AUSTRIA, LOWER AND UPPER.
INHABITANTS OF LOWER AUSTRIA--MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE OF
VIENNA--AMUSEMENTS--HOUSES--POPULATION AND
MORTALITY--SHOPS--PAVED STREETS--THE FIRE-WATCH--COSTUMES OF
UPPER AUSTRIA.
The inhabitants of Lower Austria, in which the capital of the empire
is situated, are, with the Hungarians, the most fortunate of the
subjects of the imperial sceptre. Cultivating a fertile soil, and not
having, like the Styrians and the Tyrolese, to struggle incessantly
against an inclement climate, they are happy in their geographical
position; and they are in general deserving of it by the excellence of
their disposition. Harbouring none but the milder sentiments, they
have more gentleness than energy, and more good nature than elevation.
The Austrians are a simple and a hospitable nation; and the same
observation applies to their nobles, who never assume the German or
rather the Austrian pride, unless when they would enforce the
prerogatives of birth. A stranger has least to suffer from this
narrow-mindedness, which is becoming the less common, the more the
education of the higher classes is improved, and the more they learn
that true nobility ought to display itself in exalted sentiments
alone.
It is natural to suppose that there must be a great difference between
the manners, customs and dress of the inhabitants of Lower Austria,
according as they reside in the country or in cities, or belong to the
working classes which, in Austria, as in other countries, have manners
peculiar to themselves.
The manners of the higher classes in Vienna and in the other towns of
Lower Austria, are in general mild and simple; and they are found in
harmony with that good nature which is the most distinguishing feature
in the Austrian character. Though the nobility are not free from the
imputation of haughtiness and of attaching too much value to titles
and honorary distinctions, it cannot be denied that much hospitality
prevails among them as among the wealthy tradesmen. Many of the upper
classes keep open tables; and in many houses visitors are permitted at
all hours of the day and even until midnight, to partake alike of
every repast that is served up and of the conversation.
It is alleged, and not without reason, that the people of Vienna are
rather too fond of good cheer. This is a general propensity of all
classes; so that those whose means will not permit them to have
delicacies are sure to indemnify themselves by the abundance of their
viands. The lower ranks always mingle with this indulgence a fondness
for other amusements, such as dancing and walking. The tradesman of
the capital takes great delight on a Sunday in a little country
excursion with his family; and as the parks of the grandees are open
to all comers, these are generally the places of rendezvous. He also
frequents the Prater and the public places of the metropolis; he looks
and listens with interest to all that passes, provided he is not
watched; for instead of wishing, like a Frenchman, for instance, to
attract attention, he feels uncomfortable as soon as he is noticed.
His whole happiness centres in himself and his numerous family, from
which he never likes to be parted. This picture of the happiness of
the people of Vienna is the more pleasing since it is not chequered,
as in most of the great cities of Europe, with the appearance of
squalid misery. In fact you can there distinguish but two classes, the
nobles and the citizens; all below them being blended by a certain
degree of luxury and ease with the latter.
In winter, companies do not assemble about the stoves as round our
fire-places. The equable heat diffused by these stoves admits of their
breaking into groups in the different apartments, which thus assume
the appearance of a coffee-house. Servants in party-coloured liveries
hand round all sorts of refreshments and sometimes the mistress of the
house does the honours of it herself with an engaging attention that
charms a stranger. In general, however, she takes this duty on herself
only when she wishes to honour in a particular manner persons of
distinction or eminent travellers; at other times, leaving every
visitor to amuse himself as he pleases. In these societies, you
observe numbers of ribbons of all colours, and chamberlains’ keys at
all pockets; these distinctions are so common that a person who has
none is almost a singularity. What renders these companies rather
irksome is the practice which prevails of not calling any one by his
name but only by his title. Thus you hear the persons about you
greeted by the appellations of baron, director, inspector, captain,
duke, or general; and remain ignorant of their real names unless some
friend takes the trouble to tell you who they are.
The ladies, on these occasions, are almost always ranged in a circle,
chatting together or engaged in various works of embroidery,
frequently to the number of thirty or forty. The young men of Vienna
never make their appearance at these parties: hence their manners have
not the polish which the habit of keeping good company imparts, nor do
they pay those attentions which are due to the sex. In these companies
you only meet with a few young Austrian or foreign princes, who but
too frequently imagine that their rank exempts them from that delicate
politeness which virtuous women inspire and can duly appreciate.
