While I was eavesdropping at the great gate of the Pfarrkirche, I spotted a sandwich panel across the way: Schubert Museum. Yes, I went in unprepared. I do this deliberately to discover things on the spot and be pleasantly surprised by everything there is to experience. That's how I've been traveling for years and how I attend concerts. Minimal information, absorb what's there, and then dive into books afterward if needed. It might be backwards, but that way I'm not influenced by this or that and I form my own opinion as much as possible.
That museum—I still have time since the next concert starts at 4 PM. Of course I have time, it's only 11 o'clock and change. It's surprising to discover that the museums are open on this first day of May and don't close in the afternoon either. The first place I enter is also the headquarters of the Schubertiade. A grand town villa, beautifully maintained. One half houses the Schubertiade offices and the other is a museum dedicated to the renowned German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. That's worth the visit, especially for devoted fans who want to know absolutely everything about the great artists they admire. You'll find countless letters from fans, her father, herself, great conductors and fellow musicians, photographs and some of the beautiful evening gowns she wore at concerts. Since there's more than just this museum, I have to dash through it or I'll miss some, and yes, the Schubertiade museum itself, I still need to visit. That'll be for next time.
The square has another beautifully maintained building where you'll find the Legge Museum, which also highlights writer Stefan Zweig who lived and worked there and owned the house. The author had nothing further to do with Schubert or musicians involved with Schubert. Walter Legge was arguably the first and certainly one of the most important classical music record producers. He gathered the greatest artists of their time—in the 20th century, a classical musician could become world-famous and rich if they were lucky. It's much harder now. We're spoiled rotten with the massive selection available in every way, but roughly 100 years ago, an LP and a classical radio station were already a huge luxury. Through mass production and improved equipment, recording techniques and so on, producers enjoyed golden years and top musicians made money hand over fist. Who didn't bring classical music LPs into their home? And thick books? Try explaining that to today's kids and young people. That alone makes such a museum, again filled with photos and letters, surprisingly enlightening.
I continued exploring the very neat little town after enjoying a tasty bite of schimmel cheese at the Italian 'La skisetta'. A little shameless plug: want to visit a Schubertiade? Then treat yourself at the table at {{NOTRANSLATE_1}}. My further wanderings through little Hohenems brought me to the Nibelungen Museum. Look, with the Nibelungen this little town could really do much more. The Nibelungen need someone like Neubauer (he built the museum from the ground up and runs it) because that wonderful world of the Nibelungen—the writings were rediscovered in Hohenems in the 19th century—has brought so much, just to mention Richard Wagner. Wagner fans shouldn't just find their way to opera houses, they should also visit something here that captivated Wagner and led to his mighty operatic creations. www.laskisetta.atI visited the Schubert Museum a day later. A fairly beautiful building, with a larger town garden too, but there are expenses for a building that desperately needs extensive renovation. It has quite a few portraits of people who brought color to Schubert's world and you'll see plenty of reproductions of letters handwritten by Schubert, nobility, other musicians, family and friends. Facsimiles of scores, first editions and lots of information. It requires several hours of your time, but I didn't have that—the concerts were calling me...
I didn't have time for the Schubertiade Museum, so I'll have to come back to that impressive little town where I was moreover wonderfully pampered in a charming guesthouse where I was surprised each morning with an unexpected breakfast. That's what you call hospitality. Yes, I'll be back!
Schubertiade
