-speaking countries the process of Enlightenment was more "top-down", meaning starting with the monarchy. Maria Theresa was an enlightened thinker in the fact that she thought more of the state than traditional dynastic terms. She founded multiple academies for military and academic purposes, promoted financial reforms through agriculture and helped to build a stronger Austria. At the same time as this was going on, however, she expelled the Jews from Bohemia and Prague. With the death of her husband, her son Joseph II became co-ruler and took up more enlightened ideals than his mother. There was bickering for some time between the two co-regents (Joseph didn't agree with his mothers disproval of religious toleration), but when she died he changed the governmental system within his empire. Joseph II practiced a term of enlightened despotism within his territories, supported mass education, secularized churches, abolished serfdom and did anything for the state that was within "reason". He was the product of an age of enlightenment.
The great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a later product of enlightenment ideals. He was mentioned in class because of our trip to the opera later in the evening. Mozart was the 7th (and last) child born to his parents, and only one of two to survive. He was a musical prodigy who started composing by the age of five and performing at seven. After he gained fame and notoriety his goal was to raise music to a fine art form, which at the time it was not. Music was not seen as a tangible good, like painting or sculpting. He began his career in Salzburg and ended up in Wien after being dismissed from the court. His greatest successes were in his last years in Wien and include Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. He died poor in a common grave, but steadily grew in popularity after his death. Below is the monument to Mozart in the Wien Central Cemetery.
The class went on an excursion to the opera Don Giovanni tonight, which ended up being incredibly entertaining! I have always wanted to attend an opera because I like to watch people in their fancy gowns and nice suits. The modern interpretation of the play was interesting because it was easy to understand and more relatable to the culture today. The voices were incredible and the acting was superb. There were some major differences in the updated version that I think actually made the story better. Instead of everything happening in one day the story is spread out over a lifetime. Don Giovanni and his crew age after his encounter with the statue (which is now a head), and I think he was haunted by Don Pedro. This is somehow more believable for me. I liked how everything was set at a modern hotel in Wien, and I especially liked the last scene before intermission. This scene was strange because it was "supposed" to be Don Giovanni escaping from his captors but in the modern play it was staged like some drug infused chaotic mess. For my first opera I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would definitely go back to another!
I have to mention the end of the night because it was go random! One of Kathy's friends, "The Original" Lady Gaga, "kidnapped" us and brought is to her bar for free drinks and appetizers. In our opera clothes we went to a Romanian bar filled with techno music and cigarette smoke. IT WAS AWESOME! Lady Gaga was super friendly and wanted to thank Kathy for giving her a free ticket. She gave all of us her e-mail address and told me, at the end of the night, "to take in Wien with an open heart."
The Enlightenment. This blog could be the longest one yet, but I am going to hold back!
The Enlightenment is a broad term used to describe a time in history (the eighteenth century) when people aspired toward freedom for individual thought and reason. Liberty, individual and natural rights, reason and logical reasoning were introduced during this time period. This new way of thinking was spread in places like coffee shops and salons; places where the church and the state did not have a hold. It created a divide within the Hopsburgs between those who embraced old school tradition and those who ushered in the new age.
In France and England the Enlightenment took hold through a "bottom-up process", meaning it was the work of peasants rather than the aristocrats who spread the ideas. Freemasonic lodges took hold that encompassed the ideals of "liberty, equality and fraternity". In many German-speaking countries the process of Enlightenment was more "top-down", meaning starting with the monarchy. Maria Theresa was an enlightened thinker in the fact that she thought more of the state than traditional dynastic terms. She founded multiple academies for military and academic purposes, promoted financial reforms through agriculture and helped to build a stronger Austria. At the same time as this was going on, however, she expelled the Jews from Bohemia and Prague. With the death of her husband, her son Joseph II became co-ruler and took up more enlightened ideals than his mother. There was bickering for some time between the two co-regents (Joseph didn't agree with his mothers disproval of religious toleration), but when she died he changed the governmental system within his empire. Joseph II practiced a term of enlightened despotism within his territories, supported mass education, secularized churches, abolished serfdom and did anything for the state that was within "reason". He was the product of an age of enlightenment.
The great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a later product of enlightenment ideals. He was mentioned in class because of our trip to the opera later in the evening. Mozart was the 7th (and last) child born to his parents, and only one of two to survive. He was a musical prodigy who started composing by the age of five and performing at seven. After he gained fame and notoriety his goal was to raise music to a fine art form, which at the time it was not. Music was not seen as a tangible good, like painting or sculpting. He began his career in Salzburg and ended up in Wien after being dismissed from the court. His greatest successes were in his last years in Wien and include Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. He died poor in a common grave, but steadily grew in popularity after his death. Below is the monument to Mozart in the Wien Central Cemetery.
The class went on an excursion to the opera Don Giovanni tonight, which ended up being incredibly entertaining! I have always wanted to attend an opera because I like to watch people in their fancy gowns and nice suits. The modern interpretation of the play was interesting because it was easy to understand and more relatable to the culture today. The voices were incredible and the acting was superb. There were some major differences in the updated version that I think actually made the story better. Instead of everything happening in one day the story is spread out over a lifetime. Don Giovanni and his crew age after his encounter with the statue (which is now a head), and I think he was haunted by Don Pedro. This is somehow more believable for me. I liked how everything was set at a modern hotel in Wien, and I especially liked the last scene before intermission. This scene was strange because it was "supposed" to be Don Giovanni escaping from his captors but in the modern play it was staged like some drug infused chaotic mess. For my first opera I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would definitely go back to another!
I have to mention the end of the night because it was go random! One of Kathy's friends, "The Original" Lady Gaga, "kidnapped" us and brought is to her bar for free drinks and appetizers. In our opera clothes we went to a Romanian bar filled with techno music and cigarette smoke. IT WAS AWESOME! Lady Gaga was super friendly and wanted to thank Kathy for giving her a free ticket. She gave all of us her e-mail address and told me, at the end of the night, "to take in Wien with an open heart."
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