Category Archives: Vienna
Secret Satan, 2022
You know what to expect by now, surely? Well, expect even more of it: this is our biggest year-end book selection yet.
The Battle of Vienna
Anita Berber and Sebastian Droste bring their infernal cabaret to a temple of high culture; trouble ensues
The Battle of Vienna
Anita Berber and Sebastian Droste bring their infernal cabaret to a temple of high culture; trouble ensues
21 books for 2021
A selection of works with which to while away your second or third lockdown.
20 books for 2020
In which we visit Rogomelec and Sealand, the castle of truth and a fern-loved gully
20 books for 2020
In which we visit Rogomelec and Sealand, the castle of truth and a fern-loved gully
Strange Flowers guide to Vienna, part 2
… in which we head further afield and meet Peter Altenberg and some other folk, but honestly, it’s mainly Peter Altenberg.
Strange Flowers guide to Vienna, part 2
… in which we head further afield and meet Peter Altenberg and some other folk, but honestly, it’s mainly Peter Altenberg.
Secret Satan, 2019
From clean-lined architects to Dirty Helen Cromwell the potty-mouthed barkeep – let us join hands and make contact with the fabulous.
Secret Satan, 2019
From clean-lined architects to Dirty Helen Cromwell the potty-mouthed barkeep – let us join hands and make contact with the fabulous.
Strange Flowers guide to Vienna, part 1
… in which we scour the old town for old friends
Places: Hermesvilla
Sissi’s hideaway in the Habsburg hunting grounds outside Vienna
18 books for 2018
Three Marcels, two Nutters and a Sissi: imaginary lives and lives beyond imagining.
18 books for 2018
Three Marcels, two Nutters and a Sissi: imaginary lives and lives beyond imagining.
Late entries
A few book titles from late 2016 you may have missed…
The other riot
“Loud laughter rang throughout the hall in response to that squawking, grinding chord”
The other riot
“Loud laughter rang throughout the hall in response to that squawking, grinding chord”
Ludwig-Viktor-Gasse
“Luzi Wuzi”, as Ludwig Viktor was often known, adored balls. He was light on his feet and good with colours, and even frocked up for the occasional theatrical performance. But still the emperor didn’t twig that his brother was not as other men.
Ludwig-Viktor-Gasse
“Luzi Wuzi”, as Ludwig Viktor was often known, adored balls. He was light on his feet and good with colours, and even frocked up for the occasional theatrical performance. But still the emperor didn’t twig that his brother was not as other men.
The 12-step Sissi lifestyle plan
Looking out from official portraits with her radiant skin, torrents of chestnut hair and tiny waist, Her Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty seems to be saying “this doesn’t just happen, you know”. And it really, really didn’t: maintaining it all was a full time occupation.
The 12-step Sissi lifestyle plan
Looking out from official portraits with her radiant skin, torrents of chestnut hair and tiny waist, Her Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty seems to be saying “this doesn’t just happen, you know”. And it really, really didn’t: maintaining it all was a full time occupation.
The house of Wittgenstein
Haus Wittgenstein is a Modernist white cube of such unornamented austerity that it’s like a splash of ice cold water after the whipped-cream architectural confections that dot central Vienna.
The house of Wittgenstein
Haus Wittgenstein is a Modernist white cube of such unornamented austerity that it’s like a splash of ice cold water after the whipped-cream architectural confections that dot central Vienna.
Phantom of the empire
She haunted Europe’s pleasure spots in widow’s weeds, a gothic freak show of peek-a-boo solipsism, a fan shielding her from the gaze of the hated hoi polloi. If she was seen at all it was in silhouette, like Marlene Dietrich in Maximilian Schell’s documentary, and for the same reason – neither could bear to disturb the earlier image the public had of her.
Phantom of the empire
She haunted Europe’s pleasure spots in widow’s weeds, a gothic freak show of peek-a-boo solipsism, a fan shielding her from the gaze of the hated hoi polloi. If she was seen at all it was in silhouette, like Marlene Dietrich in Maximilian Schell’s documentary, and for the same reason – neither could bear to disturb the earlier image the public had of her.
Thin white archduke
Ludwig was getting reckless and had a reputation for spending hours in the Centralbad, a prestigious complex of Orientalist steam baths, where his (no doubt pruny) hands were apt to wander…
Thin white archduke
Ludwig was getting reckless and had a reputation for spending hours in the Centralbad, a prestigious complex of Orientalist steam baths, where his (no doubt pruny) hands were apt to wander…
Sissi & Romy
Above all, Sissi is associated in the German-speaking world with the trio of 1950s movies based on her life starring Romy Schneider, which appear in Christmas TV schedules with grim inevitability. The beautiful Austrian actress would come to hate the role of Empress as much as Sissi herself did.
Sissi & Romy
Above all, Sissi is associated in the German-speaking world with the trio of 1950s movies based on her life starring Romy Schneider, which appear in Christmas TV schedules with grim inevitability. The beautiful Austrian actress would come to hate the role of Empress as much as Sissi herself did.
Strange Flowers 