According to the trifold brochure:

"The Graz Double Spiral Staircase was erected in 1499/1500 by an unknown master builder in the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, the ‘Last Knight.’

The numerous signs of work on the structure attest to the stonemasons who participated in the the construction of the staircase.

The Graz staircase is not the only one of its shape in the architecture of Central Europe, but one of the most significant.

The new reference to antiquity on the threshold to the Renaissance Era is expressed on the staircase facades in the walling of two Roman gravestones from the nearby Roman town of Flavia Solva.

AEIOU Emperor who signed everything but no one knows what AEIO means.”

This was where the tour with Werner began on Wednesday morning. I didn’t expect a cultural trip; actually I expected just a meeting in his office. But he showed me the double spiral, which was just across the street from my apt. I walked past it almost everyday. But I never learned about it because I hadn’t opened the orientation folder that was given to me on the first day at Afro-Asiatische Institut.

The next stop, the Graz Plague Mural, I had seen before and had included in my film. A fresco on the outside of the cathedral recounted God’s message to his disciplines, the church’s role in educating men, the invasion of the Turks into Europe and Graz, and the death toll of the Black Plague on the citizens.

In the Graz Cathedral we looked at the red and cream-colored floor tiles; stones from Salzburg. The Cathedral is a mixture of styles: a gothic ceiling with ceiling skulls replaced with wooden paintings of the Styrian leopard, an Italian Renaissance backdrop behind the altar, which is flanked by two ivory boxes, which I supposed held the sacred remains of saints; the boxes themselves are encased in glass, which itself may be encased in something else in the future. The roof of the cathedral is pierced at the head and aft of the roof with copper turrets, one for air, one for a clock. Both were likely additions around 200 years ago. The doors to the cathedral open with an automatic sensor, introduced in the last five years.

We walked down to the Glockenspiel, which first chimed on Christmas eve of 1905. We had breakfast at Frankowisch, where he told me that you can always see if the an establishment in Austria is serving bad coffee when they serve sparkling water along side. The sparkling hides the bad aftertaste. But with good coffee still water is served, so one can rinse the pallet and enjoy the flavor anew.

When the coffee was almost done and the pastries eaten, almost two hours since we met, Werner mozied to the purpose of the meeting: Holding Graz was not happy. Actually, Werner framed it this way: “You’re lucky. You’re the last person who will be allowed to film at the wastewater treatment plant.” There had been a meeting with the higher ups and Werner had taken some flack.

I was not entirely surprised; in fact I was a little surprised that Holding Graz had allowed me to film there in the first place. It’s completely forbidden in New York. I asked if they were still going to lead students there, for educational purposes. He said yes, but in general Holding Graz was tightening their grip on their image and would not allow Steve Weiss’s college class to tour their Andritz facility.

I understood with their impulse to try to reduce the risk of public criticism, but I disagreed with their approach. The impulse for Holding to decrease transparency was a mistake, I told Werner. Rather they should increase transparency in certain areas. Opacity was the reason these three parties of environmentalist Austrians were at each other’s necks. Openness, dialogue and cross-collaboration was the only way to gracefully produce the democratic future.

The Landezeughaus was the next stop on the tour, an enormous, historic building, the largest armory in the world, storing enough weapons and armor for 10,000 men. It was right behind the Mayor’s building in Hauptplatz and closed in the winter, except for guided tours. Visually, the Landezeughaus is stunning: all dark wood structures holding mostly dark wood muskets, swords and armor. It served as the stockade against Napoleon’s men in 1809; the more expensive armor expressed the wealth of its production but also the current owners.

During lunch at Schmankerlstube I perfected the rhythm and patience of Graz. No question can be answered in more than two sentence and between the answer and the next question a duration of silence that is at least as long as another question must endure. It was an excruciating pace, but it allowed both parties to essentially eat at the same rhythm.

We both ordered Halbbeuschel, veal lungs stew with a dumpling in the middle. Toward the end of the meal, Werner invited me to join him and some other water enthusiasts to sail the Adriatic sea in the summertime. I was flattered. We paid, walked to Hauptplatz where I began to apologize for any trouble I may have caused him with his superiors. He answered that he was an old rabbit and knew how to carry on. Then, under the Weikhard Uhr, we shook hands and he dashed off to catch a tram back to work.

Halbbeuschel

Innards can be found very often in the Viennese cuisine and are highly estimated amongst gourmets. The Beuschel (veal lungs) supposedly is a Jewish dish and is that prominent in the Viennese cuisine that the term has found its way even into everyday speech and is colloquially used as a synonym for „lungs“. Therefore, a „Beuscheltelefon“ (literally: lung telephone) is the medical diagnosis tool stethoscope. Enjoy!

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Beuschel:

600 g (1,4 lb) veal lungs
1 veal heart
1 root vegetables (parsley, carrots, celery stalk)
6 peppercorns
3 allspice corns
1 bay leaf
1 spring thyme (small)
1 onion (small)
salt

Final stage:
40 g (1/8 cup) butter
30 g (1/4 cup) flour
1 cooking spoon capers
1 onion (small) , halved
1 anchovy fillet (finely chopped)
1 clove garlic (chopped)
lemon rind (grated)
1 tbsp parsley (finely chopped)
dash of vinegar
sugar
pinch of ground marjoram
smidgen of mustard
2 tbsps sour cream
2 tbsps cream
dash of lemon juice
salt
ground pepper
4 tbsps goulash sauce (for serving)

Preparation:

Separate the veal lung from the windpipe and gullet. Soak well, piercing several holes in the lung so that water can get into the cavity. Fry the onion, cut surfaces down, in a pan until golden brown. Fill a large pot with cold water, add lungs and heart and bring to boil. Add to the pot the root vegetables, peppercorns, allspice corns, bay leaf, thyme, salt and onion. Simmer until meat is tender.

Remove the lung after about 1 hour and rinse with cold water to cool. Leave the heart in the stock for at least another 30 minutes, until very tender, then remove. Heat some of the stock in another saucepan and bring to boil. Meanwhile, cut the lung and heart finely, removing any cartilage.

For the final stage, heat some butter in a casserole dish. Sprinkle in the flour and sauté until light brown. Add the finely chopped ‘innards seasoning': capers, onion, anchovy fillet, garlic, lemon rind, and parsley. Let draw on low heat for a few minutes. Add the reduced stock, stir well and cook for 15-20 minutes until thick. Add the innards and season with salt, pepper, vinegar, sugar, marjoram and mustard. As soon as the ragout is thick, stir in the sour cream and cream. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Add lemon juice to taste and serve with a few drops of hot goulash juice and serve with bread dumplings.