Melk, Austria
The next day, we wandered down-town to explore what could be seen. Melk has a population of about 5,250, so is not a major centre. Small cafes and tourist shops are dotted along the main street in the centre of the village. Near to the Cafe where we had dinner last night we found the Town Hall – The Rathaus, after which the main square, Rathausplaz, is named. The Rathaus was built in 1575 and features an elaborate front door of wood and copper. In the centre of the Rathausplaz is the Kolomanbrunnen market fountain with a statue of St. Koloman. Coloman or Colmán of Stockerau was an Irish saint who was mistaken as a spy and hanged on 16 July 1012, while en route through Austria on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The village is dominated by the imposing Melk Abbey which overlooks it from its high rocky position.
On the river-side of town we found The Haus am Stein (‘house at the rock’). This is the oldest building of Melk, having been built during the 15th century. Its facade is covered by a protected ancient vine. Nearby on a wall of the Schiffsmeisterhaus (Ship’s-Master House) are markers denoting high water level marks over time when the Danube flooded. In 1501, it reached 15.8 metres above its usual level (way above the height of our photo).
Melk being quite a small village, we were surprised at the number of people on the streets and many dressed in traditional costume. We soon worked out that a music festival was under way. This event was just a fore-runner to a major music festival coming up to celebrate Mozart’s birthday and was a practice-run, so-to-speak. As we made our way around the streets and buildings, different musicians had set up a variety of ensembles, solo acts, organ recitals and even dance classes. Great fun and lots of stalls for finding things to eat. We just had to try the gelati sundae. Joy made friends with a black pug who was also doing the rounds of the square – maybe looking for gelati as well.
As part of the festival, an organ recital was held in the village church. Very dark and cool inside and only a handful of people, but the organ was rich and melodious.
Inside the Church was a newly leafing tree branch from which beautifully painted eggs were hung. This is a very old Central and Eastern European Easter tradition. While some of the most intricately painted eggs are produced in countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech and Slovakia, the simpler designs of Austria and Germany are just as appealing. The fresh eggs are blown and dried and different techniques used to apply the decoration. The most elaborate designs are created by applying various layers of wax designs to the uncoloured egg and progressively dying and melting the wax off, others use completely dyed eggs followed by a design scratched through to the original surface with a needle while these we saw, appear to be simply (but talented) hand brushed examples.
In the afternoon, we went for a walk across the bridge and through the lovely spring-green woods to the Danube river-side. Of course Joy found another pug – this time an old fawn male by the name of Boris, who wasn’t particularly interested in saying hello but was more keen on investigating the smells around about. All the area between the two rivers are woodland with various pathways winding through them with occasional piles of cut and curing logs. At the Danube we found a series of small piers, either made from disused boats or made in the style of boats – difficult to tell which. We sat on a bench on the river-side for a while to enjoy the scenery and tranquility and wave to the occasional cyclist racing by.
Back to town and we made the longish climb to the Benedictine Abbey, now a prestigious private school. This impressive series of buildings, some open to tourists, dominate the whole of the village. The Abbey can be seen from almost everywhere and during the Middle Ages, the towns-people felt its oppression, not least because the Abbot somewhat lorded it over the lowly villagers and the villagers resented the payments required to the Abbey (or so we were told). Although we could look inside some the main rooms of the Abbey, we would have liked to walk around the Abbey Gardens, but unfortunately they were not open that day. The Abbey also houses a number of museums and galleries, but only a few were open. A very long spiral stairway (Imperial Staircase) with a mirror at its base, and a painted ceiling in the Marble Hall were of particular interest but the crowds of visitors made stopping for photography a little difficult. However, the view from the balcony was stunning.
After a long and busy day, we headed back home for some take-away pizza, only to find that the manager of the pizzeria was the owner of Boris the pug we had met in the woods, earlier in the day.
