0:00:04 > 0:00:06I'm embarking on a new railway adventure
0:00:06 > 0:00:09that will take me across the heart of Europe.
0:00:10 > 0:00:16I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, dated 1913,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:19 > 0:00:22for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26It told travellers where to go, what to see
0:00:26 > 0:00:29and how to navigate the thousands of miles of tracks
0:00:29 > 0:00:31criss-crossing the Continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Now, a century later, I'm using my copy
0:00:34 > 0:00:38to reveal an era of great optimism and energy
0:00:38 > 0:00:42where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44I want to rediscover that lost Europe
0:00:44 > 0:00:49that in 1913, couldn't know that its way of life
0:00:49 > 0:00:52would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11My 1913 Bradshaw's in hand,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I'm making a series of journeys across Europe,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17seeking out a lost pre-war world.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Today, I'm exploring the once-great empire of Austria-Hungary,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25domain of the pre-eminent Habsburg monarchs.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28The Habsburgs were one of the most dynamic
0:01:28 > 0:01:31and powerful European families.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33In the empire's elegant cities...
0:01:33 > 0:01:37We get this magnificent view of the Chain Bridge.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39..I'll immerse myself in pre-war decadence.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43- What a beautiful cafe!- Isn't it!
0:01:43 > 0:01:46And experience Edwardian tourist attractions.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Raar!
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Before heading for the hills.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55I never expected anything as grand and as magnificent as this.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58And the emperor's summer home, from where, in 1914,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Europe departed along the track to disaster.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06I think he knew even then that this was going to mean war.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19My international itinerary begins in the Hungarian capital Budapest,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22then takes me west to Bratislava in Slovakia.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Travelling along the Danube, I'll cross into Austria,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29where I'll taste the opulent glamour of Imperial-era Vienna
0:02:29 > 0:02:32before continuing on to Salzburg.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Finally, I'll explore the stunning Salzkammergut,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39finishing at the spot where a fateful decision sparked a global war
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and the end of this extensive European empire.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51I'm in Hungary, which, in 1913
0:02:51 > 0:02:55formed one half of a vast empire alongside Austria.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59My Bradshaw's Guide hints that the Hungarian capital
0:02:59 > 0:03:02had historically been two distinct cities.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06"Budapest is situated on both banks of the River Danube.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09"The part on the left bank of the river is by far the larger,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13"though down to the 15th century, it was inferior in size
0:03:13 > 0:03:17"and importance to the part on the right bank."
0:03:17 > 0:03:21It was the unification of those two parts of the city in the 1870s
0:03:21 > 0:03:25that made Budapest the second capital of the empire
0:03:25 > 0:03:29and one of Europe's great cities in terms of elegance and power.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47The railways also played their part in Budapest's fin-de-siecle boom.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51By 1900, Hungary had almost 6,000 kilometres of tracks
0:03:51 > 0:03:53fanning out from the capital.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57And money was poured into the grand city centre termini.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08This is Budapest's Nyugati station, one of three major stations in the city,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12built just after Budapest was unified.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14And what a statement of confidence it is.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19Built by the French engineering firm Eiffel, as in the Eiffel Tower.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I find it absolutely gorgeous,
0:04:21 > 0:04:26but it is, these days, rather faded grandeur.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33Opened in 1877, this vast, elegant railway palace
0:04:33 > 0:04:36told visitors they'd arrived in a city of consequence.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39So it's hard to believe that Budapest as we know it
0:04:39 > 0:04:41was then just four years old.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45To trace the story of its birth,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47I'm following my 1913 guidebook
0:04:47 > 0:04:50to the west, or Buda side of the Danube,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53where I'm meeting historian Laszlo Muntean.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Lazlo.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58- Hello.- Hello, Michael. - Very good to see you.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01And from here, you get such a strong impression
0:05:01 > 0:05:04that this was once two distinct cities.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Exactly. We are in the Buda side right now
0:05:07 > 0:05:09and we are overlooking the Pest side,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13which had been completely separated from the Buda side
0:05:13 > 0:05:14by the River Danube.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18For centuries, the only way from the west bank,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21home to the settlements of Buda and Obuda,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24to Pest was by ferry.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29In the mid 19th century, the best of British engineering changed that.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32It was in 1849 that the two sides were connected
0:05:32 > 0:05:34by a permanent suspension bridge, the Chain Bridge.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37That would be the one mentioned in my Bradshaw's Guide,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39"One of the longest in Europe," it says,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43- "and the work of British engineers Tierney and Clark."- Exactly.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52The Chain Bridge is amongst Budapest's iconic landmarks.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55And Lazlo's showing me one of the best ways to admire it.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Lazlo, you're absolutely right. As soon as the funicular set off,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06- we get this magnificent view of the Chain Bridge.- Exactly.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08The story of this remarkable bridge
0:06:08 > 0:06:10began in Industrial Revolution Britain,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14then impressing the world with its pioneering constructions
0:06:14 > 0:06:16in iron and steel.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Why did the Hungarians turn to British engineers for this bridge?
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Well, Hungarian constructors back then,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25they didn't have the engineering expertise
0:06:25 > 0:06:27to construct a bridge like this.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Just look at the metalwork and the cables and all the suspension rods.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43It was the great Hungarian statesman Istvan Szechenyi
0:06:43 > 0:06:47who decided to import British technological know-how.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49He paid several visits to England.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51First in 1815 and then in 1832.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53And he was particularly impressed
0:06:53 > 0:06:55by William Tierney Clark's
0:06:55 > 0:06:57suspension bridges over the River Thames.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Two bridges in particular.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Hammersmith Bridge and Marlow Bridge.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Szechenyi challenged Tierney Clark
0:07:06 > 0:07:10to apply his skill to spanning the majestic Danube.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13The result was a 202-metre-long suspension bridge,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16then amongst the largest in the world.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23This was the first bridge that brought the two sides together.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27It had, of course, a functional relevance.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31It made transportation and commerce much easier,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34but also, it had symbolic importance.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36The Chain Bridge, the construction of the Chain Bridge
0:07:36 > 0:07:40was basically the first step towards the unification
0:07:40 > 0:07:44of the cities on the two sides of the river.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50While William Tierney Clark designed this engineering triumph,
0:07:50 > 0:07:55Scottish engineer Adam Clark was called in to supervise construction.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57And his role in the bridge's history
0:07:57 > 0:08:00won him a permanent place in Hungarian hearts.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Hungary was part of the Habsburg Empire
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and there was a revolution against the Habsburgs in 1848.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Now, the construction of the bridge came to an end in 1849,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14which was the year when the revolution was defeated.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18During the revolution, the Austrians, not surprisingly,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22they wanted to blow up the bridge, which was almost ready.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Adam Clark flooded the chain chambers
0:08:26 > 0:08:29and prevented the bridge from being blown up.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34All of a sudden, he became a Hungarian national hero,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36although he was a Scotsman.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40- A canny Scot and a Hungarian hero. - Exactly.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45The bridge helped ignite an economic boom
0:08:45 > 0:08:48that ushered in a golden age in Budapest's history.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53In 1873, Buda, Obuda and Pest were formally united
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and Budapest became the Hungarian capital.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Around the same time, Hungary was granted
0:08:59 > 0:09:01a degree of autonomy within the empire,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05winning the right to govern its own internal affairs.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10In 1904, a new home for the national parliament was completed,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14and was still dazzling readers of my guide in 1913.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17"The Parliament House," says my Bradshaw's,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21"is an immense Gothic pile by the architect Steindl,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23"with a splendid facade to the river."