It is not to the want of accomplishments in the Austrian ladies, that
the indifference of the young men in regard to them must be
attributed, but to the unsociable habits of the latter. Their
education having been in general neglected, riding and hunting occupy
all the leisure which they do not pass at the coffee-houses, in
smoking and play. The rest of their time is devoted to the pleasures
of the table. With such a way of life and such habits, how is it
possible to keep up that tone of decency which it is necessary to
maintain in a select company? Nothing seems to them so difficult and
so irksome, and to avoid this unpleasant restraint, they keep away
from such societies altogether.
Being thus left to themselves, the ladies of Vienna can do no other
than seek the company of the foreigners whom they find possessed of
amiable manners and information. Flattered by their attentions, and
tired of the society of men, which is generally monotonous enough in
Austria, the stranger exerts himself still more to please. He feels a
deeper interest in studying their character; the better he becomes
acquainted with it, the more he esteems them; and he is astonished
that females so gentle, so lovely, and so fascinating, should be
forsaken by those whom they are so well qualified to delight.
The young men of rank at Vienna, having in general no occupation, and
as we have seen shunning company, are but too apt to yield to the
seductions of the gaming-table. Numerous instances of the fatal
effects of this baneful passion might be related; but circumstances of
this nature are too common in most other civilized countries to appear
extraordinary.
The picture of the manners and amusements of the higher classes at
Vienna, drawn by Dr. Bright, is interesting.
Morning calls, says that traveller, are not considered of the same
importance in Vienna as in London. When a stranger has been properly
introduced into a family, he usually receives a general invitation, of
which he is expected to avail himself. Accordingly he calls in the
evening; and if the lady of the house or any of the family be at home,
he is admitted, and then, as it happens, meets others, or is the only
visitor. Easy conversation or cards, music and tea, chess or enigmas,
fill up the evening; or if the party be numerous, dances and
refreshments, the rehearsal of poetry, or other exercises of mind or
body, enliven the visit and dispel the unpleasant restraints of
society.
The evening amusements in Germany are very various, and sometimes
almost fall under the denomination of puerile. Not content with
requesting young ladies to recite verses, they will sometimes invert
the natural order of things and compel children to act plays, while
grown people will play cross-questions and crooked answers; or
standing in a circle, and holding a cord in their hands, pass a ring
from one to the other, while some one of the party is required to
discover in whose possession it is to be found.
Acting riddles is a favourite game, and one which is well calculated
to amuse those who are wisely resolved to be amused when they can. A
certain portion of the company retire into an adjoining room, where
they concert together how best to represent by action the different
syllables which compose a word, and the meaning of the whole word.
They presently return, and carrying on their preconcerted action,
require the company to resolve the riddle. Thus, for instance, on one
occasion the word determined upon was _Jumeaux_. Some of the actors,
coming from their retirement, began to squeeze a lemon into a glass,
calling the attention of the company very particularly to it by their
action, thus representing _Ju_. Others came forward imitating the
various maladies and misfortunes of life, thus acting the syllable of
_meaux_. Then finally tottered into the circle an Italian duke and a
Prussian general, neither less than six feet in height, dressed in
sheets and leading-strings, a fine bouncing emblem of _Jumeaux_.
Dinner-parties, though not the regular every day amusements of life in
Vienna, are not uncommon. There is much similarity in the style of
dinners throughout Germany, and it has some points of peculiar
excellence. The table is generally round or oval; so that each guest
has means of intercourse with the whole party, even when it is large.
It is covered for the greater part with a tasteful display of sweets
or fruits; two places only being left near the middle for the
substantial dishes. Each person is provided with a black bottle of
light wine, and every cover, even at a _table d’hote_, is furnished
with a napkin and silver forks. The first dishes which occupy the
vacant spaces are always soups; they are quickly removed to the
side-tables and distributed by the servants. In the mean time, the
next dish is placed upon the table, taken off, carved, and carried
round to the guests in precisely the same manner; and so on till every
thing has been served. The plates are carefully changed, but the
knives and forks very generally remain throughout the greater part of
the dinner, or, at best, are only wiped and returned. The dishes are
so numerous and the variety so great, that, as every body eats a
little of every thing, they seldom take twice of the same.
The succession of luxuries is not exactly as with us. An Englishman is
somewhat surprised to see a joint of meat followed by a fish, or a
savoury dish usurp the place of one that was sweet. To conclude the
ceremony, each servant takes one of the sweetmeat ornaments off the
table, and carries it, as he has done with the other dishes, to all
the guests.
