You only see what you know (Goethe)
The town coat of arms of Dornbirn displays a pear tree. The symbol of a pear tree refers to the -birn in the city name as the German term Birne stands for the fruit of a pear tree. In marked contrast to this interpretation the name Dornbirn origins from torrin puirron, how the place was called in a 9th-century document.
The manhole cover of Mistelbach shows a sprig of mistletoe, which is also depicted in the city arms. The term ‘Mistel‘ in the city name is actually the german term for a mistletoe.
Puch bei Weiz is generally known as a centre of apple production in the Austrian state of Styria. A fascinating detail: This Roman tombstone shows a lady holding an apple. You find this piece immured next to the parish church of Puch.
This sundial is located at the former Neuberg Abbey in Neuberg an der Mürz. Even though Neuberg Abbey (Stift Neuberg) isn’t a Cistercian monastery any more it has retained its medieval character to a high degree.
The museum tells about the life and achievements of Carl Auer von Welsbach, who formed the Treibacher Chemische Werke GesmbH near this place. He is well known for the development of the metal filament light bulb and the gas mantle. He also discovered several rare earth elements.
An ÖBB BR 4746 ‘Cityjet’ is leaving the railway station Bruck an der Mur heading to Graz. This train is a brand-new one which was established in the Austrian rail network on December 13th, 2015.
I love the architecture of this footbridge I saw next to the railway station of Voitsberg. The bridge spans the railroad tracks between the Styrian places Graz and Köflach. The operator of this railroad is GKB Railways (Graz-Köflacher-Bahn und Busbetrieb).
Renaissance fresco dated with 1577 seen at a building in the old part of Melk.
This mural at a building in Windischgarsten shows some ancient Roman places along a local part of the Via Norica. During Roman times Windischgarsten was a stopping place (mansio) at this road named Gabromagus or Gabromagi.
Inn sign and wall painting of the Blue Scythe Inn (Gasthof zur Blauen Sense) in Windischgarsten.
This building of a mutual savings bank (Sparkasse) was built in 1900 in the style of neo-Gothic. For this reason two older houses were demolished, e.g. the Reichlhaus. An interesting details is the writing on top of it, which uses the outdated term Sparcassa.
