Wiener Staatsoper - Building Form and Plan

The Wiener Staatsoper building is the Vienna State Opera House.  It is located in the center part of Vienna along the Ringstrasse.  It was built in the 1860's in the Neo-Renaissance style.  

From the front of the building you are able to see how repetitive and symmetrical the structure of the Wiener Staatsoper is.  The facade that is still in place today is a part of the original structure and was not affected by the wartime bombings.  Along the facade there are five Neo-Renaissance style arches.  Because of the repetitive nature of the form of this building, you will notice these same arches all the way around the building.  It was decided that stone would be used for the exterior of the building because there was such a high demand for stone at the time. 

Below, the plan of the Wiener Staatsoper building is shown.  The front of the building is on the right end, and the back on the left.  As one can see, toward the back end of the building there are two transverse wings.  These wings actually once served as entrances for horse-drawn carriages in the early years of the building's use.  For the most part, the plan of the building is very closed off.  The exceptions to this are, of course, the stage which is probably the most open part of the building, and the surrounding practice and dressing rooms that are also located in the back half of the building.  

The front part of the building includes the auditorium, which is pictured in more detail below.  Various intermission rooms and other parts of the building that are open to the public are located in this front half of the building.  Another interesting part of the entrance to the Wiener Staatsoper building is that the lobby and a couple of the other rooms near the entrance of the building were not affected at all by the bombings, are are original in structure just like the facade of the building.  The auditorium and most of the rear end of the building, however, were not so lucky and had to be completely rebuilt after the war.

One last aspect of the form of this building that stands out to me are the different styles of roofs throughout the building.  Over the main part of the building - the stage and auditorium - there is a vaulted roof.  Each of the transverse wings have a hipped roof, and the parts of the building that connect the transverse wings have gable roofs.  

CETS Experience

Before the trip started I was a little nervous.  I didn't really know anyone from class that well, I had never traveled alone, and I had never traveled out of the country.  I hadn't even been away from home for more than a two-week period.  Besides being nervous, I was also very excited.  I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and I was determined to get everything out of it that I could.  

The group in Vienna

I am usually a very shy person, which is definitely why I didn’t talk a ton in class or become close with some of the other people in class right away.  I was really proud of myself for opening up and not allowing myself to be shy toward the other students once the trip started and I arrived in Europe.  Another thing that this experience really helped me with was becoming more independent.  Like I said, before this trip I had never been away from home for more than two weeks, and even that was only one time.  I’m originally from Menomonie, Wisconsin, and so going to college I didn’t make it far from home either.  It was refreshing to realize how well I could handle being away from home, my family, and friends for an extended period of time (with limited contact at that). 

At dinner in Krakow

Prague Castle

After spending a month in different countries in Europe I learned a lot about the culture over there.  I realized that I really liked some of the parts of European culture, and other parts I didn’t like.  I didn’t realize until we were in Vienna talking with our tour guide for the wine valley tour that the food laws in Europe, and especially in Austria, are much stricter than in the United States.  I really appreciated that aspect of European culture, and I wish that the food laws would tighten up in the United States to mirror the laws in Europe.  It was refreshing to know that the things we were eating over there were not highly processed like so much of the food is here in America.  Another part of European culture that I enjoyed was the public transportation systems.  Even though they did get hot (especially the trams) in the later countries we visited, I actually really enjoyed not having a car to drive everywhere.  I loved the more active lifestyle we saw and took part in while we were over here.  It was kind of cool that we got all over the cities we visited by just walking and taking subways – it was something that I really was not used to, and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did either.  One thing that I disliked about European culture was the extent of cigarette smoking.  Having such clean air and not having a constant stream of second hand smoke entering my system no matter where I was is something I previously took for granted in America.  

The baths in Budapest

Krakow

Before I actually got into Budapest, and especially Krakow I expected them to be so much different than they were.  I feel like not only myself, but most Americans had/have more of a stigma about Eastern Europe.  I thought it would be dirtier and I thought I would feel scared walking on the streets especially if I was with only one or two of the girls.  I was so surprised with how absolutely beautiful Krakow was and how much I loved it there.  The square in Krakow is known to be the largest and one of the most beautiful in Europe, and its something I never expected from Krakow.  The square and the surrounding gardens were definitely the geographical part of Krakow that I was most fascinated with.  I couldn’t get over how big the square was, and how clean it was too.  Also, the market hall in the center of the square had tons of great souvenir shopping.  On our first afternoon in Krakow we walked through part of the gardens around the square and there were benches all over the place.  Gene told us that when its really nice out around the lunch hour all of the benches would be filled with people, and I think that would have been a really neat thing to experience.  I really enjoyed how obvious it was that this city took so much pride in its history and in the heart of their city. 

Town Square

My favorite educational activity in Krakow was definitely Auschwitz.  I have learned about the Holocaust over and over again in various history classes and on my own, but absolutely no amount of education on the topic could have prepared me for what I experienced at Auschwitz - it was hands down the most powerful experience of my life.  Just being there and actually walking into the buildings and standing where all of those people stood and seeing first hand the belongings of those people was so extremely sad. My stomach was in knots all day long, even into the evening after we left the grounds of the concentration camp.  I'm so thankful that I got to have the experiences I did the day we went to Auschwitz.  

Auschwitz

My favorite extracurricular activity in Krakow was souvenir shopping in the main square area.  Pretty much every chance we had at some free time, a lot of us found ourselves grabbing a coffee at one of the nearby coffee shops and wandering around the square.  My favorite part of souvenir shopping was definitely shopping for the amber jewelry.  There was so much of it, and it was all priced well too! The atmosphere of the square was enjoyable as well - with the horse drawn carriages and all of the tourists and even locals. 

