Thomas Kreuz - An Introduction

Thomas Kreuz - photo by Nigel A JAMES

No Grind for Thomas!

It is the familiar sights which make up the popular images of the cities which we know; but, it is in the back streets where the magic of urban character is to be found, and, it was whilst making my way along Vienna’s Westbahnstrasse that I discovered Wauwau, a small shop specializing in the advancement of very good taste! And Thomas Kreuz, the owner of this very unusual establishment, does more than just own!

Wauwau is all about pepper-mills. Not the industrial kind that all of us are used to, but superb hand crafted pieces, and all carefully and expertly made by Thomas Kreuz in his work-shop. He has all shapes and sizes; big ones, small ones, plain classical ones, and colourful ones, too. And his functional practical works of fine art are as varied and as interesting as he is himself.

It was as a student of applied arts in Vienna, that Thomas, a former goldsmith, discovered his present way in life. He hit upon the idea of making pepper-mills whilst preparing for a project as part of his studies, and, with his well practiced eye, he was able to design and produce items of sheer unique beauty. But, as he says, it is the wood that gives them that “very special something”.

And working with wood is a challenge. Because, unlike gold, you only have one chance to succeed. Gold, after all, can be melted down again and again, wood can’t. And pepper-mills, unlike jewellery, play a very big and very permanent role in everyone’s life.

We all like good food! And pepper is a question of taste, and everyone’s table demands not only a salt-cellar but a pepper-mill, as well. And, it is thanks to Thomas, that we now have the chance of providing our tables with a beautiful one-off centre piece of rare and functional art.

But, the life of this craftsman isn’t only the grind of hard work. He is the father of two very fine children, a boy and a girl; and his wife, Ursula, is an artist as well. She is a sculptor of stone, and some of her work can also be seen in Wauwau.

Stone, wood, and taste! Three very important elements (plus a little more!) and all in one little shop, Wauwau.

Wow!

Wauwau. 1070 Wien. Westbahnstrasse 7 (very close to Neubaugasse and on the corner of Hermanngasse)

Ful details and great pictures, http://www.wauwau.at/

Hermine Diwald - An Introduction

Hermine Diwald - photo by Nigel A  JAMES

Cunning and Fortitude

There are some people who have an enormous reserve of deep inner passion. They have a certain peace about them that provides strength and meaning to those that they meet, and, one such person is Hermine Diwald. But, Hermine’s strength didn’t come about by pure chance, it grew out of cunning, stealth and great fortitude.

It all began at the end of the Second World War. All over the world, people were returning happily to their homes; their struggle for peace having come to an end. Not so for the Donauschwaben. They had lost all, and, amongst them were Hermine and her family who were from Werschetz in the Banat (Serbia), and they, like thousands of others had been sent to a transit camp!

They had a choice. And it was simple. Stay put in internment and end up somewhere in the Soviet Union (and possibly even dead), or, take your chances and run! And, so it was, that 13 year old Hermine, her family, and others, as well, stepped out after dark through a hole in the fence and embarked upon their sometimes hard, but always dangerous flight to the west.

Hermine’s family found their new home in Vienna where they all succeeded very well. Other Donauschwaben went further a field, and, some didn’t stop until they reached America, and a few even went further a field to Australia and New Zealand.

But people don’t flee from places, they run from people; and those who fled and survived have one very big thing in common, and that is the place that they came from. For them, that will always be home.

And home needs keeping alive. From Vienna, Hermine and others are still busily producing and sending out the Werschetzer Zeitung, a periodical journal containing all that is of interest to this group of very unique survivors. Its news is interesting and factual. But there is one thing that will never be found amongst its pages, and that is bitterness. Yesterday was then and the present is now, and Werschetz will always be Werschetz; and the Werschetzer Zeitung will always continue to connect.

The journal is a very big part of Hermine’s life, and, thanks to her efforts and skills, an important tradition has taken on the importance of historical reality, not only “abroad” but “at home” in the Banat as well!

najames

October Verse

The Cutting Edge - pencil drawing by Nigel A JAMESFrom A Shropshire Lad

Loitering With Vacant Eye

A Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman. Some of the better known poems are “To an Athlete Dying Young”, “Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now” and “When I was One-and-Twenty”. The collection was published in 1896. The main theme of A Shropshire Lad is mortality, and so living life to its fullest! After all, death can strike at any time!

Loitering With a Vacant Eye is less known, but just as meaningful and deep!


Loitering With a Vacant Eye

Loitering with a vacant eye
Along the Grecian gallery,
And brooding on my heavy ill,
I met a statue standing still.
Still in marble stone stood he,
And steadfastly he looked at me.
`Well met,' I thought the look would say,
`We both were fashioned far away;
We neither knew, when we were young,
These Londoners we live among.'


Still he stood and eyed me hard,
An earnest and a grave regard:
`What, lad, drooping with your lot?
I too would be where I am not.
I too survey that endless line
Of men whose thoughts are not as mine.
Years, ere you stood up from rest,
On my neck the collar prest;
Years, when you lay down your ill,
I shall stand and bear it still.
Courage, lad, 'tis not for long:
Stand, quit you like stone, be strong.'
So I thought his look would say;
And light on me my trouble lay,
And I stepped out in flesh and bone
Manful like the man of stone.

njmailboy@gmail.com

Margaret Felber - A Short Encounter

Margaret Felber  - photo by Nigel A JAMES

On the Right track!

For some people, their passage through life is often a question of making the most of things as they come. Many are good at it, few are excellent, and those who understand this art of survival are the ones who are able to see the promise in even the lowest of jobs. For them, there is nothing too low, for, in their humbleness lies the strength of great steel. And one such person who has successfully been down the highways and byways of life is Margaret Felber.

It was after the war. Things were hard. Margaret, like many others, too, was hungry and looking for work. Vienna was rebuilding, and, at the top on the list was the getting in order of the public transport system. This was not only good for the city, but perfect for Margaret, too.

And, so it was that she became a tram conductress. In those days a very sought after job, and one with a very smart dark blue uniform, too! But, of course, there was not just the selling of tickets and smiling. There were other sides, too, and they weren’t always easy!

There are two things that stand-out in her mind. The first, and perhaps the hardest, was the uncoupling and re-coupling of the rear carriages at the beginning and end of each journey. This wasn’t so bad in the summer, but, in the winter with its icy temperatures and early afternoon darkness, the lifting of the heavy and dirty and often freezing cold hooks and chains was something that nobody envied. But that was life and all part of her daily routine.

The second thing which sticks out in her mind had more to do with amusement than anything else.

It was always the same, and late Saturday nights were the best. The route upon which Margaret worked was the line 43, the connection between the outlying wine district of Neuwaldegg and the centre of Vienna. Many (if not most) of the passengers were still over-merry as they boarded the tram for a ride-home of laughing and singing; and, more often than not, Margaret broke all of the rules and joined in with it all!

And fun makes life easy and nice. Margaret has now gathered together the threads of her life in a book. And it is very interesting. In it are the people she met and the unforgettable times which she had - and all because she kept off of the high road and travelled the low road instead!

 
nj.