Austria’s Imperial Ball

Are you ready to party like royalty–literally? Every December 31st in the Hofburg Palace, formerly the imperial residence, there is a new years eve party like no other. In a celebration that could not take place anywhere else in the world, imperial guardsmen in full dress uniform protect the ‘imperial family’ as they usher in the new year with famous orchestras and bands.

Guests stay in the luxurious state apartments, ladies are presented memorial gifts by footmen in livery and a gala banquet is served by waiters in silk. Modern royalty does not often stand on such traditional pomp but in days of old it was assumed that all official functions were affairs of lavish luxury and that a guest was left wanting for nothing. Such is the case at the Imperial Ball.

This is not a party for tight purse strings, that is certain, but it is once a year and includes double occupancy for three days. The absolute grandeur of the celebration is worth the expense and, while it may seem tacky to take photographs, every time you look at a shot from this night you’d be transported back to an event worth well more than one thousand words. Just make sure not to use a flash, you don’t want to be blinded by the reflection from the diamonds.

Vienna’s Art History

Austria’s Hapsburg dynasty were known for being creators, monarchs and, most of all, collectors. This reputation for gathering is well deserved, and one of the many living tributes to its veracity is the impressive, and somewhat comprehensive, Kunsthistoriches museum.

Established from the Hapsburg’s collection, the museum of the history of art houses centuries of buildup of fine art brought to Vienna from around the world. The entire first floor is occupied by the picture gallery which is focused on the work of the old masters from the 15th to 18th centuries. There are a number of Rembrandts, all of them portraits, and many pieces that have never been seen outside of the museum. The ground floor houses collections of art and antiquities from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and the near east.

Also on display are a singularly Austrian curiosity: automata. The same interest in what lies below-the-surface that brought us modern psychology spawned the worlds first robots. They could not move and function like modern robotics, but they were created to convincingly mimic the motions of living creatures. One of the most famous and beautiful is a metal swan upon a metal river which stretches its neck, dips its bill, snatches up and eats a little metal fish–which it summarily excretes.