Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition CommissionLouisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
History
Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 : Saint Louis, Mo.)
The plastic on the outside of the building was delivered by the sculptor
Othmar Schimkowitz. The figurate frieze in the library was the work of
the painter Josef Engerhart. The painter Ferdinand Andri executed the
frescoes on the facade and Meinrich Tomec those in the department for
waterways. The Emperor's bust, which was made of Lassar marble and which
had been executed in the workshop of the Tyrol Marble and Porphyry
Company (Fritz Zeller), Laas (Tyrol), was a copy of Professor Strasser's
model.
The relief "Empress Elizabeth" (allegory) in the reception room was by
the late Rudolf Weigl, sculptor.
Sandor Jaray had been intrusted with the interior decorations and
fittings. The carpets were delivered by J. Ginskey, Maffendorf, and the
ornamental locksmith work by Alexander Nehr.
The mosaic and artistic work was done by Max Freiherr von Spann and
Johann Kappner; the fancy needlework by Carl Giani; the inlaid work
(intarsia) by Michael Kehl, Josef Duchoslav, and Franz Makienec, and the
bronze works by Johann Hastach, Carl Kratky, J. Schubert, and A.T.
Lange. On account of the beauty of its furnishings and the harmonious
color schemes of the interior the pavilion was especially attractive to
women visitors to the fair.
Austria is the home of the European alpine railways. The oldest, the
Semmering Railway, constructed in 1848-1854, lies on the South Railway
main line from Vienna to Trieste and is the first mountain railway
conducted exclusively on the adhesive principle. Then followed the
Brenner Railway (1864-1867), the shortest railway communication between
central Germany via Tyrol to Italy (Verona), and the Arlberg Railway
(1880-1884), which opened up the route via Tyrol and Vorarlberg to the
west (Switzerland and France). Four great panoramas in the exhibition
showing the above-mentioned alpine railways were witness to Austria's
prominence in this special field of railway technique. One room in the
pavilion was devoted to the models of alpine railways. There were also
plans of the lines, photographic views of buildings and of the tracks of
the first three mentioned lines, which are in full working order. The
lines in course of construction were further illustrated by models of
tunnels, scaffoldings, foundations of arched bridge (with span of 80
meters) over the Isonzo (littoral lands of Austria), with statistical
calculations and charts of the largest vaulted bridges ever built, and
photographic views of the working in the Karawanken and Wocheiner
tunnels. Among the other exhibits in this department may be mentioned a
model of the groundwork of the Austrian State railways for express
trains, photos of the imperial court train and of the newest locomotives
and passenger carriages of the Austrian State railways, as well as plans
for iron bridges, groundwork, locomotives, and passenger carriages of
the State railways. The work published for the Emperor's jubilee,
"History of the Railways of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy," together
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account