Why is it that perfect control over animals is viewed as a beautiful thing in our human culture? Why is it that a perfectly behaving horse or dog is seen as a perfect companion; whereas a cat that levels with a person and establishes a deep friendship, where it still usually does as it pleases, is seen as uncomfortable or even unappreciated? The Spanish Riding School claims to only enhance the natural behavior of the Lipizzaner horses, but why must they be perfectly controlled by straight-backed men (and a few women) for us to love them? As I sat watching the Morgenarbeid (Morning Work) of the horses in the Spanish Riding School, I could not help but think of the incessant need for dominion over animals and anything else that is one of the deepest drives of us humans.
During the centuries, the horses have been involved in much human power play. Lipizzaner horses in the Spanish riding school in Vienna have an Italian name originating from a breeding place in Slovenia. European history in a nutshell. They were specially rescued during the World Wars and have been close to the hearts of the Austro-Hungarian emperors. Today they are close to the hearts of so many little girls and boys worldwide.

All Lipizzaners are born dark brown, nearly black. Most mature into a grayish white, but sometimes the brown color prevails. A dark stallion is a good-luck horse, a talisman that is said to protect the school, as trouble has ensued several times when the school has been occupied by white horses only. And the current dark resident was beautiful. Alas, no photos allowed of the horses, and this was strictly enforced. (Vienna, Austria; February 2017)

Is it 4 shelves of closed books, spines turned inward? Is it a bunker, doors forever closed? Is it a chamber with something precious inside? Who knows. But people did have opinions when the holocaust memorial on the Judenplatz was revealed in 2000. Even some Jewish people thought it spoiled the beautiful little square.

When the builders started digging into the street below, they uncovered the remains of an age-old synagogue. The story goes that dozens of Jewish people committed suicide on the same spot centuries before, to resist being captured by a religious persecutor.

Yes. History has a tendency of repeating itself. And we have a tendency of not learning from history. 65,000 Jewish people of Austria were killed during the holocaust. That equals 178 persons per day for an entire year. Imagine the slaughter.

(Vienna, Austria; February 2017)

Silentium. Silence. For the sake of the bones of 145 Austrian emperors, empresses, church leaders, and other rather important people. Their earthly remains are encapsulated in copper and bronze tombs that are (mostly) elaborate. Some the size of a one-room apartment, decorated like a wedding cake on the outside. But for some very macabre reason, the hearts and intestines are missing from most of the persons. Because, natürlich, hearts and intestines were buried separately, in quite another crypt. All of this is very Egyptian, somehow. The Capucin crypt contains rows and rows of sleeping Habsburg emperors and empresses. Even Maximilian the Emperor of Mexico (yes, really, for a brief moment). But the two last emperors are missing. Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination snowballed into WWI, is buried elsewhere in Austria. His son Charles, the last proper emperor of Austria, is buried in Italy.

It must be heavy to carry the Imperial crown even when one is dead. Yet this bronze death skull guy is doing it just fine, save for a few missing teeth. (Capucin Crypt, Vienna, Austria; February 2017)