Historians generally consider the battle as among Frederick's greatest blunders. Contrary to the advice of his subordinates, he refused to believe that the typically cautious Austrian commander Leopold von Daun would bring his troops into battle. The Austrian force ambushed his army in a pre-dawn attack. Over 30% of Frederick's army was defeated; five generals were killed and he lost his artillery park and a vast quantity of supplies. Although Daun had scored a complete surprise, his attempt to pursue the retreating Prussians was unsuccessful. The escaped force united with another corps in the vicinity, and regained momentum over the winter. (Full article...)
Image 2
A painting of SMS Körös bombarding Belgrade in 1914
During the
World War IIGerman-led
Axisinvasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Morava was the flagship of the 2nd Mine Barrage Division, and operated on the River
Tisza. She fought off attacks by the Luftwaffe, and shot down one enemy aircraft, but was forced to withdraw to Belgrade. Due to high river levels and low bridges, navigating monitors was difficult, and she was
scuttled by her crew on 11 April. Some of her crew tried to escape cross-country towards the southern
Adriatic coast, but most surrendered on 14 April. The remainder made their way to the
Bay of Kotor, which was captured by the Italian
XVII Corps on 17 April. She was later raised by the
Navy of the Independent State of Croatia, an Axis puppet state, and continued in service as Bosna until June 1944, when she struck a mine and sank. (Full article...)
No particular triggering event started the war. Prussia cited its centuries-old dynastic claims on parts of Silesia as a casus belli, but Realpolitik and
geostrategic factors also played a role in provoking the conflict. Maria Theresa's contested succession to the
Habsburg monarchy provided an opportunity for Prussia to strengthen itself relative to regional rivals such as
Saxony and
Bavaria. (Full article...)
Empress Matilda (
c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as
the Anarchy. The daughter and heir of
Henry I, king of England and ruler of
Normandy, she went to Germany as a child when she was married to the future
Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with the emperor to Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned empress in
St Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial
regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry V had no children, and when he died in 1125, the imperial crown was claimed by his rival
Lothair of Supplinburg.
Matilda's younger and only full brother,
William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving Matilda's father and realm facing a potential
succession crisis. Upon her widowhood in the Holy Roman Empire, Matilda was recalled to
Normandy by her father, who arranged for her to marry
Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders in France. Henry I had no further legitimate children and nominated Matilda as his heir, making his court swear an
oath of loyalty to her and her successors, but the decision was not popular in his
Anglo-Norman court. Henry died in 1135, but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the barons. The throne was instead taken by Matilda's male cousin
Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the
English Church. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom. (Full article...)
The terrain complicated battle tactics for both sides, but the Russians and the Austrians, having arrived in the area first, were able to overcome many of its difficulties by strengthening a causeway between two small ponds. They had also devised a solution to Frederick's deadly modus operandi, the
oblique order. Although Frederick's troops initially gained the upper hand in the battle, his limited scouting, combined with the strong defensive preparations of the Allied troops, gave the Russians and Austrians an advantage. By afternoon, when the combatants were exhausted, fresh Austrian troops thrown into the fray secured the Allied victory. (Full article...)
The Third Silesian War (German: Dritter Schlesischer Krieg) was a war between
Prussia and
Austria (together with its allies) that lasted from 1756 to 1763 and confirmed Prussia's control of the region of
Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The war was fought mainly in Silesia,
Bohemia and
Upper Saxony and formed one
theatre of the
Seven Years' War. It was the last of three
Silesian Wars fought between
Frederick the Great's Prussia and
Maria Theresa's Austria in the mid-18th century, all three of which ended in Prussian control of Silesia.
This conflict can be viewed as a continuation of the
First and
Second Silesian Wars of the previous decade. After the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the
War of the Austrian Succession, Austria enacted broad reforms and
upended its traditional diplomatic policy to prepare for renewed war with Prussia. As with the previous Silesian Wars, no particular triggering event initiated the conflict; rather, Prussia struck opportunistically to disrupt its enemies' plans. The war's cost in blood and treasure was high on both sides, and it ended inconclusively when neither of the main belligerents could sustain the conflict any longer. (Full article...)
