Located right next to the Wachau Road, the Georg Prunner Square in Emmersdorf provided the perfect setting for our presentation of the first results of our Road Studies. The public space served us as an exhibition space and open-air cinema until the evening hours. At the central town square we were able to present our micro-exhibition and short films.
Four folders illustrating the creation, design and perception of the Wachau Road were presented, exhibited and distributed to the visitors. Aerial images of the Wachau showed traffic routes as an integral part of the landscape. The exhibition opened up new perspectives on the everyday traffic route. For some visitors, memories of the construction period of the Wachau Road were awakened. Over bread and wine, visitors shared their personal connection to the Wachau Road with us.
At nightfall, the short films were screened: phantom rides with experimental recording techniques allowed us to experience the relationship between time, speed and landscape perception. Another film contribution recorded in slow motion the overtourism in the Wachau Region. Herbert Ursprunger, the landscape architect of Wachau Road, also laid out and designed Georg Prunner Square in the 1950s. An interview with him was presented as a short film. The informative and entertaining film document was complemented by artistically reworked photos. Although the exhibition was only of short duration, we have left our mark.
We would like to thank Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Niederösterreich (Public Art Lower Austria) and in particular Johanna Reiner for complementing our exhibition with the Inventour-Bus. Special thanks to the staff and Richard Hochratner, mayor of the municipality of Emmersdorf, for their great support and hospitality.
Test recordings in the State Archives
/in Railway Studies/by Daniela LehnerDuring our research in the Austrian State Archives, we came across a plan of the project for the Wachau Railway. The hand-drawn and coloured plan by Rudolf Mayreder from 1904 can be unfolded to a remarkable 25 m in length. The alignment on the plan was filmed in initial test shots. They serve for the development of an elaborate system for artistic recordings of the historical plan document.
Heritage Science Café
/in Events/by Roland TuschAt the end of May, Heritage Science Austria organised the Heritage Science Café at BOKU together with ICOMOS Austria, the Vienna University of Technology and BOKU University. Daniela Lehner and Roland Tusch presented the Wachau Routes project and discussed challenges and opportunities of arts-based research in their lecture. Arts-based research offers the opportunity to question traditional research approaches and initiate open-ended processes. Artistic works are open to interpretation and contribute to a holistic understanding of the object of investigation. Following the lecture programme, a lively exchange took place among the participants. We discussed the potential of arts-based research with researchers from various disciplines, for example in the context of inventories of cultural landscapes.
Symposium on mobility and apricot blossom
/in Railway Studies/by Roland TuschThis year, we combined our site visit in spring with attending a symposium at the University for Continuing Education Krems. At the event entitled “Wachau mobility with innovation and tradition”, the opportunities and potential of the Wachau Railway were discussed. How can the railway, which is currently mainly used for tourism, become attractive for commuters again? The speakers covered a wide range of topics, from the history of the Wachau Railway to the challenges of increasing frequency and year-round operation. Topics such as safety at railway crossings, accessibility and monument protection were discussed. An important goal for the future is the emission-free operation of the railway. International speakers and examples from other federal states contextualised the Wachau Railway. The symposium discussed the role of the Wachau Railway as a means of transport for the post-fossil society and thus complemented the topics of Wachau Routes.
We travelled through the Wachau on a special train. The apricot orchards were already in full bloom. Looking through the windows of the moving train, the details in the foreground become blurred and the landscape merges into a panorama. The hillside track in a slightly elevated position offers a good view of the Danube valley.
Advisory Board Meeting
/in General/by Roland TuschThis year’s meeting of the Advisory Board took place at BOKU and was held as a hybrid meeting. We presented our results of the Road Studies and an outlook on the Railway Studies. The Railway Studies will provide another perspective and expand the research on the transport routes through the Wachau. The Board gave positive feedback on the extensive research and results of the Road Studies and emphasised the complexity of the research. The videos and folders are valuable outputs that are also available on this website. In particular, the folders were recognised as a useful tool for documenting the results and are to be expanded into a series in the future. Further work will focus on the changing perception of transport routes using artistic and scientific methods. The perspectives of different users, such as tourists and commuters, will be addressed more intensively. The Wachau Railway is also popular with cycle tourists, which is already a starting point for the Trail Studies in the coming year.
Winter trip on the Wachau Railway
/in Railway Studies/by Daniela LehnerDuring the winter months, the Wachau Railway stops operating. For our winter visit, we thus rely on the tourist programme: on weekends during Advent, the train runs on a reduced route from Krems to Dürnstein. Our journey aims to document what can be seen of the landscape in the dark and especially in motion. We film and take photos from the moving train. The reflections in the windows of the train intensify as dusk falls. Inside and outside merge. The panorama of the left overlaps with the one of the right, creating fascinating kaleidoscopic effects. The ten-minute train ride takes us through various sections: vast vineyards and urban density, narrow valleys with mesh-covered cliffs, planted but leafless stretches reveal new views of the Danube valley. In Dürnstein, we encounter fewer visitors than expected. Just a couple of groups stroll through the illuminated, car-free town centre, while most of them are at the Christmas market. The journey back to Krems is like travelling in a sealed-off capsule. Inside a brightly lit railcar, we pass through the dark landscape and can only catch a few points of light in the surrounding area.