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Steindl was greatly influenced by the parliament in London.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28And whereas ours looks more like a palace,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31his came out looking more like a cathedral.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36Inside, it's much more ornate and highly decorated than ours.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41I was once here in 1989, the year that communism was crumbling,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43and I heard a brave young politician making a speech here,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45and I thought to myself,
0:09:45 > 0:09:49if ever there's a parliament that deserves a democracy, this is it.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57I'm now leaving the west bank of the Danube
0:09:57 > 0:10:00and crossing the river to Pest.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03At the time of my 1913 guidebook, this part of town
0:10:03 > 0:10:05was the beating heart of commercial Budapest.
0:10:05 > 0:10:11And places like this vast indoor market, opened in 1897,
0:10:11 > 0:10:13would have heaved with customers.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18If the city owes some of its engineering and buildings to the west
0:10:18 > 0:10:20you have to remember that nonetheless, Budapest
0:10:20 > 0:10:23was occupied by the Ottoman Turks for nearly 150 years.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28And therefore, as Bradshaw's says, has a semi-Oriental influence,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31to which I would add only that that is nowhere to be seen more
0:10:31 > 0:10:35than in the food, which is typified by cumin and paprika
0:10:35 > 0:10:37and sweet pastries and strudels,
0:10:37 > 0:10:40all to be found in this marvellous market,
0:10:40 > 0:10:45which seems to owe its architectural influence to a railway station.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55These days, Budapest's Great Market Hall
0:10:55 > 0:10:58is a magnet for fans of traditional cuisine.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01And there's one local speciality I have to try.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- This is langos? - Yes, this is the langos.- What is it?
0:11:06 > 0:11:10It's a traditional Hungarian bread. It's deep fried.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12We have sweet and salty, too.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16This deep-fried snack is eaten all over Hungary,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and apparently grew up as a way of satisfying workers
0:11:19 > 0:11:21during the bitterly cold winter.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24The traditional savoury option is sour cream and cheese,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27but these days, you can have it topped with whatever you fancy.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30- Thank you very much.- Enjoy it.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33It's lovely and warm, it's just come out of the fat.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36He must have put on to it a dozen different ingredients.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40I really don't know where to begin. It's absolutely piled high.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42How do you like this?
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Well, I'm just beginning it at the moment. Do you eat langos?
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Yeah, yeah, yeah. Many times.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50This is to satisfy many tastes from many countries of the world.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52It's got a mixture of everything.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56As we say in English, everything except the kitchen sink.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00- Hello.- Hello. - Are you enjoying your langos?- Yes.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02- Is it first time you've had it?- Yes. - Would you have it again?
0:12:02 > 0:12:07Yes. If I will, next time in Budapest, perhaps.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10- And you had one, too?- Yes. - Were you pleased or disappointed?
0:12:10 > 0:12:12I liked it. It was good.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15I'm not sure that it's exactly slimming. What do you think?
0:12:15 > 0:12:17No, it's definitely not.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20The langos ought really to come with a manual on how to eat it
0:12:20 > 0:12:22because it's very, very tricky.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Wow! Good, though.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Energised by my lunch, I'm seeking out more of belle epoque Budapest.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36One ticket, please.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39- Thank you.- Thank you very much.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Edwardian railway tourists could explore the city
0:12:42 > 0:12:44on its state-of-the-art transport system.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49I was rather surprised by this entry in my Bradshaw's Guide.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54"Underground electric railway between Gellert Ter, which is near the river
0:12:54 > 0:12:56"and Varosliget, which is the city park."
0:12:56 > 0:12:59In fact, the railway wasn't even new in 1913.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02The first line had been built in 1896,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05making Budapest the second European city after London
0:13:05 > 0:13:08to have an underground railway.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13The ambitious project was approved seven years
0:13:13 > 0:13:18after London's first underground line opened in 1863.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22And 2,000 workers were drafted in to build the tunnels.
0:13:27 > 0:13:28I get the impression that the 70 years
0:13:28 > 0:13:31before my Bradshaw's Guide was published
0:13:31 > 0:13:34was an extraordinary period for Budapest.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38The city acquired a new bridge, a new name.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41It became a capital, built new railway stations,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44a new parliament and a new underground railway.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51After a long day marvelling at this thoroughly modern metropolis,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56Edwardian tourists would have craved a little rest and relaxation.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59And this magnificent complex of baroque buildings
0:13:59 > 0:14:01was the perfect place to find it.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The famous Szechenyi baths, one of Budapest's many mineral spas,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13opened in the same year my guidebook was published.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Bradshaw's tells me Budapest has bathing establishments
0:14:21 > 0:14:23supplied by warm sulphur springs.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26If you weren't sufficiently attracted by the boulevards,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28by the cafes, by the goulash,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31by the ballrooms or by the opera,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34then you might come here to take the cure,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37or to allow your body to float in the water.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42By the late 19th century,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45a fashion for water cures had swept the Continent.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48And soon, Budapest's bathing culture entered its heyday.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54City local Naomi Csondor
0:14:54 > 0:14:57is an aficionado of the city's hot-water springs.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02- Hello, Naomi.- Hello. Great to see you.- Great to see you.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04What were these waters supposed to do to you?
0:15:04 > 0:15:08This is very good for osteoporosis and for rheumatism.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12And it's excellent as a natural multivitamin, as well.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14What do the waters contain?