On 10 April 1809, Austrian forces under
Archduke Charles crossed the border of
Bavaria, a French client state. The French response, under
Louis-Alexandre Berthier, was disorganised but order was imposed with the arrival of Napoleon on 17 April. Napoleon led an advance to
Landshut, hoping to cut off the Austrian line of retreat and sweep into their rear. Charles crossed the Danube at
Regensburg, which allowed him to retreat eastwards, although he failed to reach the Austrian capital,
Vienna, before the French. A French assault across the Danube was repulsed on 21–22 May at the
Battle of Aspern-Essling but a repeat attack was successful in July. Napoleon won a major victory at the 5–6 July
Battle of Wagram, which forced the Austrians to sign the
Armistice of Znaim on 12 July. Austrian invasions of the Duchy of Warsaw and
Saxony (where they fought alongside the
Black Brunswickers) were repulsed and they were driven out of their territories in Italy. British forces
landed in Walcheren, in the French client state of
Holland, but were unable to seize their objective of capturing
Antwerp and were later withdrawn. (Full article...)
Image 8
A Haflinger mare and foal
The Haflinger, also known as the Avelignese, is a
breed of
horse developed in
Austria and northern
Italy (namely
Hafling in
South Tyrol region) during the late 19th century. Haflinger horses are relatively small, are always chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, have distinctive
gaits described as energetic but smooth, and are well-muscled yet elegant. The breed traces its ancestry to the
Middle Ages; several theories for its origin exist. Haflingers, developed for use in mountainous terrain, are known for their hardiness. Their current
conformation and appearance are the result of infusions of bloodlines from
Arabian and various European breeds into the original native
Tyrolean ponies. The
foundation sire, 249 Folie, was born in 1874; by 1904, the first breeders' cooperative was formed. All Haflingers can trace their lineage back to Folie through one of seven bloodlines. World Wars I and II, as well as the
Great Depression, had a detrimental effect on the breed, and lower-quality animals were used at times to save the breed from extinction. During World War II, breeders focused on horses that were shorter and more
draft-like, favored by the military for use as
packhorses. The emphasis after the war shifted toward animals of increased refinement and height.
In the postwar era, the Haflinger was indiscriminately
crossed with other breeds and some observers feared the breed was in renewed danger of extinction. However, starting in 1946, breeders focused on producing purebred Haflingers and a
closed stud book was created. Interest in the breed increased in other countries, and between 1950 and 1974, the population grew, even while the overall European horse population decreased. Population numbers continued to increase steadily, and as of 2005, almost 250,000 Haflingers existed worldwide. Breeding farms are in several countries, although most of the breeding stock still comes from Austria. In 2003, a Haflinger became the first horse to be
cloned, resulting in a
filly named
Prometea. (Full article...)
Image 9
August Meyszner wearing the rank of SS-Oberführer in 1938
Meyszner began his career as an officer in the Gendarmerie, served on the
Italian Front during
World War I and reached the rank of Major der Polizei by 1921. He joined the
Austrian Nazi Party in September 1925 and became a right-wing parliamentary
deputy and provincial minister in the Austrian province of
Styria in 1930. Due to his involvement with the Nazis, Meyszner was forcibly retired in 1933 and arrested in February 1934, but released after three months at the
Wöllersdorfconcentration camp. That July, he was rearrested following an attempted
coup, but escaped police custody and fled to
Nazi Germany, where he joined the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) and then the Allgemeine SS. After police postings in Austria, Germany and
occupied Norway, Himmler appointed Meyszner as Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia in early 1942. He was one of few Orpo officers to be appointed to such a role. (Full article...)
