The Rain in Austria

 

It's raining.
Nothing to be done
except complain.

Misery may not actually love company,
but it feels better when it's shared.


This humorous postcard was produced
by the Austrian artist Fritz Schönpflug (1873 – 1951),
whose work I have featured several times now.
A native of Vienna, or Wien,
he was a keen observer of humanity.
This postcard's caption
roughly translates as,

Verichnupßte Kurgäßte
~
Sniveling Spa Guests.

It must have been a common scene
of tourists on holiday in Austria,
hence it's popularity as a postcard.
"Having a miserable time.
Wish we were back home."

Perhaps that was Rolf's sentiments
when he sent this to Fräulein M. Schaffer
of Wien on 6 July 1910.

But nothing compares to the misery
of a soldier marching in the rain.

Here a column of infantry
plod through the mud,
led by their regimental band.
The rain forces the poor tuba player
to bail out his instrument.

On this postcard Fritz Schönpflug adds a caption
in Hungarian, which was then one of many languages
in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It reads:
Az egyenruha varázsa
~
The charm of the uniform.


It was never mailed but Schönpflug
puts a number 909 next to his signature
which stand for the year 1909
using the central European convention
of leaving off the 1000.

One century later,
here is what Wien looks like
in an Austrian rainstorm.
.
The video is called:
Überschwemmung 13.05.10,Wien,Lerchenfelderstraße Ecke Kaiserstraße !

Watch for 1:00.

And here's another rainy day in Wien
but with a better accompaniment.

I think Fritz Schönpflug
would have laughed at this happy fellow.
It was filmed on 21 May 2013,
Wien ist anders - "Singing in the Rain"

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where it rains only virtually
and stays mainly on the screen.