During all this time the conversation is general and lively, and
beyond a doubt much more interesting than that which is heard on
similar occasions and in similar society in England, where its current
is perpetually interrupted by the attention which every one is bound
to pay to the wants and wishes of persons at the most distant part of
the table. While the sweetmeats are served, a few glasses of some
superior kinds of wine, which have likewise been distributed at
intervals during the dinner, are carried round; and then the company,
both ladies and gentlemen, rise at the same time by a kind of mutual
consent, which, as the rooms are seldom carpeted, occasions no
inconsiderable noise. To this succeeds a general bowing and compliment
from every one to each of the company individually, each hoping that
the other has eaten a good dinner. This peculiar phrase is precisely
the counterpart of another always employed on the parting of friends
about mid-day, each expressing a sincere hope that the other will eat
a hearty dinner. This is the most usual form of civility in Vienna.
The party then adjourns to another apartment, where coffee is served
and where it is frequently joined by other visitors, chiefly men, who
come without particular invitation, to pay their respects or to
converse on business, in the manner of a morning call, and who prolong
their stay as the movements of the first party indicate: for an
invitation to dinner by no means necessarily implies that you are to
spend the evening or any part of it at the house or that the family
has no other engagement as soon as dinner is concluded and the guests
have taken their coffee and liquors.
As the dinner is early, being always between twelve and five, the
remainder of the evening is employed in various pursuits. A drive in
the Prater or to some place of public resort, a visit to the theatre,
or a succession of the calls just described, employ the evening; or,
if the dinner has been very early, the party resumes the occupations
and business of the day.
The time and duration of the performances at the theatres are very
convenient. They begin about six and conclude a little after nine.
The greatest decorum prevails during the representation, the
police-military, that is police-officers, in a particular kind of
livery and wearing swords, being stationed in all the avenues. Thus a
person going with a wish to hear the play is not disappointed by those
brawls which scarcely ever fail to interrupt the performance in our
English theatres; nor is there any part of the house to which a party
of the most delicate females might not resort with the greatest
propriety.
The theatrical performances are continued throughout the whole year,
with the exception of the days prohibited by the Catholic calendar, on
many of which, however, concerts, public rehearsals, and a species of
exhibition called a _Tableau_ are permitted. The latter amusement,
being scarcely known in this country, requires some notice.
The object of these exhibitions is, to represent by groups of living
figures the compositions of celebrated sculptors or painters. With
this view that part of the apartment or theatre, beyond which the
_Tableau_ is to be placed, is darkened, and on raising a curtain, the
figures are discovered dressed in the costume which the painter has
given them, and firmly fixed in the attitude prescribed by his pencil.
The light is skilfully introduced and other objects arranged so as to
give as nearly as possible the effect of the original painting. After
some time the curtain drops to give the performers time to rest, and
to relieve themselves from the painful attitudes which they are
frequently obliged to preserve; and the curtain again drawn up
discovers them still in their characteristic postures. When the
spectators are supposed to be satisfied with one picture another is
introduced, and thus several are exhibited in succession. This
generally forms only part of the evening’s amusement, and is either
accompanied by a theatrical performance, or if in private by dancing
or music.
An interesting variety of this entertainment was witnessed by Dr.
Bright. In the midst of a brilliant assembly, the folding-doors of
another room were suddenly thrown open, and what appeared to be a
beautiful collection of wax-figures was displayed to the delighted
eye. They were placed on pedestals, in recesses, or in groups around
the room. They represented heathen deities, or the gnomes and fairies
with which the poets have peopled the regions of imagination, with all
their emblematical accompaniments, and their dresses, which were
selected with the greatest taste. These figures were represented by
persons whom nature had favoured in a distinguished manner; they
preserved an unmoved firmness of attitude, and nothing interrupted the
illusion they intended to create but the animation of their eyes, and
the smile which sometimes dimpled the cheek even of the rooted Daphne.
To assert that this exhibition was beautiful were to degrade its
charms; it seemed to throw a magic spell over the spectators, and the
great difficulty was to induce them to retire when it was actually
necessary to relieve the figures from the painful position in which
they stood.
The houses of Vienna are in general rather small than large; the
palaces of the grandees alone being spacious. Most of the houses are
of brick or wood covered with slate, and some with shingles. As a
measure of precaution, however, the police forbids the use of the
latter; so that whenever a house is repaired it must be roofed with
slate or tiles. The houses in the city only are from four to six
stories high: those of the suburbs occupy more ground but are not so
lofty. Here the mansions of the great, of very simple and sometimes
very whimsical architecture, have handsome gardens attached to them.