Image 10
Moser,
c. 1980s
Meinhard Michael Moser (13 March 1924 – 30 September 2002) was an Austrian
mycologist. His work principally concerned the
taxonomy, chemistry, and toxicity of the
gilledmushrooms (
Agaricales), especially those of the genus Cortinarius, and the ecology of
ectomycorrhizal relationships. His contributions to the Kleine Kryptogamenflora von Mitteleuropa series of mycological guidebooks were well regarded and widely used. In particular, his 1953 Blätter- und Bauchpilze (Agaricales und Gastromycetes) [The Gilled and Gasteroid Fungi (Agaricales and Gastromycetes)], which became known as simply "Moser", saw several editions in both the original German and in translation. Other important works included a 1960
monograph on the genus Phlegmacium (sometimes considered part of Cortinarius) and a 1975 study of members of Cortinarius, Dermocybe, and Stephanopus in South America, co-authored with the mycologist
Egon Horak.
After showing interest in natural sciences in his youth, Moser studied at the
University of Innsbruck. His university career began during
World War II however, and was soon interrupted by
military service. Stationed as a translator in eastern Europe, he was captured and placed in a
prisoner-of-war camp. He was released in 1948, subsequently returning to Innsbruck to complete his studies. After completing his doctorate in 1950, Moser worked in England for six months, researching the symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi. Upon his return to Austria, he joined the
Federal Forestry Research Institute, where he remained until 1968, conducting influential research on the use of
mycorrhizal fungi in
reforestation. He began
lecturing at the University of Innsbruck in 1956, and in 1972 became the inaugural head of the first Institute of Microbiology in Austria. He remained with the Institute until his retirement in 1991, and his scientific studies continued until his death in 2002. An influential mycologist who
described around 500 new
taxa, Moser received awards throughout his life, and numerous fungal taxa have been named in his honour. (Full article...)
Image 11
Marshal Mortier at the battle of Durenstein in 1805, Auguste Sandoz
The Battle of Dürenstein (
German: Schlacht bei Dürnstein; also known as Dürrenstein, Dürnstein and Diernstein) or the Battle of Krems (
Russian: Сражение при Кремсе), on 11 November 1805, was an engagement in the
Napoleonic Wars during the
War of the Third Coalition. Dürenstein (modern
Dürnstein),
Austria, is located in the
Wachau valley, on the river
Danube, 73 kilometers (45 mi) upstream from
Vienna, Austria. The river makes a crescent-shaped curve between Dürnstein and nearby
Krems an der Donau, and the battle was fought in the flood plain between the river and the mountains.
At Dürenstein, a combined force of
Russian and
Austrian troops trapped a
French division commanded by
Théodore Maxime Gazan. The French division was part of the newly created
VIII Corps, the so-called Corps Mortier, under command of
Édouard Mortier. In pursuing the Austrian retreat from
Bavaria, Mortier had over-extended his three divisions along the north bank of the Danube.
Mikhail Kutuzov, commander of the Coalition force, enticed Mortier to send Gazan's division into a trap and French troops were caught in a valley between two Russian columns. They were rescued by the timely arrival of a second division, under command of
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The battle extended well into the night, after which both sides claimed victory. The French lost more than a third of their participants, and Gazan's division experienced over 40 percent losses. The Austrians and Russians also had heavy losses—close to 16 percent—but perhaps the most significant was the death in action of
Johann Heinrich von Schmitt, one of Austria's most capable chiefs of staff. (Full article...)
The conflict has been viewed as a continuation of the
First Silesian War, which had concluded only two years before. After the
Treaty of Berlin ended hostilities between Austria and Prussia in 1742, the
Habsburg monarchy's fortunes improved greatly in the continuing War of the Austrian Succession. As Austria expanded its alliances with the 1743
Treaty of Worms, Prussia entered a renewed alliance with Austria's enemies in the League of Frankfurt and rejoined the war, hoping to prevent a resurgent Austria from taking back Silesia. (Full article...)
