Photos and the City

Category: Event

  • A Weekend in London

    downton abbec, highclere castle, music of downton abbey, concert, summer

    A wonderful concert at Highclere Castle gave me the perfect excuse for a relaxed (and lazy) weekend in London. A bus brought us from London Victoria directly to Highclere and we were awaited by lots of food & drink trucks, the Highclere Gin Truck was probably the favourite.

    While the sun set slowly over the Castle the “Music of Downton Abbey” was played and performed.

    downton abbec, highclere castle, music of downton abbey, concert, summer

    Back in London, I started the next day with breakfast at Fiona’s and wandering around the neighbourhood, South Kensington.

    My tiny “studio” in the house with the pink door and the stunning staircase!

    A Weekend in London 1

    london, kensington

    I was also lucky to finally score one of the sought after tickets for the Dior exhibition at the V&A museum. It was really interesting to see the drawings, models and dresses but there were just too many people to really enjoy it!

    london, dior, exhibition, clothes, dresses, designer

    london, dior, exhibition, clothes, dresses, designerlondon, dior, exhibition, clothes, dresses, designerWhile trying to upload this I´m sipping my Yorkshire tea and enjoy the Haworth moors all around me, my second British summer has started and the next blog post will show you my first days in Hebden Bridge.

  • Max Reinhardt Seminar

    Max Reinhardt was a very common name for me during my studies of Theatre Sciences – I can´t remember how many papers I wrote about his productions of “A summer night’s dream”. So when the igersvienna offered a tour around the Palais Cumberland and the Schloßtheater Schönbrunn I took my chance for a little visit.

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    Palais Cumberland

    The Max Reinhardt seminar was founded in 1928 when the University of Music and Performing Arts asked Reinhardt to create a drama seminar. Originally based at the Schloßtheater Schönbrunn the school moved to the Palais Cumberland in 1940. The imperial theatre at Schönbrunn Palace is still used to stage the performances of the students.

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    Only a handful of students are accepted into the seminar every year, their journey begins with the auditions at the studio stage.

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    Emanuel Teles da Silva bought the ground of three houses in today’s 15th district had them destroyed and built a palace on one of the grounds, N°9. A few years later Maria Theresia bought the palace and gave it to her brother in law Karl von Lothringen who needed a summer residence close to Schönbrunn Palace. And da Silva built himself a new palace at the N°11.

    In 1867 Franz Joseph I bought both palaces and had them combined into one. He gave the new “double palace” to the former king Georg V von Hannover who had fought on Austria’s side against Prussia. From then on the palace was known as Palais Cumberland.

    In 1940 the Reinhardt Seminar moved into N°9 and N°11 houses the embassy of the Czech Republic.

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    The “Arena” is the only original part left the rest of the two palaces have been rebuilt and renovated often. Today the arena is also used for performances.

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandtvienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    Palais Cumberland is surrounded by a huge and stunning garden.

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    Schloßtheater Schönbrunn

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    In 1745 Maria Theresia commissioned Nicolò Pacassi to built an imperial theatre in one the palace wings of Schönbrunn, one of the very first European palace theatres. The Schloßtheater Schönbrunn opened on 4 October 1747.

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

    After a few centuries of lively performances, the theatre was used as storage for furniture before World War I. The imperial belongings were stolen in 1919 and plays were again performed during the summer by the Burgtheater, directed by Albert Heine, until 1924. In 1929 the theatre was given to the Max Reinhardt seminar as rehearsal stage.

    Today the seminar and the opera department of the Universität für Musik use the Schloßtheater for their student’s plays and productions.

    vienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandtvienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandtvienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandtvienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandtvienna, max reinhardt seminar, actors, actress, university, music, theatre, schloßtheater schönbrunn, palais cumberlandt

     

     

     

     

     

  • Die Kaiserliche Schatzkammer

    And it was time to go back to Vienna, luckily I was greeted by an invitation to visit the Treasury (Die Kaiserliche Schatzkammer) and have a drink at the Kunsthistorische Museum with the Igersaustria afterwards.

    The Secular Treasury offers a unique panorama covering over a millennium of European history. This is the home of the most important collection of medieval royal objects: the insignia and jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Imperial Crown and the Holy Lance. Further highlights include the Crown of Emperor Rudolf II. (which later on became Crown of the Austrian Empire), as well as the vestments and other precious items of the Order of the Golden Fleece. (The Treasury)

    kaiserliche schatzkammer, treasury, khm, vienna, austria, museum, jewelskaiserliche schatzkammer, treasury, khm, vienna, austria, museum, jewels

    In the first image, this is how a stripped down crown looks like, all the embellishments are gone. On the second image the Crown of Emperor Rudolf II, made in 1602. Later it became Crown of the Austrian Empire. The Scepter from 1615 and the Imperial Orb from the same time period.

    kaiserliche schatzkammer, treasury, khm, vienna, austria, museum, jewels

    The horn of a unicorn, which actually is a giant narwhal tooth and the crip of the King of Rome. The city Paris gifted it to Napoleon and his second wife Marie Louise in 1811. About 280kg of silver were used on this lavish piece.

    kaiserliche schatzkammer, treasury, khm, vienna, austria, museum, jewels

    The Crown of the Holy Roman Empire (10th century)

    kaiserliche schatzkammer, treasury, khm, vienna, austria, museum, jewels

    kaiserliche schatzkammer, treasury, khm, vienna, austria, museum, jewels

    As it was hard to use the bigger jug a tiny baptismal jug was made, around 1600.

    kaiserliche schatzkammer, treasury, khm, vienna, austria, museum, jewels