We took the included city walking tour starting on a chilly 9:15 am morning. Our guide was wearing an adorable Austrian outfit (there were deer on her skirt). Linz has a troubled relatively recent history. It was Adolf Hitler’s home town and his choice of the place to build grand palaces and to house his pilfered art collection. On March12, 1938, he gave one of his famous speeches proclaiming the union of Austria and Germany from the balcony of city hall. He was cheered by 250,000 Austrians and introduced by the provisional Chancellor and the mayor. Thankfully his vision was never realized as the Nazis lost the war!
The city now has some 12,000 students from all over attending the free university - and it is home to the Sigmund Freud Private University. It is also home to several art museums (all closed on Mondays), and schools of art and music. It is Austria’s third largest city. It was home to Wolfgang Mozart, Anton Bruckner, and Johannes Kepler. Of course there are several majestic churches, an Old Town Hall, and a grand main city square, Hauptplatz.
Anne took an optional afternoon tour to a Nazi concentration camp, the Mauthausen Memorial, where over 90,000 prisoners from 40 countries died between 1938 and 1945. She said it was a somber tour as you might expect.
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