Inge Lehne

The Past In The Present is a well-pitched summary of Vienna's history and heritage, ranging from the earliest Roman settlements in the time of Marcus Aurelius to the relatively present day. It is not a particularly deep or analytical work which brings two issues - the readability is excellent and it can be consumed fairly quickly though the rapid skim through centuries does not always bring the detailed understanding that a more thorough work would possess. The early note that described a reader interest as being more focussed on recent history than older times felt a little odd as I'm not sure there are many outside of Vienna who could describe life there since the 40s while far more who would be familiar with the grandeur of the Habsburgs and the imagery of court life in the architecture. Still, what the book does provide is delivered well. For anyone looking for an introduction to Vienna and the history of the people and the place then this is a sensible place to start.

The one weakness of the book is that it often misses the link to lead the reader into the present in the way the title suggests. It would have been better had the descriptions of events been drawn into the parallel sights that the contemporary reader can see rather than merely reporting on times past. In this way more of a guidebook feel would probably have been a better approach than the history summary that is presented. For those of us who enjoy history this is a 4 star book, for those who would have wanted more of a guide around the city it will be a notch lower.

In reading some of the early chapters of the book there appeared to be a worrying trend to mis-cast the Viennese people. While Austria is a Germanic country the people of Vienna are in the main Slavic, they just speak German. The social history that accompanies this falls right at the end of the book and the last chapter that wraps up the social and demographic elements is a little light but alleviates the fears that the description of Vienna does not match the reality. The introduction is also terrific as it absolutely captures the zeitgeist. Viennese people are reserved and some would say rude, they have status issues and eat badly but they are creators of magnificence and have an environmental ethic that they are rightly proud of.

In between the start and the finish of the book is a rapid race through the fascinating story of Vienna. The Romans did not leave much of a mark but the Babenburgs and obviously the Holy Roman Emporer Habsburgs certainly did. While there is little told here of the Napoleonic incursions, the battles with the Ottomans and the expansion under the military genius of Eugene von Savoy are retold here as an excellent introduction that gives an excellent base of knowledge.

The cultural history of Vienna is probably the most famous part of the story - the grand Ringstrasse with the beautiful Staatsoper and other grandeur, the unbelievable Hoffburg complex of Imperial might, the musical and artistic excellence that has graced this city so often are all given their place in the tale.

One of the most enlightening aspects of the book is Inge Lehne's personal history. Though this is not told as an individual's story, the fact that Lehne lived through a lot of the 20th century's turbulence lends the book a credibility that makes the somewhat apologetic responses to Hitler's speech on Heldenplatz entirely understandable. The political battles between the centrists and the actual battles between the extremists in this eastern bastion of the western world during much of the previous hundred years are spellt out and this sets the scene for understanding the modern political scene with generations of coalition governments and an entirely neutral, nearly pacifist foreign policy. The impacts for modern politics of this are not quite covered in the 90s publication as the rise to power of Jorg Haider just missed the deadline but he is already mentioned and understanding what has happened before and why helps to understand what is there now and what could come in the future.… (mer)