The great day has come!

Ahhh, well rested!

It was Sunday, great weather – since it was mid-morning when I entered the breakfast hall, Alexander and all the other participants of the previous day’s event, the opening guests who lived in our hotel “Apfelhaus”, were already there and many conversations developed.

I actually wanted to attend mass in the local evangelical church, but we, Alexander and I, took a short walk through the old town and the pedestrian zone of Sibiu.

In retrospect, I am sorry, not because the walk was boring or unpleasant, but because I was assured that this mass in the local Protestant church was exceptionally beautiful and solemn. Since nothing was planned after that in the early afternoon, I used the free time to sleep early because of the nightly planned return trip, which was only moderately successful.

In good time, dressed smartly for the occasion, we and many more met in Kunsthaus 7B for the opening of the exhibition “In between – Spatiu intre” by Gabriela von Habsburg. Many honorable guests expressed the importance of this exhibition with their presence.

In addition to Princess Sophia of Romania, the mayor of Sibiu, the Catholic Archbishop, the Evangelical Bishop, the Ambassador of Georgia in Romania and many other art lovers and sponsors, there were also many “normal” people from the neighborhood on the upper floor of the Kunsthaus 7B assembled. Due to the warm weather and the crowd with masks in the not very large rooms, some who justifiably wanted to be there had circulatory problems. Most of them, however, braved the heat and were able to attend the beautiful opening until the end.

Dr. Elmar Zorn, art critic from Munich, described the artist Gabriela von Habsburg and her art in a very humorous performance.

Dr. Oana Ionel, curator and artist herself, led the way with her sensitive explanation about “the why and why” that the works were set up or hung up for the official opening of the exhibition. The deliberate play with light and the resulting shadows were particularly interesting – great.

The festival continued in the “Apfelhaus”. At the beginning a brass band filled us with well-known sounds and showed the cultural origins of Transylvania and led with their music over to a typical meal from the region. The buffet with grilled meat, with a fantastic hearty red cabbage – yes, there was an almost unmanageable amount and abundance of different vegetables. Particularly noteworthy was the light farmer’s bread, roasted on the grill, tasting of herbs and a touch of garlic – heavenly.

During dinner, David Coole and his girlfriend, Simona Novacescu, were our table neighbors. It turned out to be a very fun, cozy and familiar evening that I would not have wanted to miss. Unfortunately the evening ended way too early because of our departure at 11pm. David, the epitome of wonderfully dry British humor and the pretty, personable Simona, a communication miracle, were also a highlight of the entertaining and unfortunately last evening. What is it’s name? “Leave the party when you like it best”!

So we got into our Land Rover and drove back to Vienna with many beautiful, heartfelt and unforgettable memories. That afternoon we had loaded the car with pictures for an exhibition in the ART 9TEEN gallery in Vienna. So this trip also had a practical purpose. Thanks to the almost empty streets at night, the journey only took 7 hours. These few hours mean almost nothing for us travelers, but for Europe, this is the space for the astonishingly large, cultural diversity.

For me, Romania is no longer the unknown country!

What I saw and experienced there, in addition to the art of Gabriela von Habsburg, will remain in good and enjoyable memories – I’ll definitely be back!

Unfortunately, that was the end of this four-day trip. Leopold Salm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz

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Simply cozy

On Saturday, like every morning, my alarm clock, the rooster, woke me up. – Wonderful, because of the cool air that, cleansed by the thunderstorm and the associated downpour of the previous evening, transported us into the deep sleepy depths. The proverbial imperial weather got Alexander and me out of bed and we met at breakfast, which this time was served buffet style in one of the arbor-like huts scattered around the property.

After a hearty breakfast we stopped by Thomas Emmerling to offer our help. We were chosen to haul tables. The good Lord heard my curses and a Romanian human crane, with hands as big as shovels, carried alone faster and above all twice the burden. So the morning work was done very quickly and gave us the time to go to Sibiu. All sorts of things – all roads in good condition! The horror stories leading up to our trip faded in the face of the great streets and their cleanliness.

I wanted to visit Oana Cringasu and her chocolate shop on the main square of Sibiu, the Piata Mare. Her story fascinated me, from a banker in Vienna to a chocolate producer in Sibiu! – What courage!

