One hundred eighty-eight years ago today, at 4:30 in the morning, the great composer Anton Bruckner, the first child of Anton Bruckner Sr. and Theresia, née Helm, was born in Ansfelden, Upper Austria. To commemorate this happy anniversary, I am most pleased to post some pictures taken two weeks and a half ago in Ansfelden.
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| On the highway from Salzburg to Linz |
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| The church next to Bruckner's birth house in Ansfelden as seen from a distance |
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| The building next to the old school house is under renovation |
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| The old school house where Bruckner was born. Note there are 2 plaques on the facade. This building is under renovation and will be reopened in 2013. |
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| A closer look |
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| A close-up of the lower plaque |
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| A close-up of the upper plaque. The plaque was unveilled in May 1895 during a large festive party organised by the Linz choral society 'Frohsinn' as part of its 50th anniversary celebration activities. |
Its honorary member
The famous composer Anton Bruckner,
Knight of the Order of Franz Joseph,
Imperial and Royal Court Organist, Lecturer at
the Imperial University of Vienna
Honorary Citizen of the City of Linz,
Was born in this house on 4 September, 1824,
Was dedicated this plaque
by the
Liedertafel 'Frohsinn' in Linz
May 1895
Bruckner's association with the Liedertafel Frohsinn in Linz was not insignificant. He joined the Liedertafel Frohsinn in 1856 as a full member, and was assigned to the second tenor. That same year, he was elected to be second archivist, and in this position he could get an insight into the diverse existing musical material. He became its choirmaster from 1860-1861 and again in 1868. He only left the position when he moved to Vienna to take up his new jobs there in autumn 1868. He was made its honorary member after he left. In Bruckner's burial in St. Florian on 15 October 1896, all the members of the Liedertafel Frohsinn choir sang Mendelssohn's Wie selig sind die Toten.
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| The modern board of opening hours |
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| The other side of the school house |
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| A close-up of the window panel |
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| Walking up a staircase in front of the old school house will reach the church |
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| Unfortunately the door to the church was locked |
The Anton Bruckner Centrum (ABC) is a building with exhibition space for the history of Ansfelden and also the life of Anton Bruckner in Ansfelden. It can be reached by walking down a staircase next to the church. Outside the building a monument of Bruckner can be seen. It was unveilled on 18 May 1924 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bruckner. The bust of the monument was produced by the Linz sculptor Plany.
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| The monument outside ABC |
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| A large stature of Bruckner conducting inside the building next to the entrance |
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| The Bruckner exhibits in ABC |
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| The signage |
The Anton Bruckner Symphony Trail (Anton Bruckner Sinfoniewanderweg) leads from Ansfelden through fields and hilly forest landscape to St. Florian, with ten stations along its way. Display boards are placed in each station with descriptions of the ten symphonies of Bruckner and the historical background of the time of the composition of each symphony. Mp3 players with excerpts of each symphony can be borrowed from the ABC for use along the trail. The trail is approximately 9.2km long and it takes about 2 hours of walking to go from one end to the other.
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| The large Sinfoniewanderweg information board outside ABC |
The young Anton Bruckner lived in Ansfelden till the age of 11 when he was sent to live and learn with his godfather Johann Baptist Weiss in Hörsching.
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