Image 13
Henry in full regalia (depicted in the 11th-century Evangelion of Saint Emmeram's Abbey)
Henry IV (German: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was
Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105,
King of Germany from 1054 to 1105,
King of Italy and
Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and
Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son of
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor—the second monarch of the
Salian dynasty—and
Agnes of Poitou. After his father's death on 5 October 1056, Henry was placed under his mother's guardianship. She made grants to German aristocrats to secure their support. Unlike her late husband, she could not control the election of the popes, thus the idea of the
"liberty of the Church" strengthened during her rule. Taking advantage of her weakness, Archbishop
Anno II of Cologne kidnapped Henry in April 1062. He administered Germany until Henry came of age in 1065.
Henry endeavoured to recover the royal estates that had been lost during his minority. He employed low-ranking officials to carry out his new policies, causing discontent in
Saxony and
Thuringia. Henry crushed a riot in Saxony in 1069 and overcame the rebellion of the Saxon aristocrat
Otto of Nordheim in 1071. The appointment of commoners to high office offended German aristocrats, and many of them withdrew from Henry's court. He insisted on his royal prerogative to appoint bishops and abbots, although the
reformist clerics condemned this practice as
simony (a forbidden sale of church offices).
Pope Alexander II blamed Henry's advisors for his acts and excommunicated them in early 1073. Henry's conflicts with the
Holy See and the German dukes weakened his position and the
Saxons rose up in open rebellion in the summer of 1074. Taking advantage of a quarrel between the Saxon aristocrats and peasantry, he forced the rebels into submission in October 1075. (Full article...)
A younger member of a
cadet branch of the
House of Fürstenberg, at his birth his chances of inheriting the family title of Fürst zu Fürstenberg were slight; he was prepared instead for a military career, and a tutor was hired to teach him the
military sciences. He entered the
Habsburg military in 1777, at the age of seventeen years, and was a member of the field army in the short
War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79). His career progressed steadily during the
Habsburg War with the Ottoman Empire. In particular he distinguished himself at
Šabac in 1790, when he led his troops in storming the fortress on the
Sava river. (Full article...)
Image 15
Storming of the breach by Prussian grenadiers,
Carl Röchling
The battle was fought in the town of
Leuthen (now Lutynia,
Poland), 10 km (6 mi) northwest of Breslau, (now
Wrocław, Poland), in Prussian (formerly Austrian)
Silesia. By exploiting the training of his troops and his superior knowledge of the terrain, Frederick created a diversion at one end of the battlefield and moved most of his smaller army behind a series of low hillocks. The surprise attack in
oblique order on the unsuspecting Austrian flank baffled Prince Charles, who took several hours to realize that the main action was to his left, not his right. Within seven hours, the Prussians had destroyed the Austrians and erased any advantage that the Austrians had gained throughout the campaigning in the preceding summer and autumn. Within 48 hours, Frederick had laid
siege to Breslau, which resulted in the city's surrender on 19–20 December. (Full article...)
The Semmering railway, which starts at
Gloggnitz and leads over the
Semmering to
Mürzzuschlag was the first mountain
railway in Europe built with a
standard gauge track. It is commonly referred to as the world's first true mountain railway, given the very difficult terrain and the considerable altitude difference that was mastered during its construction. It is still fully functional as a part of the former
Austrian Southern Railway which is now part of the
Austrian Federal Railways.
The Semmering railway was constructed between 1848 and 1854 by some 20,000 workers under the project's designer and director
Carl von Ghega. In 1998 the railway was named a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
He became widely known and highly regarded because of a television and radio broadcast series produced by the
ORF, where he introduced his viewers and listeners to the world of opera and operetta with outstanding knowledge of the subject matter and marvelous humor. Marcel Prawy maintained close friendships with many prominent singers, composers and musicians, such as
Leonard Bernstein and
Robert Stolz. He was awarded numerous awards and honours by the nation and internationally, including becoming honorary citizen of Vienna and
Miami. Hardly anyone succeeded in picturing opera to his audience as impressively as he did. And thus Prawy became an institution of the Viennese opera as the National Guide to Opera (Opernführer der Nation).
... that American horticulturalist Joseph Lancaster Budd traveled to England, France, Austria, Russia, and China in 1882 to discover fruit trees that could grow in
Iowa?
General images
The following are images from various Austria-related articles on Wikipedia.
