As usual, the trip was very well planned and extremely interesting. Many of us appreciated that by participating. In addition to our Jaguars and a Daimler DS420, food and drink played a role in various ways this time.

At breakfast in the “Krainerhütte” hotel in the Helenental, the participants on the outing first gathered. This exit took place as part of this year’s vintage car days; The JDOST members have also contributed to drawing attention to the great importance of historic vehicles in Austria and presenting the cultural heritage of classic cars to the public.

The path then led us to our sponsor “Austria SHIRT”, who opened its doors especially for us on Saturday. There was great demand for textiles with the typical JDOST logo as a sticker, which made the owner very happy and made the Saturday worthwhile for him. We also enjoyed the extra offered sparkling wine. A very successful event; Inside it was comfortably warm, outside it was pouring rain – April weather, how else could you have expected it?

The morning was already over and we all strengthened ourselves at lunch at the Schickh inn in Furth near Göttweig, at the foot of Göttweig Abbey. But that was not the end of the topic of food and there was a lot of food for the eye as a result.

In Hadersdorf am Kamp, as part of the exhibition “A Red Thread – Textile Paths in Art” (March 25 – October 29, 2023), we were also presented with food, but in the form of “Eat-Art” (from 1960 by Daniel Spoerri and the French artist movement “Nouveau Réalisme”): in so-called “trap pictures” (objects that are found in random, untidy or tidy situations are placed on their random base in exactly the situation in which they are found – table, box, drawer, etc. – attached). Its inventor, the Swiss artist, dancer and director of Romanian origin, Daniel Spoerri, is one of the most important representatives of object art. For him, the traditional manual activities of sewing, crocheting, embroidery and knitting are part of contemporary art. The “Spoerri Exhibition House” (formerly Hohenfurterhaus, today a listed building) also gives an insight into the amazing variety of textile art: sewn plants, embroidered interiors, carpet pictures, crocheted food, cross-stitches on a plastic bag, knitted architecture, sewn writing, bygone days Clothing, idiosyncratic figures and a number of flags.

It continued with “heavy fare”: the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant as part of contemporary Austrian history. Zwentendorf was the only nuclear power plant in the world to be completed, but never put into operation due to a referendum. Numerous protected animal and plant species are now at home in the power plant area on the Danube. The power station and turbine halls are now used by technicians as a training center. And the power plant is now supplying electricity – 100% ecological electricity from solar power. EVN has been offering free tours of the nuclear power plant since 2010. A derelict nuclear power plant, more than 1,000 rooms, technical interior and no radiation: the nuclear power plant therefore not only serves as a location for conferences, music festivals, fashion shows and music videos, but also as a film location.

The day ended with dinner at the Süddeck restaurant in Tulln.

Text: W. Pietsch

Photos: JDOST©