Marga Frank

On Air - by Nigel  A JAMES

Calling All Children

Stories that come in from the air are moments of magic. Radio, when properly done, not only conjures up pictures of fantasy, but provides for emotions as well. And, the best stories of all are the ones that send children to sleep with dreams in their pockets and smiles on their faces. Children's radio as how it once was! And, in Austria, it was thanks to one woman!

It was 1955. The age of new radio in Austria. A period of excitement when things were invented and methods didn't come from a course. And so it was, that against this pioneering background of oneness that Marga Frank started a program for children, The Little Dream Man. And this, indeed, was something quiet special.

It began around bedtime. All of its little listeners were not only on the way to their beds, but also looking forward to a moment they loved. And the reason was simple. The Little Dream Man stories had the magical quality of ending each day on a high. And, that is what made it so special. It was loved by both children and adults alike. But, of course, the telling of good stories wasn't all that it seemed.

Each story was a challenge. They not only had to last for exactly 4 minutes and 45 seconds, they had to conform to Marga Frank's standards of high evening beauty, as well. And, that wasn't all. The Little Dream Man went out every day, and that meant 365 brand new stories each year! A challenge! But, everything always happened on schedule, and, as the years went by, so did the stories.

And the generations moved on as well. The Little Dream Man was so popular that it lasted for almost 40 years, and the first little listeners eventually grew up to become the grandparents of the last little listening dreamers. And then came television, and the Little Dream man sadly disappeared into its shadow for ever.

And Marga frank is happily still with us, and now, with more than 90 years to her credit, she can look back upon a life of providing great pleasure. And, Austria, too, said thank you in a very big way. She was awarded the Austrian medal of honour for her work. The highest honour of all! And, quite rightly so. She was, after all, the one who sent millions of children to bed every night with a smile and a dream!

Nj

Mayday 2012

Streets of Waiting Patient Flags - by Nigel A JAMES

Wanting Flags - Mayday Impressions - 2012

I was expecting Mayday to be be the same as the first time that I saw it, and, as I made my way through the still early morning Viennese Mayday streets, I realized that this once proud celebration of work was no longer that which it was! Where I was expecting marching and drumming, I found silence, and there where I looked for the flags and decorations of victorious meaning were only spaces of nothing! All I could feel and hear were the usual rhythms of the stillness of normal everyday mornings. Things had fundamentally changed.

When I first came to Vienna, and that was many years ago, Mayday was still the highest of days on the socialist calender. It was the one day in the year when workers celebrated the values of their beliefs, and it always began before the breaking of dawn.

From all over town, and no matter from how far, workers and their families would march in to the centre, and there, against a background of determination and speeches of unlimited future prosperity they would parade, celebrate and be cheerful. They had rebuilt, and the future was theirs.

But now things are different. The generations of those days have moved on, and the workers of now are not those who once turned destruction into the once wonderful glorious present of then. Mayday has lost its importance! It is as if a great cloud of indifference has settled over this day. This once pure red political occasion has simply become yet another excuse to leave town. Things are too easy. The work, after all, was done a long time ago. And, that, too, we shouldn't forget. I, for one, hope that Mayday will be with us for ever! 

Hans Wolfsgruber

Hans Wolfsgruber by Nigel A  JAMES

Starting at the Top

Once upon a time, there was a farmer with a farm on the top of a mountain in Austria. The Gmundnerberg in the Salzkammergut. And, at 882 meters above sea level, the views from his farm were incredible. Miles and miles of snow covered peaks. Sheer simple natural overwhelming beauty! And, it was because of this magnificence of clarity that people in their hundreds would come. And, they would come with an appetite, too. But, no where to go! And, so it was, that this farmer decided to turn his farm into something it wasn't! It became a very fine restaurant.

But, of course, fine restaurants aren't simply a matter of well chosen courses. To succeed, not only hard work and good cooking are required, but a certain good feeling as well. It's the knowing of how to make people not only feel welcome, but, and at the same time, comfortable, too, that's important! A double and a triple in one, and this is Hans Wolfsgruber pure!

And, Hans Wolfsgruber has been passionately and energetically doing the very same for many long years. And, he wasn't so young when he started.

It was in 1970 that he first opened his doors, and now, with 43 years of hard work to look back on, his welcome is still just as rich and as strong as it ever has been. And, very surprisingly – when you consider the 4 x 20s which he has to his credit - he is still just as young and energetic and enthusiastic and friendly as ever - and, he hasn't even the slightest intention of stopping. It's not only the passion of the liking of what he does well that keeps him so fit, it's also his love of his kitchen. His life is the life he has built, and, it's thankfully there for us all!

His restaurant is up at the top of a mountain, and up at the top with the best! No longer need we come down from the mountain still hungry! So, if you're ever near by, why not go up and drop in, it's well worth the time. And the food makes the view twice as good as it is!

Gasthaus-Pension “Urz” Gmundnerberg 91. 4813 Altmünster. Austria

More info – www.urzn.at