0:15:14 > 0:15:18First of all, the sulphur, that we can smell, as well.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20And if you taste it, you don't like it
0:15:20 > 0:15:22because it's like a bad eggs taste.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26We have some magnesium, some calcium, ferrum.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28For centuries, the area's mineral springs
0:15:28 > 0:15:31were found only on the Buda side of the river.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35But in the late 1800s, engineers drilled down beneath Pest city park.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40By 1913, the first permanent bath had opened its doors here,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42allowing the growing Pest bourgeoisie
0:15:42 > 0:15:45access to the hot, healing waters.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52The temperature we're in is quite like a bath.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55It's a very comfortable warm water.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Is that the natural temperature that it comes from the ground?
0:15:58 > 0:16:02It's hard to believe, but the temperature is 79 degrees centigrade, how they find it.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05This is still today. But they cool it down.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And so we can bath in it and swim in it and enjoy it.
0:16:08 > 0:16:0979 degrees. That's very hot.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13- Is that one of the hottest natural waters?- In Budapest, yes.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15But not in the country.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19In the 1920s, the medical spa expanded
0:16:19 > 0:16:21to include a mixed bathing area.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Today, people hoping to improve their health
0:16:24 > 0:16:27mingle with tourists and pleasure seekers
0:16:27 > 0:16:31in this extraordinary temple to Budapest's healing springs.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37- What are you enjoying about the baths?- It's nice and relaxing.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40- How long have you been in the water? - Too long, probably.
0:16:40 > 0:16:41LAUGHTER
0:16:41 > 0:16:45- You should wallow for about three hours minimum.- No!- Yes.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47If you're talking about taking the water,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51it means spending time just relaxing, taking it in.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- So, would you do it again? - ALL: Definitely!
0:16:54 > 0:16:57- I'm going to come back tomorrow.- Back tomorrow?- Yeah.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59What about all the sights of Budapest?
0:16:59 > 0:17:00What about the Parliament Building?
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- No.- Yeah. - THEY LAUGH
0:17:03 > 0:17:06- But the baths is the top thing for you?- ALL: Definitely!
0:17:08 > 0:17:11I certainly understand why they'd want to come back again and again.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15A wallow in these waters is the ideal way to end a day
0:17:15 > 0:17:19soaking up Budapest's golden age.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Sadly, with the dawning of a new day,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43it's time for me to leave this elegant city.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48Today, my journey in the footsteps of Edwardian railway tourists
0:17:48 > 0:17:50is taking me west.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Following the course of the Danube,
0:17:54 > 0:17:59I'm pushing deeper into the heart of early 20th-century Austria-Hungary.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09I'm on my way to Bratislava, which is the capital of Slovakia.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12But in 1913, it was a part of Hungary
0:18:12 > 0:18:17and an historically important city within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20That realm covered many territories and many nationalities.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23And I'm anxious to discover more
0:18:23 > 0:18:27about the power and the decline of that empire.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31I'm travelling along one of the empire's main railway arteries.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34And with almost 150 miles to cover,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37I'm whiling away the journey with historian Mark Cornwall.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42The Austro-Hungarian Empire is often described as the Habsburg Empire.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Who were these Habsburgs?
0:18:44 > 0:18:47The Habsburgs were one of the most dynamic
0:18:47 > 0:18:50and powerful European families in European history, I suppose.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Um...and they started life
0:18:53 > 0:18:57as a small aristocratic family in Switzerland,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00but by the 14th century, they were dukes of Austria
0:19:00 > 0:19:04and were dukes of Austria for the next 600 years.
0:19:04 > 0:19:05By the turn of the 20th century,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08the Habsburg lands covered almost half the Continent,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11taking in 11 states of present-day Europe,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13from Romania in the east
0:19:13 > 0:19:14to Switzerland in the west.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19The ruler of this vast territory was Emperor Franz Josef,
0:19:19 > 0:19:24whose 68-year-reign was longer even than that of our own Queen Victoria.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27The rapidly-expanding railway network
0:19:27 > 0:19:32was a vital tool for controlling his multinational realm.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34This line was opened in 1850.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37It was the quickest way to get from Vienna to Budapest
0:19:37 > 0:19:39or Budapest to Vienna.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43It was also the route that the Orient Express went on.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48So for tourists, rich tourists, this was a key line.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51But for the Habsburg Empire, what was important,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55I suppose for the emperor was that he needed go Budapest regularly.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59One alternative was to go by steamer down the Danube,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02but that took 12 hours. This took about five hours.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04So this was by far the quickest route.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Within the sprawling empire, a dozen languages were spoken,
0:20:09 > 0:20:14and a multitude of ethnic groups lived side by side.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17But by the time my guidebook was written, growing nationalist
0:20:17 > 0:20:20feeling was beginning to loosen the Habsburgs' grip.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Certain nationalities felt that others were more privileged
0:20:23 > 0:20:26than them and that caused these tensions in the empire.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30Many commentators at the time, in 1913, were very optimistic
0:20:30 > 0:20:33and said these tensions are crises of growth, but there were
0:20:33 > 0:20:39also certainly pessimistic types who thought that the empire was doomed.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44By 1913, Franz Josef was an elderly man, and it was
0:20:44 > 0:20:50anticipated his nephew Franz Ferdinand would soon succeed him.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53By then, Austria-Hungary was feeling increasingly
0:20:53 > 0:20:56threatened by the neighbouring Kingdom of Serbia.
0:20:57 > 0:21:03In 1913, Serbia doubled in size, due to various wars in the south east,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07and therefore when the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand
0:21:07 > 0:21:11was murdered in Sarajevo, Serbia was thought to be behind this
0:21:11 > 0:21:13from the point of view of the Habsburgs,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15and there was no question about it,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19the Habsburg rulers were determined to just go in and crush Serbia.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22- And that was the beginning of World War One.- Exactly.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32The First World War would spell the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35But for readers of my 1913 railway guide
0:21:35 > 0:21:38that was all in the unimaginable future.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41I'm leaving the train at what is today Bratislava,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43the capital of Slovakia.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48But in my guidebook, it appears under Hungary
0:21:48 > 0:21:52and goes by the Hungarian name of Pozsony.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Bradshaw's recommends a visit to what he calls the ancient "Dom,"
0:21:57 > 0:21:59dating from 1204.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11And here at the main altar is the fantastic history of this cathedral.
0:22:11 > 0:22:1519 kings and queens of Hungary who were crowned here,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17set out here in Latin,
0:22:17 > 0:22:22from Maximilian in 1503 down to Ferdinand V in 1830.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24And what they were crowned with...
