Vienna Waits For You #2: Secession

The Secession was the great collaboration of the Viennese Art Nouveau (or Jugendstil, to be more Austrian) artists, architects and designers. This, for me, was a bit of a pilgrimage.

I planned to walk the length of Alserstrasse to the Schottentor U-Bahn station – it couldn’t be very far, right? Well, it took more than twenty minutes to reach it. I bought a Wochenkarte – a weekly ticket, which at €14 seemed like quite the bargain for unlimited travel on the buses, trams and subway. Keen to get going, and somewhat frazzled by the heat and the morning of travelling and bag-dragging, I went down the first escalator and got on the first train without checking the direction (I thought I had a fifty-fifty chance of going the right way, and if not I could fix it) and it somehow turned out to be right. I got myself to MuseumsQuartier, as the map seemed to suggest it was closest to the Secession. Ha, Germanic ha.

I had a bit of a surprise at how far the walk was, even once I could see the “golden cabbage,” as the Viennese dubbed it when it was unveiled.

It turned out that the Karlsplatz station was a far better option. The Vietnamese restaurant en route smelled really good, as it was nearly 4.30 and I hadn’t eaten lunch, but I had a Klimt-related mission to fulfill! The thing that struck me most about the Secession building was the beautiful Jugendstil detailing on the exterior, something that I hadn’t seen before in pictures. And I took a lot of my own. There were lovely doors, designed by Klimt, and Kolo Moser lettering, with the superscription “To each age its art, to art its freedom” (removed by the Nazis, naturally, but replaced subsequently).

Once inside, I made a beeline for the basement, a plain light concrete hall with the Klimt frieze along the upper wall. It was unveiled at the 1902 exhibition, though preserved rather than dismantled, and is an interpretation of the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – which Narges, Alissa and I had heard five days previously in Ljubljana! I was interested to learn that many visitors remark that it seems “unfinished”, since it seems perfect to me, but then I love the Art Nouveau style, with lots of plain spaces contrasting with areas of intricate detail. Amazing. You can scroll through the frieze, starting here, on the Secession website. I spent a good forty minutes drinking it all in. Prior to this, and perhaps oddly for a Klimt fan, I have only ever seen one of his paintings in the flesh, so it was particularly appropriate that this masterpiece was the one where I encountered for the first time the gold leafing for which Klimt is so well known.

I moved upstairs. Though none of the works currently on display in the temporary exhibitions captured me, one of the conceptual artists had hung brightly coloured strips of plastic in the doorways that one had to push through, and it was interesting how much more participatory that small action made the exhibitions seem. I wondered if I would have thought in these terms before the last year’s work on ritual. Interesting physical component.

Naturally I hit the shop before I bade Klimt farewell, where I bought two posters with details, and a guide to the frieze. My German seemed to be going better, as I was now enjoying throwing words in as they returned to me.
Having realised that I was tired and sapped, I went back to the hotel, getting on the U-Bahn at Karlsplatz this time, and taking a picture of a billboard for the Third Man – the first encounter with Graham Greene’s iconic novella and screenplay.

Klimt and Greene in one day – and I had Billy Joel’s song “Vienna” in my head. I was happy. Where else could it happen?

I managed to negotiate the tram back, and was charmed by its age and the ringing of the bell – I later found out that the Viennese often call these old trams Bim because of the bells. It was very cute. I just had to get off at the right stop… I got off one stop early (on purpose, don’t worry) and got some food at the Spar. Then I collapsed for the evening.

Read On: Vienna Waits For You #3: A Failed Bid For Church Fatigue