` September 11: Erntedankfest 2005

September 11: Erntedankfest 2005

Sunday was the Erntedankfest, or Harvest-thanks Festival, at the Salzburg Dom (Cathedral). We got up early so as to get a good seat by 9 a.m. for the 10 a.m. mass. Hundreds of people in trachten (native folk wear) were massing outside the Cathedral.

  1. The morning view of the cathedral from our hotel's alley. You'll notice a Chinese flag under our hotel's sign: the street level is, oddly enough, a (perpetually empty) Chinese restaurant.

  2. In the Dom, it's the day for the Erntedankfest, the Harvest Festival. In front of the temporary altar (reconstruction going on), are baskets of broetchen to be blessed and later distributed.

  3. The dome of the Dom.

  4. Hundreds of people in trachten (folk wear) filed into the church. These women wear the telltale flying golden hats of the area that includes Lamprechtshausen, Mom's village.

  5. The Salzburg Militia guards the aisles all throughout the service. They carried improbable-looking spears, and some bore firearms too.

  6. I thought this was a particularly handsome militia-man, and I snuck a picture of his luxurious hair and fair features. When "he" turned around, I realized ... "he" is a "she".

  7. The crown of wheat - my blurry, my sorry.

  8. A mother and her two children in trachten.

  9. After mass, we repaired to the nearby Stiegl Keller, along with hundreds of people in trachten. We were literally the only people not in folk wear (apart from the waiters). I caught two woman in the Dirndl Standoff, 2005.

  10. My view onto the Salzburg Cathedral from inside out cozy table in the Stiegl Keller. Need I say - Art Shot (tm).

  11. I'm telling you, I'm not making this up. Try to spot a woman not in a dirndl. Way in the back, the band is illuminated.

  12. The man in the table next to us (he's standing here) graciously bought us a round of schnapps.

  13. The Schublattler! (Slap those leathers.)

  14. The band plays on.

  15. Note: woman on trumpet!

  16. Proving a woman can lace up a dirndl and finger the brass.

  17. The ensemble stands.

  18. Our very hip and cute (if inept) waiter.

  19. Kurt joined us on Sunday afternoon in the Stiegl Keller.

  20. Our genial host.

  21. Coming down the well-worn steps.

  22. Stiegl Keller thanks us for our visit.

  23. The Gothic.

  24. Luxurious plants on an ornate grave.

  25. The Baroque.

  26. Kurt to the right of Mozart's half-sister's grave in St. Peter's Cemetary. Mozart's wife's grave is on the other side of the Salzach River, in St. Sebastian's Church cemetary.

  27. A stalwart cherub in front of Mozart's half-sister's grave in St. Peter's Church cemetary.

  28. A Baroque bell tower.

  29. A street balalaika group.

  30. The oldest bakery.

  31. What are they listening to? Mom, Dad and Kurt in a museum with a show documenting the American occupation in Salzburg, 1945-1955.

  32. Flags old and old.

  33. "I remember this jeep ..."

  34. Eat your heart out!

  35. After the museum exhibit (which was somewhat bizarre - post-post-modern in spirit, in places) we find a friendly keller for dinner. Sprinkles of rain sent us inside.

  36. It was a cozy spot.

  37. Nephew and Aunt.

  38. Later near our hotel - I expressed a deep-seated desire for Salzburger Nockerl. We ventured across the street. We waited and waited and waited and it eventually appeared in all its glorious puffiness. We all split it.


Marianne Mueller
Last modified: October 2, 2005