6/17/14 Vienna - Nationalbibliothek

I left the museum and headed back to Michaelerplatz.  I still had some time to kill before the major museums closed for the day so I hobbled back to Michaelerplatz with the plan of walking down the street to the Albertina.

Here's a church on Michaelerplatz.

More details of fountains and statues.

On my way to the Albertina I got distracted by the entrance to the Austrian National Library.

For a small fee I could visit the Prunksaal (big fancy ass room).  I thought I'd just pop in quickly and take a few pictures, but it turns out there was a WWI exhibit that was pretty interesting so I hung out there for longer than I planned.

 Stairway up to the Prunksaal.  HAVE I MENTIONED MY FEET HURT?

These appeared to be Roman gravestones of some sort that were incorporated into the walls of the entryway.

And then I saw this.

Ahhhhhh.

There were two exhibits in the room.  The first explained a bit about the library's collection and how people treat books, with examples of books by famous people, owned by famous people, etc.

Some book donors commissioned special bindings for their books.

Some private book owners had special book plates composed to paste into books in their personal collections.  The one of the right marks books as from the personal library of Sigmund Freud.

And then you get odd little things in the collection like a tiny revolver belonging to the Archduchess of Austria.

This is a globe of the heavens.  Instead of continents, this globe features constellations and the mythological creatures they create.

 This is a war bond of some sort.

This is a notice about not giving away information to spies accidentally.

 Advertisement for war bonds.

Christmas in the field.

Notices are in three languages.

Another constellation globe.  There was a separate Globenmuseum with all sorts of maps and whatnot, but I didn't get around to visiting it.

A fighting song against Italy.  I ran into a lot of music in Vienna and when I get back I need to sit down with Mom so she can help me translate it.  I never did get around to learning how to read sheet music very well.

This is part of a fundraising campaign for a new submarine.  The Flottenverein (Navy League) was a group that advocated for a stronger naval presence and did various things to raise funds and educate citizens about ships.

A prosthetic limb designed to allow the user to hold a pen.

 They also had an exhibit on the role of women in the war.

 An ad for hair collection.  Hair was used in various applications and so any extra was collected and donated.

Cards showing the various roles of women in wartime as they entered the workforce in greater numbers.

 This poster calls for people to collect beetles to use as livestock feed.

 Poster for metal collection.

 A notice to collect used coffee grounds so that they can be pressed to extract the oil.

A notice to collect stinging nettles which can be turned into textiles.

 There was an exhibit on war themed puzzles and games for children.

Children in school wrote essays on how they would defeat the British or wage wars with submarines.

Children would draw scenes of war.

 Playbills for war-themed entertainment.

 At this point it was almost time for the major museums to close AND MY FEET HURT so I called Rex to see what he and his friends were up to and we decided to meet to get something to eat.  I hung out by the opera fountain for awhile and gave myself a foot massage while waiting which helped slightly.  After dinner I planned to go back to the Donauinsel to look for the little beach I found last year.