The interior is not so commodiously arranged as it might be. The walls
are more commonly painted in fresco than papered. The furniture is not
in general costly, excepting in the palaces of princes or the mansions
of bankers or wealthy merchants, whose opulence enables them to
command all the elegances as well as the conveniences of life.
Simplicity, neatness and perfect cleanliness, which are far to be
preferred to tawdry magnificence, are every where observable.
Fire-places are almost unknown in the private houses of Vienna, and a
stranger is surprised not to find any even in the kitchens.
Vienna is composed of two distinct parts, the city properly so called
and the suburbs, the latter being separated from the former by large
ditches and high walls. The total population is about 225,000 souls.
It is at present on the increase, in consequence of the important
advantages derived by Austria from the late wars. This city, however,
is not a healthy residence, notwithstanding the high winds which
usually prevail there, and which tend to promote salubrity. Instances
of longevity are much more rare in this than in other capitals. In
general the mortality is as one to fifteen annually, which is nearly
three times as great as that of the British metropolis. Though this
effect may be partly owing to the attachment to the pleasures of the
table for which the people of Vienna are proverbial, yet, it must also
be in part ascribed to the climate, which is extremely variable,
frequently changing in the course of few hours from the extreme of
heat to that of cold, and the air, unless ventilated daily by a breeze
about two hours before noon is said to become pestilential. The spring
water also is insalubrious, being apt to occasion bowel complaints to
strangers; and the water of the Danube is so thick and muddy that it
cannot be drunk unless filtered.
The numerous benevolent institutions in Vienna and the comforts
enjoyed by the lower classes seem to argue that this great mortality
is owing rather to the climate than to any other cause. The humane
mind is not here shocked by the appearance of that squalid misery
which excites as much disgust as pity, and the number of mendicants
with which most other large cities are infested. But if the lower
classes here are better off than in some other countries, it is
chiefly owing to their superior morality and good conduct, which
secure them from indigence and want.
The shops of Vienna are not decorated with that profusion and luxury
which are displayed in those of London and Paris. They are neat and
simple; and though they may contain a considerable variety of goods,
yet frequently a square glazed case of patterns hanging at the door is
the only mark by which the nature of a shopkeeper’s dealings is
estimated. The shops, therefore, contribute but little to the
embellishment of the streets in which they are situated.
The streets of the _city_ properly so called are paved with a light
gray sienite brought from Hungary and Bohemia, or with a very hard
species of granite furnished by the mountains of Upper Austria. Both
these species of stone are susceptible of a high polish, and they are
wrought into a variety of ornamental articles, particularly
snuff-boxes. The streets of the suburbs, being unpaved, are in winter
almost impassable on account of the mud, and not the most pleasant in
summer, owing to the clouds of dust raised by the winds which sweep
through them.
Vienna possesses the advantage of being traversed in all directions by
subterraneous canals, which run into the Danube, and into which all
the impurities of the city are carried by regular drains and sewers.
It is well lighted at night, when a horse and foot patrole are
employed to protect the lives and properties of the citizens, a duty
in which they are ably seconded by the fire-watch, chiefly consisting
of invalid soldiers, who are not capable of active military service.
Armed with long staves, they walk through the streets of Vienna,
crying the hour, and at twelve o’clock adding, _put out your fires and
shut your doors!_ A hat of tin slouched behind and turned up before,
covers the head, and that the wearer may be known again, it is marked
with a particular number or letters. In this manner it is easy to
ascertain any individual who may have neglected his duty or exceeded
his orders. A loose drab coat is also marked by a number. Pantaloons,
boots or gaiters according to the season, a leathern apron, and a
leathern bucket, slung behind to be ready in case of fire, complete
the costume of one of these watchmen.
The inhabitants of the villages surrounding Vienna have nearly the
same manners and costume as those of the capital following similar
professions. The remark is equally applicable to the people of Upper
Austria. Among the peasantry in both, the men universally wear low
broad-brimmed hats, as a protection both from rain and sun, and a kind
of half-boots. The breeches, usually of a dark colour, are suspended
by coloured braces put on over the waistcoat, and a broad belt
encircles the waist. A jacket of dark-coloured cloth covers all; a
black handkerchief is worn round the neck, and the stockings are blue,
a colour for which these people appear to have a predilection.
The handkerchief which covers the head and over which the hat is put,
is a peculiarity in the costume of the women of these provinces.