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Is the crown with its distinctive bent cross
0:22:28 > 0:22:31that was set upon their heads. No wonder the Hungarians have an
0:22:31 > 0:22:36extraordinary sense of national identity and of national destiny.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41From the 16th century, the kings and queens of Hungary
0:22:41 > 0:22:44were members of the House of Habsburg.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48And even after the 1860s, when Hungary won home rule,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Franz Josef reigned in the western half of his realm
0:22:51 > 0:22:56as Emperor of Austria, and the east as King of Hungary.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Flowing through the heart of both territories was Europe's
0:22:59 > 0:23:00second longest river,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03where Edwardian tourists could swap the rails for a leisurely cruise.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Thank you.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08My Bradshaw's helpfully reminds me
0:23:08 > 0:23:12that Bratislava is beautifully situated on the Danube,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15and the river seems the best way to reach my next destination.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Sadly, the paddle steamers that my 1913 guide describes
0:23:21 > 0:23:22are no longer in service,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26but this modern catamaran is a worthy substitute.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29- Hello.- Tickets and passports, please.- Oh, passport?
0:23:37 > 0:23:39When you live in the United Kingdom, it's perhaps easy to forget
0:23:39 > 0:23:44how important for communication and transport were and are
0:23:44 > 0:23:46the great waterways of Europe,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49the Rhine, the Rhone and the Danube,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51and, even today, a really viable way
0:23:51 > 0:23:54of travelling from one capital city to another.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14It takes just 90 minutes to speed along the Danube to my next stop.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19I'm now approaching what was in 1913 the political
0:24:19 > 0:24:23and cultural centre of the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26What a wonderful way to arrive in Vienna,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31my Bradshaw says the capital of Austria lies on the Danube canal,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35"It is regarded as one of the brightest and healthiest of
0:24:35 > 0:24:40"the large continental cities, with cheerful and courteous inhabitants."
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Certainly in 1913 the Viennese aristocracy knew how to enjoy
0:24:44 > 0:24:49itself, but could have no idea that the Habsburg empire was
0:24:49 > 0:24:51enjoying its last waltz.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Arriving here in 1913, the British tourist would have plunged
0:25:02 > 0:25:06head first into an intoxicating world of ostentatious glamour.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12And the best place to capture the flavour of imperial Vienna
0:25:12 > 0:25:14was the famous Ringstrasse.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18My guidebook writes, "A fine broad thoroughfare,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20"it extends in a crescent two miles long
0:25:20 > 0:25:22"round three sides of the Inner Town."
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Still today, tourists flock to this iconic avenue
0:25:29 > 0:25:31to admire the best of Viennese architecture.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34- Hello, Diane.- Good afternoon, Michael.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35Welcome aboard.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39In 1913, this road would have bustled
0:25:39 > 0:25:42with trams and horse-drawn carriages.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45I'm taking a ride with tour guide Diane Naar.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Why was the Ringstrasse created in the first place?
0:25:51 > 0:25:55The city was suffocating. Vienna, a medieval city,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59was surrounded by huge fortifications.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01The fortifications had served their purpose well,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04but they were now suffocating the old city.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09And the emperor himself decided to allow the razing of the fortifications.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11This happened in 1858.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16The emperor Franz Josef wanted to make Vienna a modern and beautiful
0:26:16 > 0:26:20city to rival Paris, which had been remodelled under Napoleon III.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24Franz Josef's vision for Vienna was to replace the old city walls
0:26:24 > 0:26:27with a magnificent boulevard,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30lined with monumental public buildings and grand mansions.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34So, how long was the construction - both of the roadway
0:26:34 > 0:26:36and of the palaces on either side?
0:26:36 > 0:26:39The Ringstrasse was officially inaugurated
0:26:39 > 0:26:42on the first of May, 1865.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46- But construction work continued for at least another 40 years.- Good Lord,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48right up to eve of the First World War.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Right up to 1913, in fact.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Vienna, after the industrial revolution, was home to
0:26:55 > 0:27:00a moneyed class of bankers, lawyers and merchants, who queued up
0:27:00 > 0:27:04to build grand palaces on the city's newest and most prestigious avenue.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Give me some idea of the palaces and the people who lived in them.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16The richest were the ones who were able to afford the largest plots.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19And they hired the most expensive architects
0:27:19 > 0:27:23and the most prominent artists.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28And these buildings were four storeys high and would cover four blocks
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and they were filled with marble, and carved wood,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and it was a matter of showing off.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40The tourists who came here following my 1913 guidebook
0:27:40 > 0:27:45were among the last witnesses to imperial era Vienna.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50And no pre-war visit would be complete without sampling the nightlife.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53To rest my head for the night, and of course to change for the evening,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57I need what Bradshaw's calls, "A modern first class hotel
0:27:57 > 0:28:01"in a central position," and an advertisement informs me
0:28:01 > 0:28:02that the Hotel Imperial,
0:28:02 > 0:28:08"Since 1913 renovated and fitted with every modern comfort."
0:28:08 > 0:28:11And since it looks like a palace, it will do very nicely.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17The Grand Imperial hotel, right on the Ringstrasse,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20certainly makes a striking first impression.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25Everywhere you look there's marble, crystal and gold.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29It's the perfect place to don my best bib and tucker
0:28:29 > 0:28:31before heading out into the city.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35My destination is a ballroom,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39which once belonged to the wealthy Rothschild family.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Here, dance teachers Heinz Grossmann and Peter Benek are going
0:28:45 > 0:28:49explain the intricacies of the classic Viennese waltz.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52What is the Vienna waltz?
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Er... The Viennese waltz is the famous dance the world...
0:28:58 > 0:29:01But...the famous music also.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06But the basic is very simple. The basic is we have six steps,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09we can dance six steps and we can dance the Viennese waltz.
0:29:09 > 0:29:10It is very, very simple.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Invented in the 18th century,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17the Viennese waltz was the first dance in which couples held
0:29:17 > 0:29:20each other close as they whirled around the floor.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22At first it scandalized polite society,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26but by the time my railway guide was published, tourists were
0:29:26 > 0:29:30flocking here to waltz at the city's glamorous public balls.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Vienna still hosts hundreds of such events every year
0:29:33 > 0:29:35during the glittering winter season,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38but I'm sure that I would fail to make the grade.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41I don't know whether you know the expression in English,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43but I have two left feet.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47This is no problem. Normally we have 90 per cent success.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50You've just met the 10 per cent.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53I don't like... I don't believe. No.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55- OK, you are the gentleman? - Please, yes.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58- OK, OK. I'm the lady. - Yes, please.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00This position.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02There opening, yes, there.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06That is OK. One, two, three, four, five.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08One, two...
