Enjoying the Culture 195some of his wonderful landscapes. Two rooms are devoted
to Egon Schiele, a controversial artist whose works have
been described as obscene. Two others devoted to Oscar
Kokoschka show mainly works he completed while living in
Vienna in the early 1900s.
The Lower Belvedere contains Baroque art, but the rooms
are interesting in and of themselves. By far the most intriguing
is the Goldkabinett, a small room decorated entirely with gold
walls, mirrors and Oriental vases. Adjacent to the building is
the Orangery and its Museum of Medieval Art. This museum
has an impressive display of 12th to 16th century art.
Burgenland
Burgenland was of great strategic value to Austria, and
especially to Vienna. The Turks had to pass across these lands
en route to the capital. Thus, many fortified castles were built
high atop hills to stop the advancing armies. Hence the name
‘Burgenland’—land of the castles. One of the best castles to
visit is Forchtenstein, 22 km south-east of Wiener Neustadt.
Built in the 14th century by the Counts of Mattersdorf, the
castle was enlarged when it passed into the possession of
the Esterházy family around 1635. It houses a very large
collection of arms and armour (close to 20,000 items on
exhibition in 32 rooms) used in the defense of Austria, as
well as some Turkish items seized during the invasions of
1529 and 1683. It is the largest private collection in central
Europe open to the public.
Salzburg
The first thing you see upon entering the city of Salzburg
is the Hohensalzburg, a huge fortress atop the hill that
overlooks and protects the city.
Work on the castle began in
1077, and archbishops lived
there until the end of the 15th
century. A cog railway takes
you to the top, where you can
explore the castle, its chapel, the
fortress and puppet and regiment
Venture into the Salzkammergut
and visit the Imperial Villa in
nearby Bad Ischl. This is the small
town where Emperor Franz Josef
spent all of his summers. Franz
Lehár also lived and composed a
number of his works here and his
former home is now a museum.