Wachau Routes – exhibition next to the Wachau Road
/in Events/by Daniela LehnerLocated right next to the Wachau Road, the Georg Prunner Square in Emmersdorf provided the perfect setting for our presentation of the first results of our Road Studies. The public space served us as an exhibition space and open-air cinema until the evening hours. At the central town square we were able to present our micro-exhibition and short films.
Four folders illustrating the creation, design and perception of the Wachau Road were presented, exhibited and distributed to the visitors. Aerial images of the Wachau showed traffic routes as an integral part of the landscape. The exhibition opened up new perspectives on the everyday traffic route. For some visitors, memories of the construction period of the Wachau Road were awakened. Over bread and wine, visitors shared their personal connection to the Wachau Road with us.
At nightfall, the short films were screened: phantom rides with experimental recording techniques allowed us to experience the relationship between time, speed and landscape perception. Another film contribution recorded in slow motion the overtourism in the Wachau Region. Herbert Ursprunger, the landscape architect of Wachau Road, also laid out and designed Georg Prunner Square in the 1950s. An interview with him was presented as a short film. The informative and entertaining film document was complemented by artistically reworked photos. Although the exhibition was only of short duration, we have left our mark.
We would like to thank Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Niederösterreich (Public Art Lower Austria) and in particular Johanna Reiner for complementing our exhibition with the Inventour-Bus. Special thanks to the staff and Richard Hochratner, mayor of the municipality of Emmersdorf, for their great support and hospitality.
Invitation: Short films and micro exhibition in Emmersdorf
/in Events/by TeamWhat is the image of the Wachau that corresponds to the contemporary understanding of landscape? This is the question the interdisciplinary team is asking itself from the perspectives of art and landscape architecture in a four-year research project. Last year, the Wachaustraße was put under the microscope. The first results will be presented in Emmersdorf.
Friday, October 6, 2023, 5 p.m.
Georg Prunner Square, Emmersdorf
from 18:30 Short films
Road from the Danube
/in Road Studies/by Daniela LehnerAbout fifty percent of the 35 km long Wachaustrasse is located close to the left bank of the Danube. During its construction in the 1950s, the media referred to the road as the “Danube-bank-runway” or “road on the stream”. To take a closer look at this relationship between the road and the Danube, we board a liner.
The ship is our steadily moving camera platform. The camera is pointed sideways into the distance and records the passing landscape. This opens up new views of the integration of the traffic routes and infrastructure buildings in the Wachau. From our position on the ship, the road is often only visible due to the moving cars. The retaining walls of the road were made of local stone as irregularly layered masonry with narrow joints. “Due to the types of stone used, a colour tone of the walls was achieved that blends harmoniously into the landscape and in no way contrasts with the old vineyard walls” (Die niederösterreichische Illustrierte, September 1958, p.5). The greening of the riverbank is another component of the landscape integration of the road. Seen from the river perspective, the planting of the stone berms with white willow, silver poplar, sea-buckthorn, and grey alder is most noticeable.
Students draw in the Wachau
/in Road Studies/by Daniela LehnerTo broaden our perspectives on traffic routes, we invited students from the University of Arts Linz and landscape architecture students from BOKU University to draw together in the Wachau region. Focusing on the Wachau road, we travelled by bus from Melk to Krems, stopping at selected stations. The western entrance at Emmersdorf was drawn as well as the road design in St. Michael. With the drawing excursion we followed in the footsteps of the Wachau painters, who have travelled to Wachau since the 19th century and depicted it artistically. We also positioned ourselves at the ‘painter’s corner’ on the Danube promenade to capture the old town of Dürnstein and the busy traffic of tourists and cyclists on the towpath. In the studio of Iris Andraschek and Hubert Lobnig we then reflected with the students on their drawings, impressions and observations.
Apricot blossom in the Wachau region
/in Road Studies/by Daniela LehnerDesigned as a tourist route in the 1950s, the Wachau Road passes through a variety of landscapes. On the route between Emmersdorf and Krems, one drives through sections with open views of the Danube, dense riparian forests or orchards and vineyards. Initially, the road was designed for a maximum speed of 60 km/h, thus the landscape could be appreciated from the car. Today, cars rush past us at speeds of 100 km/h as we walk from Aggsbach-Markt to Spitz and explore the Wachau region at the time of the apricot blossom. A car brakes next to us and stops at the verge. The driver quickly takes a few photos of the blossoming trees and continues the journey. We, in contrast, continue our tour at walking pace and listen to the chirping of the birds, the buzzing of the bees and have a chat with the winegrowers. From Spitz to Krems, we and many other visitors use the free bus service offered by the Wachau municipalities during the apricot blossom.