Klezmer Hois

An eating spot that I would recommend to future students would be the Klezmer Hois.  We stopped there during our last evening in Krakow for desserts and to listen to live Klezmer music.  The building was so cozy - it kind of reminded me of my grandma's house - and it was really neat to sit and listen to the Klezmer music in such a close setting.  I had tea and chocolate cake, which were both very good. Having desserts and tea added to the warm atmosphere of the Klezmer Hois.  It started off a great last night in Europe.  

The following map shows the distance from Krakow to Auschwitz: 

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Budapest

I was fascinated by the layout of the city.  I really liked how one side – the Pest side of the river was flat and the other side – the Buda side was hilly.  The fact that the Danube river separates these two sides from eachother and that each of the two sides are so dramatically different was so cool to me.  We stayed on the Pest side and were very close to the river and the Parliament building and so just a few blocks away was a beautiful view of Buda and all of the hills across the river.  We also made it up to the top of the hills in Buda a couple of times throughout our visit and were able to see all of Pest and had an awesome view of the Danube and all of the bridges as well.  I thought it was so cool that we were able to point out the St. Stephan’s Cathedral from up on the hill – it shows how huge and important that church is to the city of Budapest.  I definitely thought this was the most beautiful city so far and I think the geography of the city really helps to make the city as beautiful as it is. 

My favorite academic experience in Budapest was the Terror museum.  For the second or third time throughout this trip I was reminded of how unaware I was about communism.  I never had any idea about all of the terrible things the communists did to people.  Not only did I learn a ton at this museum, but I have never felt such strong emotions walking through a museum.  I thought it was set up brilliantly and I think I truly felt everything they wanted people to feel as they went through the exhibits.  In the room with the car was the first time I felt honestly afraid.  The maze-like part of the exhibit was a little bit scary because you kind of felt trapped.  The basement of the museum where there was some of the cellars people kept in and the execution room was heart wrenching.  I felt almost sick to my stomach walking through all of that.  The terror museum was a very moving experience and I am grateful that it was a part of our trip. 

My favorite extracurricular activity in Budapest was the Great Market Hall.  It was a little hot inside, but at least it wasn’t in the sun.  on the ground floor was mostly food stands and they were so interesting to walk through and look at, and then the first floor had amazing souvenir shopping.  It was definitely the best spot we’ve found for souvenirs throughout the entire trip.  It was fun to walk around with people and look at everything.  The atmosphere of the Great Market Hall was great too – everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

Sphinx

My favorite place that I ate in Budapest was at a sit down restaurant in the mall by the train station.  It was called Sphinx, and it was on the top floor of the mall.  It had surprisingly good prices! I had grilled chicken that came with fries and a side salad.  The drinks were priced great and tasted good too!

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Vienna

I was fascinated by how small the city feels when it’s actually pretty big.  The first reason why I thought the city felt so small is because it is so clean.  You don’t really see garbage cluttering the sidewalks and streets, there isn’t graffiti all over the place like there has been in the other large cities, and we really didn’t see any drunks or homeless people and it’s so surprising given how large of a city Vienna really is.  Another reason why I felt like Vienna feels smaller than it really is is because some of the downtown areas we visited still have the small cobblestone streets.  Some of them are even for pedestrians only, which just isn’t something I am used to seeing in big cities.  One other part of the geography around Vienna was the Wachau Valley.  I’ve never seen such a gorgeous countryside.  It was kind of sad once we crossed the river and got to the side that was affected badly by the flooding.

Wachau Valley

I would say that my favorite academic experience in Vienna would be the Ringstrasse tour.  We got to see some of the most important buildings in the city (such as the Vienna City Hall building and the Parliament building).  Near the City Hall building they had a lot of activities going on for the bike festival, and one of the things we got to see a little bit of was a bike polo match, which was something I hadn’t ever experienced before so it was really interesting.  Even though it wasn’t planned, it was one of my favorite parts of the day just because we got to see a different part of the culture in Vienna than we had seen otherwise.  We also walked through the inner city during our walking tour and it’s always exciting to see the inner parts of the cities we’re visiting and see how they are similar and different from each other. 

City Hall Building

Bike Polo

Hands down, the Wachau Valley wine tour was my favorite extracurricular activity not only in Vienna, but throughout the entire trip so far.  The weather was perfect, and it was such a change of pace that it was very refreshing.  Biking through the Valley was so peaceful… even thought I was with the whole group I felt like I finally had some alone time to think and take time to appreciate this whole trip – all of the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had. I’ve always loved wine, but I never have had the chance to do a tasting like this, and so it was exciting and so much fun.  Everyone was in such a good mood.  The little town we stopped in for lunch was adorable, and the food was great too.  After lunch we got to sample handmade chocolates and liqueurs which was also a new and fun experience.  The second winery we went to we all got to sit outside in the shade at picnic tables for the tasting.  It was nice to be around everyone in a more relaxed setting than we were normally in.  on the way back we crossed the Danube in a ferry and then stopped at a small beach for a little bit.  I couldn’t get over how gorgeous the views were in the Valley.  Seeing all of the rows of grape vines and the river and biking through the adorable little villages was so much fun, and so not what I’m used to seeing in the countryside back home. 

I would recommend the gelato stand near the Wiener Staatsoper building to future students.  We ended up in that part of the city pretty often during our stay, and so they will have a lot of access to it.  They give you a generous amount and there was a wide selection of flavors!