Historians generally consider the battle as among Frederick's greatest blunders. Contrary to the advice of his subordinates, he refused to believe that the typically cautious Austrian commander Leopold von Daun would bring his troops into battle. The Austrian force ambushed his army in a pre-dawn attack. Over 30% of Frederick's army was defeated; five generals were killed and he lost his artillery park and a vast quantity of supplies. Although Daun had scored a complete surprise, his attempt to pursue the retreating Prussians was unsuccessful. The escaped force united with another corps in the vicinity, and regained momentum over the winter. (Full article...)
Image 2
A painting of SMS Körös bombarding Belgrade in 1914
During the
World War IIGerman-led
Axisinvasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Morava was the flagship of the 2nd Mine Barrage Division, and operated on the River
Tisza. She fought off attacks by the Luftwaffe, and shot down one enemy aircraft, but was forced to withdraw to Belgrade. Due to high river levels and low bridges, navigating monitors was difficult, and she was
scuttled by her crew on 11 April. Some of her crew tried to escape cross-country towards the southern
Adriatic coast, but most surrendered on 14 April. The remainder made their way to the
Bay of Kotor, which was captured by the Italian
XVII Corps on 17 April. She was later raised by the
Navy of the Independent State of Croatia, an Axis puppet state, and continued in service as Bosna until June 1944, when she struck a mine and sank. (Full article...)
No particular triggering event started the war. Prussia cited its centuries-old dynastic claims on parts of Silesia as a casus belli, but Realpolitik and
geostrategic factors also played a role in provoking the conflict. Maria Theresa's contested succession to the
Habsburg monarchy provided an opportunity for Prussia to strengthen itself relative to regional rivals such as
Saxony and
Bavaria. (Full article...)
Empress Matilda (
c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as
the Anarchy. The daughter and heir of
Henry I, king of England and ruler of
Normandy, she went to Germany as a child when she was married to the future
Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with the emperor to Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned empress in
St Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial
regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry V had no children, and when he died in 1125, the imperial crown was claimed by his rival
Lothair of Supplinburg.
Matilda's younger and only full brother,
William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving Matilda's father and realm facing a potential
succession crisis. Upon her widowhood in the Holy Roman Empire, Matilda was recalled to
Normandy by her father, who arranged for her to marry
Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders in France. Henry I had no further legitimate children and nominated Matilda as his heir, making his court swear an
oath of loyalty to her and her successors, but the decision was not popular in his
Anglo-Norman court. Henry died in 1135, but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the barons. The throne was instead taken by Matilda's male cousin
Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the
English Church. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom. (Full article...)
The terrain complicated battle tactics for both sides, but the Russians and the Austrians, having arrived in the area first, were able to overcome many of its difficulties by strengthening a causeway between two small ponds. They had also devised a solution to Frederick's deadly modus operandi, the
oblique order. Although Frederick's troops initially gained the upper hand in the battle, his limited scouting, combined with the strong defensive preparations of the Allied troops, gave the Russians and Austrians an advantage. By afternoon, when the combatants were exhausted, fresh Austrian troops thrown into the fray secured the Allied victory. (Full article...)
The Third Silesian War (German: Dritter Schlesischer Krieg) was a war between
Prussia and
Austria (together with its allies) that lasted from 1756 to 1763 and confirmed Prussia's control of the region of
Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The war was fought mainly in Silesia,
Bohemia and
Upper Saxony and formed one
theatre of the
Seven Years' War. It was the last of three
Silesian Wars fought between
Frederick the Great's Prussia and
Maria Theresa's Austria in the mid-18th century, all three of which ended in Prussian control of Silesia.
This conflict can be viewed as a continuation of the
First and
Second Silesian Wars of the previous decade. After the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the
War of the Austrian Succession, Austria enacted broad reforms and
upended its traditional diplomatic policy to prepare for renewed war with Prussia. As with the previous Silesian Wars, no particular triggering event initiated the conflict; rather, Prussia struck opportunistically to disrupt its enemies' plans. The war's cost in blood and treasure was high on both sides, and it ended inconclusively when neither of the main belligerents could sustain the conflict any longer. (Full article...)
