Hello my dear friends,
In one of my first walks in my new neighborhood, this is the building that stood out in my eyes… There is a sign on the other side with the name Urania, which is actually a greek word translating as sky but also the name Urania refers to the muse of astronomy as told in the Greek mythology. So i wondered what this building is, since it has a very peculiar architecture style. After doing some research online i found that it was actually built to be a public educational institute and an observatory. Urania, was built in 1910 by architect Max Fabiani. This Art Nouveau building, is also said to resemble a weirdly shaped ship, which i guess you can kinda see in the photograph below 😛
During World War II, it got severely damaged resulting into a completely destroyed dome and observatory. Thankfully it was all reconstructed and with an even improved observatory, the Urania reopened in 1957. Today, the Urania hosts a wide-range of classes and lectures in the seminar rooms, the annual Viennale film festival that screens in the movie theater and a puppet theater originally created by Hans Kraus. In 2003, a contemporary cafe bar/restaurant was also opened on the lower deck offering a great view at the Donau Canal.
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Interesting building and history – I like having two shots so I can see the building in context – very colorful images too – nice work!
Thank you 🙂 I wanted to have a third shot as well with the entrance but for some reason i cannot find it and i’m certain that i have it somewhere. Oh well, i can always add it later 🙂
Cataloging (and then finding) images is a vexing task.
Great shots. An interesting building historically and architecturally.
Thank you 😀 There is a lot more info about it but i could only find it in german and it would take me ages to translate that, that’s assuming if i even understood what it said 😛 So i stayed with the very basics.
Copy and paste into google translate. 🙂
Doesn’t work that well…knowing some german i see how google translate is actually making no sense most of the time 😛
wonderful photos, Alexandra and an interesting story. Hope you are fine. Regards Mitza
Thank you very much dear Mitza 🙂
Coool
I love the colour reflections in the top shot.
(Can’t help thinking ‘Urania Sternwarte’ would be an excellent name for a Viennese Dominatrix…Not that I know much about that kinda thing)
Hahahaha!!! You killed me with this comment! 😀 Well now i know what name i will use for my new career if i don’t find a job on photography!
Well in all honesty it’s never really appealed to me before…… but if you want to chain me to your tripod and give me the occasional sharp flick with a cable release while I spoon feed you strudel, then I’m your man Alex.
🙂
Sternwarte bitte! How dare you call me by my common name? Tsk tsk…Men never learn… I’ll leave you chained on my tripod until i can find a suitable punishment for your great disrespect! Now watch me eat a delicious, freshly baked strudel! 😛
Entshuldigen sie mich…….
(I’m so unworthy……)
;-/
Bonjour Alex,
Your pictures are all fabulous but this one of Urania really caught my eye – a superb piece of work. I adore the process that brings these pictures to life.
Regards
Dan
Thank you very much for taking the time to go through my posts and like them, Dan 😀 I appreciate it a lot! Urania is a very unique building indeed and i’m very glad that you enjoyed it as well! Taking the photo is only half of the job, for me processing is a must, cause it’s the only way that i can bring to life the picture in the way that i felt it 😀
Best regards and have a lovely week!
Alex