0:30:08 > 0:30:10Oh, lost it. OK.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15Six simple steps they may be, but for me they're hard.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17And look on the 11 o'clock....
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Yes. Good.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25You are a very good student.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26LAUGHTER
0:30:26 > 0:30:30One, slide, close, back. Slide, close. Yes!
0:30:30 > 0:30:31You're perfect.
0:30:33 > 0:30:34I don't think so, but thank you.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39I think it's time to step aside for the experts.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43MUSIC: Viennese Waltz
0:30:52 > 0:30:55Watching them glide across this belle epoque ballroom
0:30:55 > 0:31:00perfectly ends a day that's evoked Vienna's golden age.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24A beautiful morning, and I'm continuing my search
0:31:24 > 0:31:28for traces of the Vienna that Edwardian railway tourists saw.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31They would have been struck by the flowing lines
0:31:31 > 0:31:34and natural forms of Art Nouveau - a new style of art
0:31:34 > 0:31:38and architecture then transforming the city.
0:31:38 > 0:31:39It first found favour in Paris,
0:31:39 > 0:31:43but by the time my guidebook was published,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46the railways had helped to spread its influence across the continent.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50"The gallery of modern pictures at the Belvedere,"
0:31:50 > 0:31:53says my Bradshaw's guide, "was formerly the residence
0:31:53 > 0:31:55"of Prince Eugene of Savoy."
0:31:55 > 0:31:58I'm here to explore one painter in particular,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01because behind the prim facade of the empire,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04artists were pursuing more sensual ideas.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10Vienna's most famous Art Nouveau painter, Gustav Klimt,
0:32:10 > 0:32:13horrified the establishment with his interpretation of the genre.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16And one work shows why especially well.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19This is Gustav Klimt's the Kiss,
0:32:19 > 0:32:23painted in 1908, and at the time it was thought very shocking.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26The man is hungry for the woman
0:32:26 > 0:32:31and she has gone limp in a sort of trance of passion.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32In the years since,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35a lot of people have regarded this painting as merely pretty.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40But I understand completely why this picture appalled the public,
0:32:40 > 0:32:44and why Vienna at the time was considered a very racy place.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52The Kiss reveals an edgier
0:32:52 > 0:32:56and subversive spirit that inhabited turn of the century Vienna.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00And I'm bound now for its habitual haunt.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06I'm in the old city and my Bradshaw's says,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10"Within this district are the most interesting phases of Vienna life."
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Which I take to be a reference to cafe society,
0:33:13 > 0:33:18which reached its high point when my Bradshaw's guide was published.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Vienna's coffee houses are famous around the world,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24and one of the most evocative of the city's heyday is
0:33:24 > 0:33:29the Cafe Central, which opened its doors in 1876.
0:33:29 > 0:33:30Hello, Margarete.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34- Hello Michael, nice to meet you. - Lovely to see you.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37What a beautiful cafe.
0:33:37 > 0:33:38Isn't it?
0:33:38 > 0:33:40Local, Margarete Stickler, is going to help me
0:33:40 > 0:33:43to navigate coffee house etiquette.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46- Um, what are you having, Margarete, what is that?- This a melange.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48A melange. And what is that?
0:33:48 > 0:33:55A melange is a strong coffee, black coffee, with kind of...whipped milk.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58A melange please, thank you very much, indeed.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02- And we never say just "coffee."- No? - "A cup of coffee." No.
0:34:02 > 0:34:08Either melange, or cappuccino, or grosse schwartze.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11- A big black coffee. - A big black coffee.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20It's an unwritten rule that a single cup buys you the right to linger
0:34:20 > 0:34:22as long as you like.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25And around the turn of the 20th century, British visitors could
0:34:25 > 0:34:29have rubbed shoulders with thinkers who came to exchange radical ideas.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Tell me about some of the well-known people that I might have
0:34:32 > 0:34:35bumped into in the coffee houses at the beginning of the 20th Century?
0:34:35 > 0:34:37All sorts of people,
0:34:37 > 0:34:43but of course mainly intellectuals, artists, writers.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45And as a former politican I would like to know,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48were there any people of my trade here?
0:34:48 > 0:34:52Oh, yes, very much so, but just before they became famous! LAUGHTER
0:34:52 > 0:34:55- Who are you talking about? - Trotsky, Leo Trotsky.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Lenin.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01Stalin.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02All here in Vienna?
0:35:02 > 0:35:06They used to meet at the Cafe Central for playing chess!
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Not so much reds under the bed as reds in the coffee house!
0:35:09 > 0:35:10Quite so.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Alongside Russian revolutionaries, Cafe Central
0:35:13 > 0:35:18regulars included Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22Nowadays, no trip to Vienna is complete without visiting
0:35:22 > 0:35:27a cafe, for a drink and of course a slice of something sweet.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29There is such a variety of cakes here.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31With my Bradshaw's in one hand
0:35:31 > 0:35:36it feels like a metaphor for the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1913.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41You've got Albanians and Slovenes and Slovaks and Bosnians
0:35:41 > 0:35:47Hungarians and Bohemians, all mixed together in one Empire...
0:35:47 > 0:35:49But very crumbly.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55Vienna was the cultural, military and political heart of the Empire.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58But there was another side to early 20th century Austria.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03I'm now doing as the Viennese elite did in the summer months, and taking
0:36:03 > 0:36:07the Western mainline, completed in 1860, out to the mountains.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13Having used my 1913 Bradshaw's to explore the Empire's two
0:36:13 > 0:36:18biggest cities, I'm now heading over 180 miles west to Salzburg,
0:36:18 > 0:36:20the birthplace of Mozart.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23From there, I'll trace my guidebook's recommended route
0:36:23 > 0:36:26through the stunning Salzkammergut mountains,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30finishing up at Bad Ischl, home to the Emperor's summer retreat.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35This Austrian express is whisking me
0:36:35 > 0:36:38across the country at 120 miles per hour.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43Edwardian tourists would have travelled at a more leisurely pace,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45but one custom that hasn't changed
0:36:45 > 0:36:48is the civilised tradition of the dining car.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50- Guten Abend.- Guten abend!
0:36:50 > 0:36:55Bitte schon, er...eine Wienerschnitzel vom schwein, bitte.