On 10 April 1809, Austrian forces under
Archduke Charles crossed the border of
Bavaria, a French client state. The French response, under
Louis-Alexandre Berthier, was disorganised but order was imposed with the arrival of Napoleon on 17 April. Napoleon led an advance to
Landshut, hoping to cut off the Austrian line of retreat and sweep into their rear. Charles crossed the Danube at
Regensburg, which allowed him to retreat eastwards, although he failed to reach the Austrian capital,
Vienna, before the French. A French assault across the Danube was repulsed on 21–22 May at the
Battle of Aspern-Essling but a repeat attack was successful in July. Napoleon won a major victory at the 5–6 July
Battle of Wagram, which forced the Austrians to sign the
Armistice of Znaim on 12 July. Austrian invasions of the Duchy of Warsaw and
Saxony (where they fought alongside the
Black Brunswickers) were repulsed and they were driven out of their territories in Italy. British forces
landed in Walcheren, in the French client state of
Holland, but were unable to seize their objective of capturing
Antwerp and were later withdrawn. (Full article...)
Image 8
A Haflinger mare and foal
The Haflinger, also known as the Avelignese, is a
breed of
horse developed in
Austria and northern
Italy (namely
Hafling in
South Tyrol region) during the late 19th century. Haflinger horses are relatively small, are always chestnut with flaxen mane and tail, have distinctive
gaits described as energetic but smooth, and are well-muscled yet elegant. The breed traces its ancestry to the
Middle Ages; several theories for its origin exist. Haflingers, developed for use in mountainous terrain, are known for their hardiness. Their current
conformation and appearance are the result of infusions of bloodlines from
Arabian and various European breeds into the original native
Tyrolean ponies. The
foundation sire, 249 Folie, was born in 1874; by 1904, the first breeders' cooperative was formed. All Haflingers can trace their lineage back to Folie through one of seven bloodlines. World Wars I and II, as well as the
Great Depression, had a detrimental effect on the breed, and lower-quality animals were used at times to save the breed from extinction. During World War II, breeders focused on horses that were shorter and more
draft-like, favored by the military for use as
packhorses. The emphasis after the war shifted toward animals of increased refinement and height.
In the postwar era, the Haflinger was indiscriminately
crossed with other breeds and some observers feared the breed was in renewed danger of extinction. However, starting in 1946, breeders focused on producing purebred Haflingers and a
closed stud book was created. Interest in the breed increased in other countries, and between 1950 and 1974, the population grew, even while the overall European horse population decreased. Population numbers continued to increase steadily, and as of 2005, almost 250,000 Haflingers existed worldwide. Breeding farms are in several countries, although most of the breeding stock still comes from Austria. In 2003, a Haflinger became the first horse to be
cloned, resulting in a
filly named
Prometea. (Full article...)
Image 9
August Meyszner wearing the rank of SS-Oberführer in 1938
Meyszner began his career as an officer in the Gendarmerie, served on the
Italian Front during
World War I and reached the rank of Major der Polizei by 1921. He joined the
Austrian Nazi Party in September 1925 and became a right-wing parliamentary
deputy and provincial minister in the Austrian province of
Styria in 1930. Due to his involvement with the Nazis, Meyszner was forcibly retired in 1933 and arrested in February 1934, but released after three months at the
Wöllersdorfconcentration camp. That July, he was rearrested following an attempted
coup, but escaped police custody and fled to
Nazi Germany, where he joined the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) and then the Allgemeine SS. After police postings in Austria, Germany and
occupied Norway, Himmler appointed Meyszner as Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia in early 1942. He was one of few Orpo officers to be appointed to such a role. (Full article...)
