17 July 2021

Fashion.at's excursion to an exhibition about the culture of dining and the celebration of events like weddings at Schloss Halbturn in Burgenland

Living in Austria has almost pre-pandemic-lightness - almost. The strategy against infections with new variants, especially the Delta variant, is to offer an increasing number of vaccinations at popular places where people can get their jabs without former registration. In Vienna for example even a boat at the Alte Donau with medical staff on board is currently used for reaching bathers at the city beaches. Testing is still a theme and is obligatory in special cases also for fully vaccinated such as for visiting a hospital. Test streets are like the vaccination points available at well frequented places such as the parking place of the beach of lake Neusiedl. The lake is called the 'Sea of the Viennese' as it's one of the favorite holiday places in a short distance to the Austrian capital. The record low water depth gauge of the steppe lake is an extreme sign for another challenge: The changes of the surface of earth due to climate. Austrians are shocked after the latest floodings two days ago in Germany and Belgium about how many were found dead, the high number of missing persons and the devastation of regions which weren't prepared for such a natural disaster - simply as nobody expected these effects of climate change.

Fashion.at visited the restaurant 'Mole West' at Neusiedlersee this week. The restaurant can be recommended because of the served food, drinks (tip: non-alcoholic cocktails), the comfortable atmosphere of the location's generously space-giving architecture, the professionality of the staff and the view from the harbor terrace over the lake.

Images: Fashion.at's Karin Sawetz standing at the landing stage of Mole West at Neusiedlersee and walking in the park of Schloss Halbturn in Burgenland. Pictures captured on 15 July 2021.

But lake Neusiedl wasn't the reason for Fashion.at's excursion to the Austrian federal state Burgenland. The restaurant was visited after the exhibition about the dining culture of gourmets from the antique until today at the popular wedding and event location Schloss Halbturn in the district of Neusiedl am See. The exhibition 'Bei Genießern zu Gast' (means 'Hosted by Connoisseurs', introduction in German / English with pictures) presents with a wide range of objects from tableware to furniture, art, costumes,... the lifestyle of mainly aristocratic and bourgeois societies in Europe from the viewing point of the palace, which was since the 16th century the hunting and summer residence of persons from reigning families of the Austrian Monarchy.

One of the highlights of the show is a rural wedding costume in black for a bride from Burgenland. The history of the color black is described with reference to the mid-19th century when the first wedding dresses in white appeared. But it should take almost 100 years until the color of wedding dresses in rural regions were changed after WWI from black to white. White has been seen as a symbol of mourning, is explained at the exhibition.

By leaving the exhibition through the museum shop, Fashion.at tested the scents by 'Steppenduft' (which means as much as 'Steppe Fragrance'). Steppenduft is the name of the brand of a farm in Burgenland where visitors can join exploration tours for insights into the making of natural scents from plants grown in the region.

Tip: From 19 to 22 August 2021, the 'Gartenlust' market with garden and home products by over 150 exhibitors will happen in the garden and palace of Schloss Halbturn.