0:36:55 > 0:37:00- Ja.- Und, um, ein Grune Veltsiner wein bitte.- Grune Veltliner.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Ja, kleine, kleine.
0:37:02 > 0:37:03Sonst noch etwas?
0:37:03 > 0:37:07- Do you have any other wishes? - Oh, you speak English!
0:37:07 > 0:37:10- No other wishes, thank you very much.- You are welcome!- Thank you.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15A traditional Viennese dish is a perfect way to put
0:37:15 > 0:37:18the Austrian capital behind me, and set myself up for the stunning
0:37:18 > 0:37:20scenery awaiting me on the next leg of my trip.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22Ah, that looks very good!
0:37:22 > 0:37:24- Schon, schon danke. - Enjoy it, I hope it tastes good.
0:37:24 > 0:37:25Thank you.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32As the sun sets, the train arrives in Salzburg
0:37:32 > 0:37:37which my Bradshaw's tells me is "1,350 feet above sea
0:37:37 > 0:37:40"on both banks of the river Zalzac, below some lofty hills,"
0:37:40 > 0:37:46and is "regarded as one of the most beautifully situated places of Europe."
0:37:46 > 0:37:51What a tantalising invitation to explore this city.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58I'm leaving the train here and going off in search of my bed.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02My exploration of stunning Salzburg will have to wait till the morning.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15MUSIC: "Symphony No. 40" by Mozart
0:38:17 > 0:38:20First thing in sunny Salzburg
0:38:20 > 0:38:22and the streets are already buzzing with tourists.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27And none of them can have missed this city's biggest attraction.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Some places are best known for being the birthplace
0:38:33 > 0:38:37of a famous person, like Stratford Upon Avon with William Shakespeare,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41and Salzburg is celebrated for its most famous son,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45one of the most important composers in the history of music.
0:38:50 > 0:38:55Salzburg's homegrown musical genius is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
0:38:56 > 0:39:02And by 1913, railway tourists were flocking here to honour his memory.
0:39:02 > 0:39:03My guidebook directs fans to
0:39:03 > 0:39:07"Getreidegasse, where, at number seven, Mozart was born'.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14Director of the museum, Gabriele Ramsauer is showing me round.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19Well, this is a lovely, big room, and here I think I see Mozart
0:39:19 > 0:39:23and these are the portraits of the family.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Yes. This was the living room of the Mozart family.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27They were living here,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29they were playing music, they were meeting friends.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33And I think this room has a really great and wonderful atmosphere.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36It is indeed very atmospheric.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40MUSIC: "Rondo Alla Turca" by Mozart
0:39:42 > 0:39:47This building is where, aged five, Mozart began his composing career.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52And it's also the birthplace of the thriving Mozart heritage industry,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55thanks to a pair of British fans.
0:39:55 > 0:40:01It started in 1829, there a British couple came here to see
0:40:01 > 0:40:08the location of Mozart and it was the couple Vincent and Mary Novello.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12The travel diaries of Vincent and Mary Novello in the year 1829.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17"Vin and I made a pilgrimage to the house where the divine Mozart
0:40:17 > 0:40:21"first drew breath. I cannot describe my feelings.
0:40:21 > 0:40:26"We are both in a complete trance." That's beautiful!
0:40:28 > 0:40:30The Novellos' published diaries helped inspire
0:40:30 > 0:40:33the official Mozart tourist trail.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35And in the late 19th century,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39special railway tours began bringing Britons to see this house
0:40:39 > 0:40:42and to attend many music festivals held in the city.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47"Cook's personally conducted tour." Belgium, The Rhine, Nuremburg,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50Salzburg and the Grand Mozart Festival.
0:40:50 > 0:40:56Departing apparently from Holborn Station in London,
0:40:56 > 0:41:01crossing the continent and spending about four days here
0:41:01 > 0:41:05at the Salzburg Mozart Festival. That's fantastic.
0:41:05 > 0:41:11Thomas Cook had organised his first railway excursions in the 1840s,
0:41:11 > 0:41:12and soon took advantage of
0:41:12 > 0:41:14the rapidly expanding international network
0:41:14 > 0:41:18to launch continental tours. These "Mozart trains"
0:41:18 > 0:41:23continued to be popular into the 20th century, and by 1913,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27rail travellers had a new way to experience their favourite composer.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35Even on a glorious afternoon like this, I feel I should find time
0:41:35 > 0:41:38to hear some Mozart opera, and I'm on my way
0:41:38 > 0:41:40to a little gem of a theatre.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52I've come to this bijou playhouse in the heart of Salzburg,
0:41:52 > 0:41:55to see a performance of The Magic Flute with a difference.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07OPERA SINGING IN GERMAN
0:42:15 > 0:42:21Today, the Marionette Theatre is one of Salzburg's best-loved tourist attractions,
0:42:21 > 0:42:25and it all began in the era of my 1913 railway guide.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33I'm going behind the scenes with puppeteer Philippe Brunner.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38How long has opera been performed with these marionettes?
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Since 1913 the theatre started with a very small opera
0:42:42 > 0:42:47by Mozart Bastien und Bastienne and since then has done many
0:42:47 > 0:42:50of Mozart's operas and also other composers.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55With ever more tourists visiting Salzburg by rail,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58the puppet theatre found a ready-made audience.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02And while these days the puppeteers perform to recorded music,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Edwardian readers of my guidebook would have watched the marionettes
0:43:05 > 0:43:08miming to live singers.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11Do any of the puppets from 1913 survive?
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Yes, they do. We have a lot of them in a museum but we have some here
0:43:15 > 0:43:17I can show you.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23This is father Mozart. He also dates from 1913.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26- Hello, nice to meet you. - How do you do?- Very well.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:43:28 > 0:43:33- He's beautiful.- Yes, and you see, he is a much smaller scale
0:43:33 > 0:43:35than the puppets we use today.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39These must be very splendid people to work with.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44- Oh, absolutely. They don't fuss around.- No prima donnas!
0:43:44 > 0:43:45No, not at all.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49It takes up to eight years to learn how to work these remarkable
0:43:49 > 0:43:51marionettes, but Philippe's going to see what he can teach me
0:43:51 > 0:43:54in ten minutes.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56You move from left to right and the puppet is walking.
0:43:56 > 0:44:01And with your other hand you use the front and then you move the head
0:44:01 > 0:44:06from left to right. And then you push here
0:44:06 > 0:44:08- and then he opens his mouth.- Raargh!
