Donauinsel

Danube Island

A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed what could have been the last warm, sunny Saturday for the foreseeable future.  We ventured across town to the Donauinsel (the Danube Island), a 21 kilometer long (about 13 miles) human made island in the middle of the Danube (www.donauinsel.at/).  At its widest point, the island is 200 meters (about 2 football fields), so it is conceivable that all the flying kites, bouncing soccer balls, and soaring frisbees could easily end up in the Danube and float all the way to the Black Sea. (Just for the record we’ve not seen a single American football since we’ve been here.) According to Wien’s city website, the island was built between 1972 and 1988 as part of a water control project for flood-prone Vienna.  Little by little the island was constructed of excavation material dumped into the existing riverbed; next, 170 hectares of woodlands, then an additional 1.8 million trees and bushes were planted; finally sand was added and ta-da! They have one heck of an island.

Because we’re doing our best to “live the Wiener lifestyle,” we’ve spent a lot of time in parks the past three months.  When we meet someone from Vienna it is common for them to ask us if we’ve been to this-park or that-garden or such-n’-so walking path. Vienna’s tall buildings are close together, so it is sometimes a challenge to find sunshine in the Winter, even on a very bright day; hence, being outside and finding the sun is a common topic of conversation (and that is how we knew to explore the Donauinsel).  Given their love of fresh air and outdoor activities, the pragmatic and aesthetically sensitive Viennese solved a couple of problems at once with the construction of the Donauinsel – no more flooding and more space for walking, biking, skateboarding, rollerblading, picnicking, and other outdoor delights (e.g., some people, and statues, also practice yoga).

Since it was the middle of November, the activities we observed were limited to those mentioned above. However, our friends in Wien have commented on the island’s “summertime side” – where sunbathing (with or without clothing), boating, rowing, partying, and attending concerts (Madonna was here in September) are added to the reasons that people flock to Donauinsel.

These photos were taken on a return trip to the island - 

when we learned the ships were actually a school.

Another reason people flock to the island is to go to high school.  A pair of ships serve as the Bundesgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium for District 21.  The school opened its doors in 1994, and as far as we can tell from our internet and interview investigations, this high school operates just like any other in the city with a few exceptions: instead of detention, students walk the plank, school announcements over the intercom start with “Ahoy Mates,” and the vice principal has a peg leg and an eye patch. We had all sorts of fun with the high seas theme, but it appears the Viennese worldview is not as silly as ours.  We were sorely disappointed to discover that their mascot is not the Buccaneer. Austrian schools don’t do mascots.

Finally, the commanding tower in many of the photos is the 663 foot high “Millennium Tower,”  on the other side of the Danube. This shopping mall / office building / movie theatre, was built in – you guessed it – 1999.  Its striking façade and position on the river suggests “The Hapsburgs are so 1900; Vienna is progressive.”  The tower’s exterior is indeed imposing, but the interior, frankly, is just another glass and steel building.  We went inside to procure picnic provisions.  We were glad to have seen the tallest skyscraper in Austria (and the second tallest free-standing building in Austria, eclipsed only by the concrete Donauturm at 826 feet). Still, we were happy to get back to the fresh air and sunshine, cross the bridge over the Blue Danube, find a picnic table on the Donauinsel, and enjoy our Jause (snack) while we watched about two dozen families fly kites. Call us old fashioned.

Peace on Earth