When in Vienna, most visitors head to the city’s magnificent art museums, but this year the city’s Museum of Military History will get a little more attention. Among the museum’s many historic artifacts is perhaps the most significant item in any museum in Europe: the uniform worn by Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he was assassinated in Sarajevo. That assassination was the fuse that sparked World War 1 and several subsequent wars, some still simmering in the Middle East. World War II was certainly rooted in what Europeans still call the Great War. Both World Wars will be remembered and explored in museums, on tours and in battlefields across Europe this year. On June 6, Europe will mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and this August, the centenary of the launch of the Great War. This Aug. 4 in Westminster Abbey, a candle-lit prayer vigil will mark the day England entered World War I. All of these commemorations will be performed in a sober spirit of observance as Europe casts a somber eye on a very brutal 20th century. Omaha Beach, Bastogne, Ypres, Mons and other sites of 20th century military carnage are all points of focus this year, and for the World War I sites, the next several years. France alone is investing €48 million on renovations and exhibitions in museums, battlefields and cemeteries. Belgium, which has found itself at the center of both World Wars, has been preparing to give these commemorations their due treatment for several years. The Belgian government has invested more than $67 million in centenary events. Every evening at eight oclock since 1928 at Ypres’ Menin Gate, four buglers from the local fire brigade sound the Last Post in front of an arch that commemorates the remains of 54,000 unidentified soldiers. The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres was given a €10 million upgrade. Located in a classic Cloth Hall, which also happens to be the first piece of secular Gothic architecture, the museum is a great addition to telling the war’s story. It’s also proven to be a good investment in tourism, as hotels in Ypres are reporting an occupancy increase of 30 percent. More than two million visitors are expected to visit Belgiums WWI sites over the next four years. England’s Imperial War Museums are hosting a four-year commemorative program of events. The Imperial War Museum London will open a new First World War Galleries this summer, which will tell the story of the 16 million people whose lives were claimed by the First World War. Vienna is hosting a number of exhibitions related to WWI. The aforementioned Museum of Military History will exhibit a chronological history of the war. Vienna’s Jewish Museum is exhibiting Jewish Life and Death in WWI, which explores the end of the old order for Jews in Austria-Hungary. Around 350,000 Jewish soldiers served in WWI. The Austrian National Library exhibition To My Peoples! The First World War 1914-1918 juxtaposes life at the front lines with the everyday wartime experience of women and children. Commemorative Experience The beautiful landscapes between Lille and Compiegne illustrate one of the most ironic aspects of war. The very fields where the most unimaginable horrors took place often become vistas of serene beauty long after the shots are fired. European Waterways is offering a Classic Northern France WWI barge cruise in 2015 that will allow travelers to enjoy the sublime serenity of an area that was a living Hell for another generation of visitors. “Guests will be able to take in the passing Picardy countryside, visit some of the most poignant memorials and battlefields, and enjoy fine dining, great French wines and exceptional service by our attentive and experienced crew,” said Derek Banks, managing director of European Waterways. The six-day cruise will take place aboard the hotel barge La Belle Époque, a 12-passenger vessel with a crew of six that offers lavish amenities such as a sun deck with spa pool, a beautiful wood-paneled saloon and dining room. As it drifts between Lille and Compiegne in Northern France, its passengers will take tours to some of the most significant battlefields, museums and memorials of the Great War. Excursions include Vimy Ridge, site of the Canadian National Memorial and Thiepval memorial, a monument to 75,000 missing soldiers from the Battle of the Somme. Passengers view archival film footage and photographs at the visitor center and explore some of the actual trenches. Passengers will also visit the Menin Gate for the daily Last Post ceremony, the battlefields and museums of the Somme, and the forest clearing at Compiegne where the Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918. Rates start at $5,090 per person, and $51,400 for a whole barge charter. Cabin rates are based on double occupancy. With other departures later in April having nearly sold out, European Waterways has added two new departures for April 5 and April 12, 2015. The Italian Dolomites were one of the toughest fronts in the Great War. The fighting between Austria and Italy raged on cliff faces and across peaks and valleys. Tunnels were dug into mountains with dynamite and picks. Swinging bridges were built across chasms. Many of these things still exist and will be explored by the Dolomite Mountains Ltd., a specialist in hiking in the region. Priced from €1,990, the hike is for well-trained hikers in good and active physical health. It begins in Cortina d’Ampezzo and ends in Alta Badia. Included are a local English-speaking guide, logistics and map of the area, accommodations, some meals, Via Ferrata equipment, lifts and cable cars in the area, luggage transfer on day four, local medical and evacuation insurance and Italian VAT tax. World War II On March 22, a new memorial center dedicated to the Second World War and to the Battle of the Bulge, the Bastogne War Museum, opened to the public. The new Bastogne War Museum uses interactive displays to track the causes, events and consequences of the Second World War through the prism of the Battle of the Bulge. As well as displaying numerous artifacts from the Ardennes offensive, including at least three tanks, the museum is strong on interpretation, explaining the context of the battle and the causes, significance and consequences of the Second World War as a whole. A new exhibition at the Stadtmuseum in Weimar explores role of the Weimar Republic in Germany after WWI. The exhibit uses artifacts, films, posters, models, medals and documents to provide an close-up view of the process of the founding the Republic. The Weimar Republic was Germany’s first parliamentary government and followed on the heels of an authoritarian monarchy and the bitter loss of WWI. From Feb. 6 to Aug. 21, 1919, the National Assembly convened in Weimar. A plaque designed by the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius was mounted on the theater facade in memory of these months during the year of 1919. At the end of the exhibition, a photograph shows how the National Socialists removed this plaque in 1932 - a tangible symbol for the demise of the republic due to putsches, assassinations, economic crisis, hyperinflation and unemployment along with ever-stronger radical left- and right-wing groups. About 100,000 soldiers died during the D-Day landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944. Connecting that horrible fact to the rows of white crosses at the American cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer is almost impossible and yet essential as we approach the 70th anniversary of D Day. For those wanting to contemplate the enormity of their sacrifice, Wilderness Travel is offering an up-close-and-personal approach on its Normandy and Brittany hiking journey. Participants will walk the high cliffs of Normandy, still pitted with shell holes and German bunkers, right down to the beaches of the D-Day landings. The package includes an entire day to explore the areas associated with D-Day. Travelers hike the trail from the cliffs to the beaches with a historian. It’s not all World War II. The region’s history dates back as far as 4500 B.C. The journey visits such sites as the thousand-year-old, 200-foot-long Bayeux Tapestry commemorating William the Conqueror and the island-abbey of Mont St. Michel, which has been a pilgrimage site since the 8th century. There are also hikes along the Emerald coastline and pink cliffs of Brittany, the medieval town of Dinan and an opportunity to walk among the standing stones of Carnac, dating to 4500 BC and predating both the Pyramids and Stonehenge. And since it’s in France, there will also be spectacular regional cuisine, including cheeses, cider, seafood and wines. Priced from $5,795 per person double, there are departures on June 8 and Sept. 8. Alexander+Roberts’ 14-day Echoes of D-Day follows the liberation of Europe from Normandy to Berlin. The landing beaches and museums of Normandy are just the beginning of a journey that offers a more comprehensive historical overview, exploring the waning days of the war, its aftermath and other significant events of the 20th century. Along the way, the tour visits the Mercedes-Benz Museum; the birthplace of Albert Einstein; the Berchtesgaden Document Center and Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest; Nuremberg, site of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and Room 600 in the Palace of Justice, site of the Nuremberg Trials; and extensive sightseeing in Berlin and a tour of the Cecilienhof Palace, site of the Potsdam Conference, give a firsthand look at the end of the war and its Cold War aftermath.
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 14:45:00 +0000
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