0:44:08 > 0:44:13Great. You're doing very well.
0:44:13 > 0:44:21My lion is taking a walk through the forest...when he meets a...
0:44:21 > 0:44:27- Ooh!- Very tall person. Raargh!
0:44:27 > 0:44:29Raargh!
0:44:29 > 0:44:34- Raargh!- I'm not afraid of you. - You may have a long neck,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37I have a very long tail.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Raargh!
0:44:39 > 0:44:43Ah! I scared him off.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Well, I've pulled some political strings in my time
0:44:46 > 0:44:49but I think I'd better leave the puppets to the pros.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54It's time for me to swap historic Salzburg for the pure air
0:44:54 > 0:44:57of the Austrian mountains. Now my Bradshaw's urges me
0:44:57 > 0:45:01to head for the country to the Saltkammergut,
0:45:01 > 0:45:05"A beautiful district of lake and mountain east of Salzburg,
0:45:05 > 0:45:07"easily accessible by rail and steamer.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10"Though a day may suffice for a hasty visit,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14"the attractions of two or three favoured spots will hardly
0:45:14 > 0:45:20"be appreciated unless a stay of a few days be made at each."
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Oh, for the leisure of a 1913 traveller.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30In the 1900s, only the wealthy middle and upper classes
0:45:30 > 0:45:33could afford to explore this remarkable region,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37but it's not hard to see why, once here, they wanted to linger.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42With limestone mountains, glacial lakes and unspoilt villages,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46it's a picture postcard landscape of breath-taking beauty.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53I'm picking up my next form of transport in pretty St Gilgen,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55to the east of Salzburg.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00My Bradshaw's says that the steamer may be taken in preference
0:46:00 > 0:46:03to the train, which is fortunate because some of the railway lines
0:46:03 > 0:46:06that existed at the time of my guide have been axed.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08So I will proceed by water.
0:46:09 > 0:46:15My authentic paddle steamer's route hasn't changed since 1913.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17Back then, this lovely scenery was already a firm favourite
0:46:17 > 0:46:19with tourists. But in the 1960s,
0:46:19 > 0:46:23the region was shot to international fame
0:46:23 > 0:46:27as the setting for one of the most successful movies of all time...
0:46:27 > 0:46:29The Sound Of Music.
0:46:30 > 0:46:37# BOTH: My heart will be blessed with the sound of music
0:46:37 > 0:46:44# And I'll sing once more. #
0:46:44 > 0:46:45APPLAUSE
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Wolfgang, do you find that the tourists who arrive,
0:46:48 > 0:46:50they're coming in large numbers?
0:46:50 > 0:46:54Yes. They join in, the sing and they dance and they clap their hands.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57There are sometimes choruses of 50 people
0:46:57 > 0:47:02and everybody is singing with us and that is a very high feeling.
0:47:02 > 0:47:03Are they word perfect?
0:47:03 > 0:47:06Yes, they know it by heart.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09# BOTH: Doe, a deer, a female deer
0:47:09 > 0:47:13# Ray, a drop of golden sun...
0:47:13 > 0:47:16MICHAEL JOINS IN: # Me, a name I call myself
0:47:16 > 0:47:20# Fa, a long, long way to run
0:47:20 > 0:47:24# Sew, a needle pulling thread
0:47:24 > 0:47:27# La, a note to follow so
0:47:27 > 0:47:30# Tea, a drink with jam and bread
0:47:30 > 0:47:35# That will bring us back to doe
0:47:35 > 0:47:37# Doe, ray, me, fa, so, la, tea, doe
0:47:37 > 0:47:39# So, doe... #
0:47:41 > 0:47:45Luckily for my fellow tourists, there's no more time for singing.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49My paddle steamer has carried me across the Wolfgansee Lake
0:47:49 > 0:47:51to St Wolfgang Station.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55From here, Edwardian travellers could experience the railway ride
0:47:55 > 0:47:57of a lifetime.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN
0:48:08 > 0:48:11My Bradshaw's is very clear about the next stage of my journey.
0:48:11 > 0:48:17"From St Wolfgang a climbing rail ascends the Schafberg, 5,840 feet.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20"The panorama from the top is very extensive."
0:48:20 > 0:48:24And fortunately the climbing rail is still here.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28I'm taking a trip on this beautiful tourist line with its director,
0:48:28 > 0:48:30Gunther Mackinger.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33- How very kind of you. Thank you very much. Thank you.- Take a seat.
0:48:34 > 0:48:35WHISTLE BLARES
0:48:35 > 0:48:36TRAIN WHISTLES
0:48:38 > 0:48:43Built in 1893, it's one of Austria's most vertiginous stretches of track.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48This is a lovely railway. What sort of gradient does it reach?
0:48:48 > 0:48:53This is the steepest railway with 26%.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57That's what we would call one in four, that's very steep indeed.
0:48:59 > 0:49:04The line was built so that tourists could admire the stunning views.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07To cope with the gradient, cogs were used for traction
0:49:07 > 0:49:09and a rather unusual engine was designed.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13Your locomotive is very distinctive
0:49:13 > 0:49:16because it's kind of built at an angle.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Because the railway is so steep and the water in the boiler
0:49:20 > 0:49:24must always fill the boiler complete,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27otherwise there would be the danger of a boiler explosion.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31It's absolutely obvious when you say it, but it had never occurred to me.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39Although the railway does still run original locomotives
0:49:39 > 0:49:42from the 1890s, this engine is a modern copy.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49And powered by steam climbing the Shafberg is an unforgettable ascent.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56My Bradshaw's promised me a panorama
0:49:56 > 0:50:01but I never expected anything as grand and as magnificent as this.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39Danke. Auf wiedersehen.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41Fortunately for me, as I leave the train,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45it's not the last I'll see of the vista.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Because amazingly, the cog train has brought me
0:50:48 > 0:50:50to my bed for the night.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53After one of the most remarkable train journeys in the world,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56I am now going to be staying in an extraordinary place...
0:50:56 > 0:50:58on top of a mountain.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09There's been a hotel perched atop the Shafberg ever since 1862.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14It must surely be one of the most spectacular places in Europe
0:51:14 > 0:51:16to break a railway journey.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38Having woken at my hotel in the clouds, it's time for me to descend
0:51:38 > 0:51:42the mountain and continue my exploration of the Salzkammergut.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48From medieval times, this region fuelled the wealth and power
0:51:48 > 0:51:50of the Habsburg dynasty, who had a monopoly
0:51:50 > 0:51:55on the valuable salt deposits hidden in the mountains.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57But by the early 20th century,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59the family was coming here by rail on holiday.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Their favourite bolt hole was Bad Ischl,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07described in my 1913 guide as "a very fashionable resort."