But unfortunately, on this Saturday she was not in her shop – bad luck that had to be washed away with a beer or two on the terrace of one of the numerous cafés on the beautiful Piata Mare! A place that is hard to find, if at all, in the rest of Europe. All building eras of Europe since the 12th century can be found united there – without being harassed by communist or post-communist buildings – a coherent benefit!

Both Alexander and I, still slightly damaged from the previous evenings, allowed ourselves a quiet afternoon. Everyone in their room, of course.

After this resting phase, we found ourselves fresh and sporty in the courtyard of the Kunsthaus 7B, the pre-festival area for the opening of the exhibition, “In Between – spatiu intre” by Gabriela von Habsburg.

A big barbecue and funny music was the order of the day!

For this prelude, two huge charcoal grills were lit in the courtyard and Romanian specialties such as mitilei (mici), sausages, steaks including potatoes, onions, salads, bread and much more were set up. Grillmeister was a Scot in a man’s dress, the kilt! Really, it was a real Scot with an intriguing twisted beard. Like so many foreigners there, he too settled in this quiet Cisnadioara am.

Clearly the obligatory question was: “Is he wearing something under his kilt or not?” The truth is – we don’t know.

In a specially built tent, the evening was accompanied vocally by a singer in boots and dreadlocks with very, very moody jazz. What I also stayed with was the manager of this very talented singer and band. I think she was a head taller than most of the crowd and her turban emphasized that.

Like the two evenings before, a thunderstorm set in like clockwork. Since the guests had learned to live with this circumstance and because of the good atmosphere, the water was taken from above without any stress, as an almost planned part of the opening.

Like all of us, Gabriela von Habsburg was infected by the excellent atmosphere and enthusiastic about the ambience of the village. Your joy should also have been the visit of your cousin, Princess Sophia of Romania. Sitting next to each other, they both visibly enjoyed how many people were casually looking for a conversation with you.

The grill was emptied, the wooden beer barrel only brought out foam, the singer had offered her lyrics and slowly silence fell over the village again. Remembering our two days before, we felt an urge to rest afterwards.

That was the third day.

Leopold Salm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz

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Everything revolves around the goulash

After the first day of the trip was exhausting and the lively conversations during and after dinner lasted until late in the evening, sleep was deep and very restful.

I was woken up by a rooster who kept calling excited and took his work, the awakening, very seriously. According to Alexander, the wake-up calls on the side of his room were caused by other animals. Maybe a bear? – He must not have slept enough yet!

As agreed, we met in the main building of the “Apfelhaus” hotel and were personally received by the boss. He turned out to be a boss who not only read everything from the eyes of his guests. He tried to make everything possible for us – we had a brilliant farmer’s breakfast, with an egg dish, various types of cheese, bread and various variations, nomen est omen, of apple jams.

Then we drove, as planned, to the residence of Thomas Emmerling, the rectory which is next to Kunsthaus 7B and below the church. The mighty works of art by Gabriela von Habsburg, made of stainless steel, were arranged in a picturesque manner in the garden and offered the perfect “eye-catcher”. In between, tables and benches have already been set up for the guests in the evening and decorated with flowers and candles.

Thank God the role of Alexander and me was not the sweaty setting up of the benches and tables, but rather the cooking of the specialty of the evening, a Hungarian kettle goulash, also known as “Pogracs-Gulyas”. This was done under the strict professional guidance of Ferencz Emöke, Thomas Emmerling’s personal assistant, who was always full of energy and in a good mood.

After the goulash pot had a gigantic size of 50 liters and had to be cooked over a wood fire, it was clear that our important activity would take up the whole day. That means that we could only do tiny auxiliary jobs and often had to watch with a bad conscience as others struggled with the preparations for dinner. Protected by a large parasol and adhering to a strict beer drinking regime, especially during a lightning-rich and stormy thunderstorm, the goulash soup was ready on time. Our clothes were also finished. Following the nose, it came straight out of the smokehouse.

