Only a few more weeks to spring
Welcome Fellow Nerds, Book Geeks and Tarot Lovers
FYI: TRIVIUM RESEARCH TIDBITS ON THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
To endow my Trivium World with authenticity and depth, I'll focus on topics that Victorians and Edwardians may have read in news feeds from the turn of the century. Do read the novel beforehand. All FYI sections contain SPOILERS.
over a century's worth of information: Focus for winter 2021
Vienna's Giant Ferris Wheel: the Wiener Riesenrad
SPOILER ALERT: PLEASE DO NOT READ BEFORE FINISHING TRIVIUM THE LOVERS
As a whimsical part of Vienna's magical skyline, the Prater's Giant Ferris Wheel welcomes visitors from all over the world. Standing at 212 feet, the Wiener Riesenrad was once heralded as the world's largest Ferris wheel until the Japanese built their Technocosmos (279 feet), for the World's Fair in 1985.
Constructed before the turn of the century to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef I in 1897, the Wiener Riesenrad was one of the earliest Ferris wheels ever built. Unfortunately, the manufacturer of the Wiener Riesenrad did not bring its builder British engineer Walter Basset commercial success. He died a pauper in 1907.
In 1916, plans to demolish the Ferris wheel were halted due to a lack of funds. During World War 2, many of the wheel's gondolas were damaged. Originally built with 30 cabins, only fifteen were replaced. The present-day luxury cabins provide visitors with a venue for small scale celebrations. Imagine eating a romantic dinner for two in the Crystal Wagon designed by Swarovski Vienna at 260 Euros an hour.
Back when Billie and Christian rendezvous in Vienna, dinner wasn't served, but the wondrous lights of the commemorative landmark work as the perfect ambiance for their special assignation.
Film directors and novelists feature the great Ferris wheel as an iconic symbol of Vienna's glorious fin de siecle when Gustav Klimt, Gustav Mahler and Sigmund Freud were just some of the notaries ushering in new perceptions in science and art. In the Third Man, a film set in post-war Vienna, contains a critical scene where Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles ride the Riesenrad to discuss the past and the future.
Author Frank Tallis, in his novel, "A Death in Vienna," describes the Riesenrad as a "miracle of engineering. The circumference of the wheel was an approximate circle, achieved by the continuous linkage of bolted iron girders, while the space inside the circle was filled with a reinforcing webbing of immense metal cables." His character, Natalie, imagines that "a Titan's hand, strumming them like the strings of a giant harp. The most eye-catching feature of the Riesenrad, however, was its fleet of red gondolas, each the size of a tram and each carrying a fragile human cargo high above the city." He describes the moment of suspension a the highest point of the ride as "terrible," the ascent "juddering" with passengers "gasping" along with "the groaning and creaking of the stressed metal cables."
Magnificent, yes? Little wonder Billie never fully forgot the Ferris Wheel's charm despite her memory's best attempts.
The small hotel Christian booked for the event actually exists with its lengthy compound-noun name. The compass charm replicates the hotel's logo and signage.
SPOILER ALERT-DO NOT READ BEFORE FINISHING TRIVIUM
The Mayerling Incident
The photo on the left is a still from the 1968 film "Mayerling," starring Omar Sharif as Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Catherine Deneuve as the Baroness Maria Vetsera. Although the scene depicted is most likely the interior of a restaurant, I like to think of Rudolf and Maria on a train like the Orient Express fleeing the confines of society to enjoy each other's company in solitude, just as my characters, Christian and Sibylla abscond from London to marvel at fin-de-siecle Vienna.
In Trivium, Sibylla asks Christian to book a room at a romantic hunting lodge in the Vienna Woods. Her imagination has been fired by reading a commemorative article in a London newspaper on what was notoriously called 'the Mayerling Incident.'
The couple must settle for a cozy hotel by the Prater instead. Somewhat relieved by the inavailibility of any hunting lodge accommodations, Christian relishes the view from their small hotel's window. The glorious Riesenrad ablaze in carnival lights becomes an iconic symbol of their love.
Unlike Sibylla, Christian is disturbed by the notion of suicide. He foresees a long and happy union with Sibylla and doesn't quite understand her desire to romanticize a tragic situation that embarrassed the Austrian royal family, foreshadowed the end of their dynasty and heralded the outbreak of the first World War.
As the son of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife, the Empress Elisabeth (nicknamed Sisi), Rudolf was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His marriage to Princess Stephanie of Belgium had been arranged as were most royal alliances and was not particularly a happy one. He was described by many of his contemporaries as a "poetic young man who brooded a lot." Plagued by syphilis, he proposed a double suicide to more than one of his courtesans. After entering into a relationship with seventeen-year- old Maria Vetsera, he tried to sell her the idea of a death pact again. Unfortunately for her, he succeeded.
On January 29, 1889, Rudolf excused himself from a dinner party given by his parents, claiming to be indisposed. He arrived a the hunting lodge in Mayerling on the morning of the 30th. When his valet went to call him, he received no response. When the valet and a hunting companion smashed through the bolted door, they found Rudolf bleeding from the mouth, motionless by the bed. Maria lay on the bed, her body already setting with rigor mortis. The valet assumed Rudolf had taken poison after killing Vetsera or Vetsera had shot herself after administering poison to Rudolf. The official death announcement from the palace claiming that Rudolf had died of a heart aneurism was quickly disputed. It was said that Rudolf shot Vetsera and then sat by her body for several hours before shooting himself. Their deaths were blamed on the Archduke's fragile mindset. Soon after, allegations of a double murder masked as murder-suicide were made. French agents sent by Georges Clemenceau were blamed.
The actual circumstances surrounding death are never as romantic as idealized and dramatized Romeo and Juliet forever love.
No wonder Christian wrinkled his nose in distaste.
In 2015, the Austrian National Library issued copies of Vetsera's letters of farewell to her mother and other family members. They state clearly once and for all that Vetsera was indeed preparing to commit suicide alongside Rudolf.