0:52:08 > 0:52:12To get there, my Bradshaw's outlines "a comparatively tame train ride
0:52:12 > 0:52:16"of half an hour" on the Salzkammergut Local Railway.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22But that service was closed in 1957, so I'm taking a very scenic route
0:52:22 > 0:52:24to my final destination.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35At Bad Ischl, my Bradshaw's tells me that the park of Imperial Villa
0:52:35 > 0:52:39may be visited during absences of the family.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42I'm headed for the place where, with a few strokes of the pen,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46a Habsburg Emperor consigned his dynasty to history.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00Just a year after my guidebook was published, the spa town of Bad Ischl
0:53:00 > 0:53:04played a pivotal role in the events which led to the First World War.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11But the story began half a century earlier, when this grand villa was
0:53:11 > 0:53:15given to the Emperor Franz Josef by his mother, as a wedding present.
0:53:18 > 0:53:19Nice to see you.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22I'm taking a tour with historian Lothar Hobelt.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29Now, Franz Josef was not necessarily a very happy man
0:53:29 > 0:53:31during his life, was he happy here?
0:53:31 > 0:53:35I think this is where, the part of the world he found easiest to relax.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38So he came here almost every summer.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41I mean, Franz Joseph was not a great man to relax, anyway.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45A great pastime he enjoyed most was hunting.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49One's of course got remember that that was the pastime for aristocrats
0:53:49 > 0:53:51or the elite in general, just like golfing today.
0:53:51 > 0:53:56And it was also a place where he could meet people informally,
0:53:56 > 0:54:00you know? I mean, everything else is at a court like Franz Josef's
0:54:00 > 0:54:02and he's a stickler for detail. Everything else is arranged
0:54:02 > 0:54:05according to ceremonial, but with hunting
0:54:05 > 0:54:07it gets a little more relaxed.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12But soon after my guidebook was written,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16events caught up with the Emperor even in his private paradise.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20By the summer of 1914, simmering tensions with the neighbouring
0:54:20 > 0:54:24Kingdom of Serbia had reached boiling point.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27In June of that year, Franz Josef's nephew and heir,
0:54:27 > 0:54:31Franz Ferdinand, was visiting the Empire's Balkan territories
0:54:31 > 0:54:35when a Serbian nationalist took drastic action.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38And he receives news here, does he,
0:54:38 > 0:54:43of the assassination of the heir Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo?
0:54:43 > 0:54:48Yes. And I think he knew even then that this was going to mean war.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52By 1914, Franz Josef was increasingly worried
0:54:52 > 0:54:55about Serbia's aggressive nationalist ambitions,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59and the assassination of the heir apparent was the final straw.
0:54:59 > 0:55:04On 28th July, here in Bad Ischl, the Emperor declared war
0:55:04 > 0:55:05on his troublesome neighbour.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10Once the Emperor had signed the declaration of war at Bad Ischl,
0:55:10 > 0:55:11does he go back to Vienna?
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Yes, he does, and he leaves by train, of course,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18and it seems he never came back to this house, because during wartime
0:55:18 > 0:55:21it simply wasn't thought appropriate to take summer holidays.
0:55:22 > 0:55:27Thanks to complex alliances, other powers were soon drawn into the conflict.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30Germany sided with Austria-Hungary,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33while Russia, allied to France, backed Serbia.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36The Emperor's show of strength quickly snowballed
0:55:36 > 0:55:38into a global war.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41Franz Josef died in 1916.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45And when German and Austro-Hungarian forces were defeated
0:55:45 > 0:55:48two years later, his successor abdicated
0:55:48 > 0:55:51as the empire crumbled around him.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53But the Habsburg family didn't die out.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58Amazingly, this villa is still family home to Markus Habsburg.
0:55:59 > 0:56:05- Wilkommen.- How very nice to see you. Michael Portillo.- Come here.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12So, I am addressing the great grandson of the Emperor Franz Josef.
0:56:12 > 0:56:13- Ja.- What a great pleasure.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18Having made his fateful decision, Franz Josef wrote to his peoples,
0:56:18 > 0:56:20making the case for war.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24And the manifesto that he produced was signed in this very room.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Yes, these are the four sheets of paper typewritten,
0:56:28 > 0:56:33and it bears a signature of Franz Josef
0:56:33 > 0:56:37and it was signed on 28 July 1914.
0:56:37 > 0:56:42It was finally printed in all the newspapers
0:56:42 > 0:56:45and in all the languages of the monarchy.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48There were 13 languages in his empire.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51The most important decision of Franz Josef's life?
0:56:51 > 0:56:56It was heavy decision for him personally,
0:56:56 > 0:57:01but an important decision in European history, unfortunately.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05A very historic document and a very historic piece furniture.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16On this journey, I've discovered the rich complexity of pre-war
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Austria-Hungary.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22An patchwork of nationalities, it was held together by one family
0:57:22 > 0:57:24and its historic power.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27But by the time my guidebook was published,
0:57:27 > 0:57:30the seeds of its demise had already been sown.
0:57:30 > 0:57:35When Franz Josef left here by train in 1914, he had unknowingly
0:57:35 > 0:57:37sealed the fate of the Habsburg Empire.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41The First World War destroyed it and Austria, Hungary
0:57:41 > 0:57:44and the other countries went their separate ways.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48My Bradshaw's has guided me through the Empire's twilight years
0:57:48 > 0:57:53of extravagance and sensuality. Compared with the horrors
0:57:53 > 0:57:56that were to befall those countries in the rest of the 20th Century,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59it was an age of innocence.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Next time, I'll take to the tracks in the former German Empire,
0:58:08 > 0:58:11Europe's industrial powerhouse...
0:58:11 > 0:58:13I can actually see into everybody's window,
0:58:13 > 0:58:15I can see into everybody's house.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17..in its most scenic spots.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20When on the Rhine, eat as Rhinelanders do.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23I'll learn what attracted Edwardian tourists...
0:58:23 > 0:58:25- Hello, my beauties! - Nice to meet you!
0:58:25 > 0:58:29..and discover how its close ties with Britain were soon to be shattered.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31So the two countries that went to war
0:58:31 > 0:58:34- were ruled over by first cousins? - Yes, first cousins.
0:58:36 > 0:58:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd