Intertale/Eutopia Stop 9: Gmünd/Corinthia

War memorial of Gmünd: Mehr als das Leben konnten wir nicht geben.

The horrendous floodings in Lower Austria caused us to change plans quickly. There was no way to get to or through Vienna. But luckily someone suggested to go to the Künstler:innen Stadt/artist town Gmünd. As we were snowed out of our accommodation and rained out of the train journey, so, off we went across the Tauern Alps to Gmünd to see what it is all about.

Gmünd is a small medieval town of today 2500 inhabitants in a hidden corner of Corinthia. The Künstlerverbund was founded in the early 1990ies after some artists settled here. Thanks to the building of the new Tauern Autobahn which by-passed the place completely, the town was in decline and housing was cheap. Reviving the place through the arts was seen as a solution by the local authorities and since then the art community grew and so did the number of galleries and other art spaces such as a cinema and an annual artist in residence programme and a summer academy/school. A Chagall exhibition was shown in the Stadtgalerie. Many of the medieval houses were restored to its former beauty and today the little town is just a gem of a place full of art, delicious bakeries and craft shops.

The art like often in such places is of mixed interest. But probably that is what it is all about. There is something here for everybody. For me it was the antique shop with the hat maker, the bakery with the Strudel, the medieval workspaces formerly of cobblers, blacksmiths and other craftspeople – today of artists. Not a bad option when your birthday is stranded in a place like this.

What struck me most, was its war memorial. A fallen cross which said: Mehr als das Leben konnten wir nicht geben/More than our life we could not give. 1914-1918-1919 1939-1945. Sadly I could not find any reference of the maker or the initiator. But to me - as someone who looked at many war memorials across Europe – this is a really heroic act.

Thank you to the Unknown Artist.