Image 10
Moser,
c. 1980s
Meinhard Michael Moser (13 March 1924 – 30 September 2002) was an Austrian
mycologist. His work principally concerned the
taxonomy, chemistry, and toxicity of the
gilledmushrooms (
Agaricales), especially those of the genus Cortinarius, and the ecology of
ectomycorrhizal relationships. His contributions to the Kleine Kryptogamenflora von Mitteleuropa series of mycological guidebooks were well regarded and widely used. In particular, his 1953 Blätter- und Bauchpilze (Agaricales und Gastromycetes) [The Gilled and Gasteroid Fungi (Agaricales and Gastromycetes)], which became known as simply "Moser", saw several editions in both the original German and in translation. Other important works included a 1960
monograph on the genus Phlegmacium (sometimes considered part of Cortinarius) and a 1975 study of members of Cortinarius, Dermocybe, and Stephanopus in South America, co-authored with the mycologist
Egon Horak.
After showing interest in natural sciences in his youth, Moser studied at the
University of Innsbruck. His university career began during
World War II however, and was soon interrupted by
military service. Stationed as a translator in eastern Europe, he was captured and placed in a
prisoner-of-war camp. He was released in 1948, subsequently returning to Innsbruck to complete his studies. After completing his doctorate in 1950, Moser worked in England for six months, researching the symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi. Upon his return to Austria, he joined the
Federal Forestry Research Institute, where he remained until 1968, conducting influential research on the use of
mycorrhizal fungi in
reforestation. He began
lecturing at the University of Innsbruck in 1956, and in 1972 became the inaugural head of the first Institute of Microbiology in Austria. He remained with the Institute until his retirement in 1991, and his scientific studies continued until his death in 2002. An influential mycologist who
described around 500 new
taxa, Moser received awards throughout his life, and numerous fungal taxa have been named in his honour. (Full article...)
Image 11
Marshal Mortier at the battle of Durenstein in 1805, Auguste Sandoz
The Battle of Dürenstein (
German: Schlacht bei Dürnstein; also known as Dürrenstein, Dürnstein and Diernstein) or the Battle of Krems (
Russian: Сражение при Кремсе), on 11 November 1805, was an engagement in the
Napoleonic Wars during the
War of the Third Coalition. Dürenstein (modern
Dürnstein),
Austria, is located in the
Wachau valley, on the river
Danube, 73 kilometers (45 mi) upstream from
Vienna, Austria. The river makes a crescent-shaped curve between Dürnstein and nearby
Krems an der Donau, and the battle was fought in the flood plain between the river and the mountains.
At Dürenstein, a combined force of
Russian and
Austrian troops trapped a
French division commanded by
Théodore Maxime Gazan. The French division was part of the newly created
VIII Corps, the so-called Corps Mortier, under command of
Édouard Mortier. In pursuing the Austrian retreat from
Bavaria, Mortier had over-extended his three divisions along the north bank of the Danube.
Mikhail Kutuzov, commander of the Coalition force, enticed Mortier to send Gazan's division into a trap and French troops were caught in a valley between two Russian columns. They were rescued by the timely arrival of a second division, under command of
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The battle extended well into the night, after which both sides claimed victory. The French lost more than a third of their participants, and Gazan's division experienced over 40 percent losses. The Austrians and Russians also had heavy losses—close to 16 percent—but perhaps the most significant was the death in action of
Johann Heinrich von Schmitt, one of Austria's most capable chiefs of staff. (Full article...)
The conflict has been viewed as a continuation of the
First Silesian War, which had concluded only two years before. After the
Treaty of Berlin ended hostilities between Austria and Prussia in 1742, the
Habsburg monarchy's fortunes improved greatly in the continuing War of the Austrian Succession. As Austria expanded its alliances with the 1743
Treaty of Worms, Prussia entered a renewed alliance with Austria's enemies in the League of Frankfurt and rejoined the war, hoping to prevent a resurgent Austria from taking back Silesia. (Full article...)
