Heeresgeschichtliche Museum

The museum of military history was much more interesting than I had thought it would be. I had the image of a small room with dusty weapons in it for some reason, but this was quite the opposite. The large several leveled open rooms held very nicely labeled display cases with so much history. I felt like I was looking at history from an angle that I had not thought of in a while, the military aspect of it. In the more modern section there was a painting of a woman being grabbed during a riot. The audio guide told me that this riot had occurred in Simmering (where we stayed) this showed me how a workers neighborhood like Simmering could change over time and be the source of protest for what people saw as unfair treatment. One part of the museum housed pikes and more traditional weapons and I was reminded of my medieval studies class I took where Kevin Roddy described all the uses for these weapons and how they had evolved over time. Once again I was standing in a museum and able to connect what I was seeing to history that actually happened. It seems lame but actually being able to connect what I was looking at in a case to history I have been told about or read about was invigorating and made me want to learn more. Another theme that I'm noticing on this trip is that I am shocked by the violence that has occurred in the past. The picture above shows some weapons that were used. The brass knuckles were particularly disturbing. I have never known war and seeing this collection really gave me a glimpse into the trail it left behind.

The section on the thirty-years-war was very interesting. There was a huge painting showing people fleeing from the approaching troops. Their faces held such panic and in the background a person could see the army burning homes and looting. This one picture really drove home the point that the armies took everything and ruined peoples lives if they came in their paths. The uniforms present were surprising as I thought that the military at this point while more organized than before would lack actual uniforms. The other section that stood out was the "war against the Turks". The siege that they laid upon Wien was a particularly interesting point of reading in our texts for this class and seeing actual images and weapons from this event was enlightening. The importance of rank was also illuminated in this museum and especially in the section for the "war against the Turks". It was very important to document who did what and have something to show a person's military skill.