Searching for Beethoven

I set out in search of Beethoven's grave. Feeling determined, I hopped a train and started on my way. I sat and pondered what it was going to be like to see his grave. He's one of my favorite composers and has had a huge influence on my musical growth. I have been learning pieces by him for years. Through high school, he was, hands down, my favorite composer and I couldn't get enough of his piano pieces.

As I came closer, I got onto a street car to finish the last leg of my journey. I looked up at the map to check how many stops it was before I arrived. I stared a little puzzled for a moment as it suddenly dawned on me that the last four stops went to the same cemetery. Where was I to get off? I could be wandering for hours. I didn't let it worry me too much as I thought there would be plenty of signs pointing me in the right direction. After all, it was Beethoven.

I decided to just get out at the first stop and head right in. I looked left, right, up, down, backwards and frontwards just to find that there were absolutely no signs. I probably should have checked out a map of the cemetery before I left, but where is the adventure in that? I began walking down long stretches of road just checking out this amazing graveyard. I just decided that it couldn't be that hard to just stumble upon his grave in this maze of thousands of graves. I was in awe with the grandeur of some of these grave sites.

I soon realized that I probably wasn't going to simply stumble upon Beethoven's site. Luckily, there wasn't anyone around on a cold, gray, snow-threatened afternoon so I couldn't ask for help. I tried to find a map of some sort but I failed to find any. This didn't get me down, however. I was willing to take an adventure in any form that it was offered to me. I just kept moving forward with the thought, "this is going to be completely worth it" in the back of my mind.

Out of nowhere, a beautiful, enormous green dome emerged from the trees. I forgot about the cold and the walking and Beethoven and was drawn towards this giant building. As I came around the corner, I beheld this.

The clouds started parting and for a moment, I could see the sun trying to break through. This only confirmed my desire to go inside. I hurried my pace and made my way to the staircase. The Friedhofskirche. I went up the stairs and tentatively opened the door, not knowing whether I was allowed to enter or not. I closed the door behind me and found myself in this beautiful church.

I wasn't hear too long before my eyes reached heavenward. Up above, I saw the sky I have been longing to see for days.

I sat and stared at the ceiling, being completely captivated by the bright, contrasting blue and gold. Symbolism of the sun, moon and stars came rushing to mind beholding this scene. After some time, I began looking around, hoping to find someone that could be sharing this wondrous moment with me. Alas, no one was in sight. I listened intently in the silent chapel for any signs of life... Nothing...

I began looking around and investigating. I found hidden in a corner an elevator. I hesitatingly pressed the button, worried some alarm or something would happen not allowing me to enter. The elevator came down, opened up and I stepped in. I looked for special key or card access to actually make the elevator go somewhere, but couldn't find anything. So, I pressed a button with a big, long German word next to it. Up I went. After I walked out, I left the elevator and went through a door.

The next thought that came into my mind, "could I get over to the organ?"

Dang.

The door is locked. I headed back to the elevator and pushed some more buttons. I began my descent back down to where I was before. The elevator kept going down and down with no end in sight. Finally, it stopped and I exited into what is the crypt of the church.

There were several grave sites down here, but one in particular that caught my attention. It was massively huge, obviously for someone of great importance to this church.

It belonged to Bürgermeister "Doktor" Lueger. It seems that he was a very influential man, however, he was not liked by all people because of his anti-semitic views. There was one person that adored him because of these views, the Austrian Adolf Hitler, who took these views to an unimaginable extreme. This is, sadly, the end of Lueger's lineage as he was a bachelor his entire life.

An interesting feature of this church is that there is a window, or a "veil," that separates the chapel from the crypt. I found this to be very interesting.

I love all of the symbolism that can be found in religious and sacred places. Symbolism takes something important and that has meaning and somehow makes it even more meaningful.

There were many beautiful things that I found on my personal tour of the Friedhofskirche, including this stained glass.

But by far, my favorite discovery was this sculpture of the Christus in copper. It was beautiful. I love statues of the Christus. For me, it really means a lot. It is a portrayal of the living Christ, bearing His wounds of the crucifixion for all to see. It symbolizes everything that Christ did for us. But most of all, He was resurrected. He overcame that death which comes to us all. It is a symbol of hope and love. He overcame all so that we do not have to fear.

Eventually, I did find Beethoven, but I'll have to save that for another day.