Image 13
Henry in full regalia (depicted in the 11th-century Evangelion of Saint Emmeram's Abbey)
Henry IV (German: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was
Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105,
King of Germany from 1054 to 1105,
King of Italy and
Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and
Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son of
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor—the second monarch of the
Salian dynasty—and
Agnes of Poitou. After his father's death on 5 October 1056, Henry was placed under his mother's guardianship. She made grants to German aristocrats to secure their support. Unlike her late husband, she could not control the election of the popes, thus the idea of the
"liberty of the Church" strengthened during her rule. Taking advantage of her weakness, Archbishop
Anno II of Cologne kidnapped Henry in April 1062. He administered Germany until Henry came of age in 1065.
Henry endeavoured to recover the royal estates that had been lost during his minority. He employed low-ranking officials to carry out his new policies, causing discontent in
Saxony and
Thuringia. Henry crushed a riot in Saxony in 1069 and overcame the rebellion of the Saxon aristocrat
Otto of Nordheim in 1071. The appointment of commoners to high office offended German aristocrats, and many of them withdrew from Henry's court. He insisted on his royal prerogative to appoint bishops and abbots, although the
reformist clerics condemned this practice as
simony (a forbidden sale of church offices).
Pope Alexander II blamed Henry's advisors for his acts and excommunicated them in early 1073. Henry's conflicts with the
Holy See and the German dukes weakened his position and the
Saxons rose up in open rebellion in the summer of 1074. Taking advantage of a quarrel between the Saxon aristocrats and peasantry, he forced the rebels into submission in October 1075. (Full article...)
A younger member of a
cadet branch of the
House of Fürstenberg, at his birth his chances of inheriting the family title of Fürst zu Fürstenberg were slight; he was prepared instead for a military career, and a tutor was hired to teach him the
military sciences. He entered the
Habsburg military in 1777, at the age of seventeen years, and was a member of the field army in the short
War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79). His career progressed steadily during the
Habsburg War with the Ottoman Empire. In particular he distinguished himself at
Šabac in 1790, when he led his troops in storming the fortress on the
Sava river. (Full article...)
Image 15
Storming of the breach by Prussian grenadiers,
Carl Röchling
The battle was fought in the town of
Leuthen (now Lutynia,
Poland), 10 km (6 mi) northwest of Breslau, (now
Wrocław, Poland), in Prussian (formerly Austrian)
Silesia. By exploiting the training of his troops and his superior knowledge of the terrain, Frederick created a diversion at one end of the battlefield and moved most of his smaller army behind a series of low hillocks. The surprise attack in
oblique order on the unsuspecting Austrian flank baffled Prince Charles, who took several hours to realize that the main action was to his left, not his right. Within seven hours, the Prussians had destroyed the Austrians and erased any advantage that the Austrians had gained throughout the campaigning in the preceding summer and autumn. Within 48 hours, Frederick had laid
siege to Breslau, which resulted in the city's surrender on 19–20 December. (Full article...)
The Semmering railway, which starts at
Gloggnitz and leads over the
Semmering to
Mürzzuschlag was the first mountain
railway in Europe built with a
standard gauge track. It is commonly referred to as the world's first true mountain railway, given the very difficult terrain and the considerable altitude difference that was mastered during its construction. It is still fully functional as a part of the former
Austrian Southern Railway which is now part of the
Austrian Federal Railways.
The Semmering railway was constructed between 1848 and 1854 by some 20,000 workers under the project's designer and director
Carl von Ghega. In 1998 the railway was named a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
He became widely known and highly regarded because of a television and radio broadcast series produced by the
ORF, where he introduced his viewers and listeners to the world of opera and operetta with outstanding knowledge of the subject matter and marvelous humor. Marcel Prawy maintained close friendships with many prominent singers, composers and musicians, such as
Leonard Bernstein and
Robert Stolz. He was awarded numerous awards and honours by the nation and internationally, including becoming honorary citizen of Vienna and
Miami. Hardly anyone succeeded in picturing opera to his audience as impressively as he did. And thus Prawy became an institution of the Viennese opera as the National Guide to Opera (Opernführer der Nation).
... that American horticulturalist Joseph Lancaster Budd traveled to England, France, Austria, Russia, and China in 1882 to discover fruit trees that could grow in
Iowa?
General images
The following are images from various Austria-related articles on Wikipedia.
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