It was Alexander who, by confusing the dress codes, contributed to the fact that we were “highly overdressed” early at the event – somehow embarrassing … for the others! The proximity of our hotel made it possible to quickly adapt our dress code to the level of “correct dressed” or rather “casual”. We just got to the arrival of Gabriela von Habsburg, also casually, but nevertheless elegantly dressed, who then talked animatedly with the guests.

The only suspicion drop was the weather. Sunny phases were interrupted by cloudbursts, lightning and thunder! It forced everyone from the decorated garden into a large room with a long table. Glasses, plates, cutlery, wine bottles and much more were placed on sideboards by the walls. Personnel was almost unnecessary, because everyone served themselves and also fetched from the garden the goulash, which was still protected by a large parasol, with delicious home-made bread. One of the other attractions was stiffly foaming craft beer from a large wooden barrel, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc from the ZAIG wine house in Tekendorf in northern Transylvania and yes, a German who had immigrated to Michelsberg and brought his own Qitten schnapps with him. The specialty was not only the self-distilling, but also, as he told us in detail, the production of his own pure alcohol through fermentation.

Thanks to the very relaxed atmosphere and lively discussions, some hard-boiled people, including Alexander and I, only ended the evening at 3:00 a.m.

How good that the hotel wasn’t far! That was the second day.

Leopold Salm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz

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Romania, the unknown country!

Or: A business trip turned into a breathtaking art trip to Romanian Transylvania.

I have a friendship that has lasted for decades with my dear friend, Alexander Varvaressos. He came to me after the end of 2019 and told me about an idea to open an art gallery.

Said and done!

In keeping with his motto, he implemented his idea at “express train speed” and commissioned me to provide the exhibitions in his gallery ART 9TEEN on Billrothstrasse with an artistically senseless, but economically highly necessary insurance.

In the gallery I also got to know Alexander’s partner, the art collector Thomas Emmerling, who is always calm, level-headed and rich in stories. So it happened that Thomas Emmerling contacted me about an exhibition insurance in Romania. After the work was done, the surprising invitation came to Michelsberg in Romania to the exhibition “Spatiu intre – In between” by Gabriela von Habsburg. Actually, I didn’t think about it for long and happily confirmed after the unspeakably long dry spell for traveling, art and all sorts of other restrictions of the last few months!

Romania was also a blank spot on my personal map. Others say Transylvania is a dark place because of its Dracula stories. On the other hand, I only knew Romania from frequent trips to Bulgaria. The traffic volume forced me to drive at night. – Yes, I only knew Romania at night and its streets only in the beam of the headlights!

Travelling by car to Romania began on June 17th, 2021 at 7.30 a.m. on Rennweg – where, according to Metternich, the Balkans begin! The trip was roughly predictable along the Danube – 2.5 hours to Budapest and 2 hours to Szeged, including all stops. At Szeged you turn in the direction of the Banat, the eastern part of the Hungarian lowlands. In its heart lies the Romanian city of Timisoara and in the southwest the Serbian city of Beograd. Climbing the super-green Carpathians at the eastern end of the Banat, Transylvania begins in history-steeped Transylvania. The cities here are named Klausenburg (Cluj), Kronstadt (Brasov), Karlsburg (Alba Julia) and Hermannstadt (Sibiu). We reached our destination Michelsberg near Sibiu after a drive of approx. 8.5 hours, which, up to 15 km in the Carpathian Mountains, only knows motorways.

Ahhh, finally Michelsberg. A sleepy place, on whose steep mountain slopes there are not only lots of green but also many old farms. Right in the middle, below the Protestant church, is the Kunsthaus 7B, the location of the exhibition “Spatiu intre – In between”.

Alexander and I moved into our room in the hotel “Apfelhaus” am Berg with a direct view of the fortified church Michelsberg, which dates back to the 12th century. In the evening we were invited to house Nr. 10, which belongs to the very active Protestant community of Heltau, for an excellent 5-course dinner with wine accompaniment, on a small scale. House Nr. 10 was built with great dedication and dedication by the wife of Professor Dr. Stefan Tobler renovated down to the last detail – a jewelry box.

Dinner was the first time I met the gorgeous artist Gabriela von Habsburg.

That was day 1!

Leopold Salm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz

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