Spend your spring break in Austria, guided by Dr. Marcel Rotter and Dr. Jennifer Hansen-Glucklich of UMW’s German Department. Experience the language and culture of this historic destination, studying your choice of Holocaust Memory OR Austrian Culture. Students will experience one of the great European cities – Vienna, the capital of Austria and former capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire – and visit many of the city’s most iconic sites. Home to many famous artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers, including Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Arthur Schnitzler, Theodor Herzl, and Gustav Mahler, Vienna is a city with an extraordinarily rich cultural and historical past. Holocaust Memory students will specifically explore Austria’s World War II history and antisemitism under the Third Reich, visiting memorials, historical sites, and a former concentration camp. This program requires a moderate level of activity, including significant walking on cobble stone and standing in exhibitions.
This 8-day trip takes place during spring break each year. 2014 dates are March 1st-March 8th.
Upon arrival, tour Vienna’s major sites and beautiful architecture. Explore Mauthausen, a former Nazi concentration camp, along with its museum and memorials. Visit the Jewish Museum and Museum Judenplatz. Experience the vast Schloss Schönbrunn, whose palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of the Habsburg monarchs. Visit cafés that were once frequented by Viennese literary legends. Exact excursions vary depending on the student’s choice of Holocaust Memory or Austrian Culture courses.
