Wort der Woche: Mohn

 Vivid red, cheeky scarlet and faded pink, you can see these iconic flowers everywhere in the UK during the first few days of November. Yesterday I saw a huge one in the departures area for rail  passengers to look at while waiting for their trains at London's King's Cross Station. They are worn to remember and honour soldiers who died in WWI and WWII.  The British public have supported the Poppy Appeal since 1918 and money raised is used to help soldiers who have returned from war to adapt to civilian life.

In Germany and Austria poppies have a more everyday use. Many people might eat them with their breakfast or for a mid-morning treat. Poppyseeds or Mohnkörner are used to decorate bread rolls. They look delicious, especially on the small white Mohnbrötchen available to buy in bakers and coffee shops in most towns and villages. The tiny blue-grey seeds look pretty and add crunch and a nutty flavour to the white rolls. They are also sold in butchers shops; just ask for a Käsebrötchen or a Schinkenbrötchen and you will soon be tucking into a roll freshly filled with cheese or ham.

Word of the Week: die Klassenfahrt

This does not mean what you think! It is quite innocently a school trip. When I worked in Austria I went on some great school trips. One of them lasted a week and was really a Skifahrt to the Alps. Another very memorable Klassenfahrt was to Windischgarsten, high up in the central Austrian mountains, where we visited a sword factory in the morning and spent the afternoon on a Sommerrodelbahn, a summer toboggan run.

 

Hundertwasser Haus

The Hundertwasser House in Vienna is such an interesting building I really want to tell you more about it. Visually it is unlike any other building and the reasons behind its quirkiness lie with its chief creator Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Hundertwasser believed that most buildings suffered from a sickness and it was his dream to create buildings that were vibrant and in harmony with nature. So he designed Hundertwasser House.

The house is an apartment house. This means it is divided up into small Wohnungen or flats and there are many residents living in it. The building is fascinating with its use of bright colour and unusual curves. The colourful mosaics, crooked walls, small balconies and roof terraces overgrown with trees all give the building its extraordinary look. It is one of the most visited buildings in Austria.

Each dwelling within the house is made individual by its own colour on the outside wall and by its own distinct type of window. The corridors inside the house have uneven floors and undulating roughcast walls made of materials that are easy to renew. The roofline of the building is ornamented with large onion domes and trees that rise up out of terraced gardens on the roof. And if you manage to look closely at the outside walls you might spot the flamboyant silver ceramic tiles used to decorate around some of the windows.

Watercolour of Hundertwasser House

If you are lucky enough to get the chance to visit the Hundertwasser House at 43 Löwengasse  in Vienna then you will have to make do with looking at the building from the outside, as it is a private, residential home. But there is a cafe on the ground floor of the building where you can soak up the atmosphere over Kaffee und Kuchen.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser

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Look out for more from kidzdeutsch in the next few days!