Dorf to Dorf in the Wienerwald - Aug 29, 2001

The Viennese Dragon

Silly Sophie says, "I ain't scared of no dragon!"

St. George Church

Vineyards above Kahlenbergerdorf

No trips for Daktari this month. Instead I'll take you through time and space to Vienna in 2001. My wife Rena and I are traveling with out neighbor Bernadette Lucas, who is presenting our paper on African Salt at the International Congress of Nutrition.

While Bernie goes postering, at the I.N.C. convention hall, Rena and I take the “D” Tram from the K + K Hotel to Nussdorf. We trek through the 'dorf" (or village) until we come to the lower slopes of Mount Kahlenberg, all covered with vineyards. The grapes are ripe and I surreptitiously sample a few on the way. After leaving the dorf, we are in the Wienerwald, which contrary to American popular belief is not hot-dog country. It is a nice forested park which completely encircles the city of Vienna. There are two largish hills in the Wienerwald which overlook the Danube (the Kahlenberg and the Leopoldberg). These are the last two peaks of the European Alps. At 480 and 510 meters, they are also the world’s smallest Alps. Unlike most Alps, they have Kaffeehaus’s and Bierstube’s at the top of each. Hike then drink coffee; hike again and drink beer. We can see all Vienna through binoculars from the top. There is even shopping at the top of the Kahlenberg - we buy tee shirts and a book of photos of Vienna.

HAPSBURGS 1, TURKS 0
The top of the Leopoldberg is where the Austrians under King Leopold, the Hapsburg Emperor, turned back the last invading Turkish army from the gates of Vienna in 1683. This set the borders of Europe at the Bosporus. To celebrate, a young Viennese named Joachim Schwenig looted some odd looking beans from the Turkish camp, boiled them up and that is how coffee came to Vienna. Unfortunately, three more centuries were to pass before Franz Sacher, a 19 year old pastry chef apprentice concocted his first Sacher Torte, thus completing the Viennese “hat trick” of Coffee, Schlagobers, and Sacher Torte. This won young Sacher the 1903 Nobel Prize for pastry. Schlagobers is German for whipped cream - the special floaty kind that sits up on top of your cup and sticks to your mustache. It is said that another famous Viennese - Dr. Sigmund Freud - used to dip the end of his cigar in his Schlagobers and lick it off. Analyze that!

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DORF
From the top of the Kahlenberg, the way down is steep through a forest of very interesting, tall, smooth deciduous trees of 30-40 meters height. At the bottom, tucked between the “berg” and the Danube is a cute little dorf called (what else?) Kahlenbergerdorf. The small church in Khalenbergerdorf dates from the 10th century but of the original structure, only the doorstop remains. The church was burned twice by the Turks and once by a monk smoking in bed after lights out. Shame on him. It’s last resurrection was accomplished in 1723 and the church is aptly named after St. George - an early opponent of smoking, particularly by dragons. The altar is backed by a gory painting of the patron saint slaying said dragon. The caption reads (I think) - “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” but my rudimentary German may have failed me here. The doorstop may also be a mis-translation, come to think of it.

The artist spent a lot more time on rendering the Dragon than he did on St. George. The result is quite terrifying. It must have served to put the fear of God into generations of illiterate Kahlenberger Kinder. The Churchyard is small, well-tended and features a variety of especially sweet-smelling roses. Delicious!

At the Danube we buy a glass of Mineralwasser mit Gas and lunch on bread, cheese, Greek sugar cookies and Toblerone. This finishes off the last of the emergency supplies as well as all that we had stolen from the K+K breakfast buffet. Tomorrow we visit Hundertswasser Haus.

Some useful phrases in German for hiking in the Wienerwald:

Your mountains take my breath away! Ihre Berge sind atemberaubend.

Or perhaps it is the lack of oxygen. Oder vielleicht ist es der Mangel an Sauerstoff.

I sighted several trees. Ehrspahte ich mehrere Baume.

We are lost. Haben wir uns verlaufen!