Folk Culture in Salzburg

Walking in the streets of Salzburg, it is clear that Austrian people remember their traditions and national celebrations. There is a very big chance that you will see people wearing traditional clothing, for example. They are other fully dressed or at least have a small detail like a hat. For Austrian people, their culture is very important and plays a major role in their lives. They value the old traditions that originated hundreds of years ago and still celebrate them today. However, researching deeper the tradition of wearing special clothes showed that it is not "easy" to keep up with the culture. Walking into the stores and looking at the tags on different pieces of traditional clothing left me in a little astonishment because of the prices. The price of the most simple dresses started at around 200 Euros. To get the full outfit, you will need to buy a dress, shoes and special accessories for women and shorts, shirt, shoes, socks, hat and other accessories for men. There are also difference types of outfits that include Dirndl(consists of a bodice, blouse, full skirt and apron) and Lederhosen(are breeches made of leather; they may be either short or knee-length). Considering the fact that the average salary in Salzburg is around 3000 Euros, it would be pretty expensive for most families. If they buy an outfit for one person with a good quality, they would spent almost a third of their whole salary. Most of the clothes are handmade out of real wool and one piece of clothing would be at least 70 Euros. Nevertheless, people still manage to buy these expensive things and wear them on the streets enjoying the feeling of being a part of the culture.

Most of the stores that I have visited had very expensive clothes. The price is very high, but the quality is good considering the fact that the majority of the clothes are handmade in this country. However, you can find very similar clothing in touristic stores. In those, the prices start at 30 Euros. But the quality "compensates" for that. Those clothes are also made in other countries like China. In many touristic stores, most of the outfits are made for kids. It is actually a good idea because children would grow out of them very quickly and would be able to keep it clean.

During my little expedition in the streets of Salzburg, I saw numerous people wearing traditional costumes. Most of the were between 40 to 70 years old, the older part of the population. There were two older couples that I met. Both men and women were dressed fully in traditional clothes. Seeing the things they were wearing and knowing the prices of those, I would infer that they are middle-high class. Both couples were most likely Austrian and one of the reasons to think so was that they spoke German. These four people were clearly showing their sense of nationalism and being proud of their country and culture. The fifth person that I got a chance to look at was a woman, about 40-50 years old. She is also most likely Austrian(spoke German). However, the clothes that she was wearing didn't look like they were made with good quality. I would infer that she is from a lower middle class.  It was very unlikely to see someone younger, in their teens, walking around the city in traditional clothes. There are reasons for that. There is a good chance that they still might not understand everything or standing out of the ''teen population'' that has its own trends.

How much do the cultural practices of immigrants change the cultural landscape of Salzburg?

The Turkish Consulate

This Turkish Consulate is located on the Strubergasse. It is very noticeable from the outside because of the bright red Turkish flag. According to some resources, large part of all immigrants in Salzburg are from Turkey, therefore, this consulate is needed in the city. The consulate is there for many reasons - represent the Turkish people in the city, organize the need documents, report births, deaths, marriages, etc.

 

The Indian Restaurant 

This Indian Restaurant is located on Ignaz-Harrer-Straße. This place is owned  by Indian people and provide the variety of national Indian foods. They should have many people interested in Indian food and culture, including the immigrants from India. For those who left their mother country(India) this restaurant could be a place, where they can enjoy the same kinds of food like in India. For others, like native Austrians or other tourists, it could be a place where they can try the Indian food without actually visiting the country.

The Islamic Place for Worship

This place is relatively close to the Indian Restaurant. There are a lot of Muslim immigrants in Salzburg. This is the place for them to worship and follow all the rules of their religion. Even though it is not very visible form the outside, it still affected the landscape of Salzburg. It is not a huge mosque that would be seen from far away - just a little place inside one of the building on the streets. Places like this help immigrants adjust better to their new environment, but at the same time not lose their cultural identity.

 

The Muslim Clothing Store

This store with Muslim national clothes is located right across from the Indian Restaurant. This place exists in Salzburg because of the large number of Muslim immigrants in the city. This actually proves the fact that there are a lot of Muslims because if there wouldn't be, that store would be able to make enough profit. Those national clothes is a big part of the Islamic culture and having a place like this makes it easier for the coming people to adjust to their new home.

Financial Services

Financial services is an important part for the people coming into a foreign country. It is especially needed for the migrant and guest workers. They use them to transfer money to their mother countries. Many of those families depend on remittances, so the best and safest way to get the money to them is send it electronically. This particular poster is located close to the train station - the busiest place for people moving around and traveling. 

Geographical Expedition to the Landeskrankenhaus Salzburg

          Being a very imaginative person, I was looking forward to observing the labyrinth at the Landeskrankhaus Salzburg and making up in my mind a huge structure made of green hedges. I was very excited for the expedition to that labyrinth after looking at it on the map. On the map it looked very large compared to the other objects, so it made me think that the structure would be so huge in reality that it wouldn't be very hard to get lost there. It actually reminded me of those labyrinths in the gardens of Peterhof where dozens of squared meters are organized in to large labyrinths with tall green wall around them.

 When we arrived at the labyrinth near the hospital, my perspective of the terrain there was changed completely. To be honest, it was a little bit disappointing because instead of the tall hedge walls, there was just a brick path on the ground in the shape of the labyrinth. From the side it didn't even look like it was on the map, where it was shown form the top. At the first glance, I was surprised because the whole image was not expected. However, then I realized that it was a sign. We were “walking” around that idea of a labyrinth, almost getting closer to he realization and understanding of the surround environment, but found out the truth only when we looked at the structure with our own eyes. Nobody expected something like we saw to appear at our expedition destination.

At our destination, I realized that things on the map don’s always represent the reality. There is a relationship between the map and the real world, however it is not always accurate. The map shows the shape of the objects but the scale is not as precise, which makes it hard to actually imagine the true object. This happens, most likely, because of the techniques that geographers use to transfer the “real word” to a map, or a picture on a flat surface. A labyrinth is a kind of a map that organizes space, but not in a way that we might think about it. First of all, the labyrinth is a map because it is a real structure on the surface of the Earth that was transferred to a flat surface. Secondly, it organizes space in a way that it is not a random structure but a thought-out construction that was created by someone for a certain purpose. I feel like this labyrinth at the Landeskrankhaus Salzburg is a representation of the world compared to a map or a picture. The same happens when the continents or any other features on the Earth’s surface are transferred to the flat surface, which charges the perspective of people about the environment they live in. Maps are very helpful when studying a particular area on the planet; however, to get the more accurate and precise view of a feature, it is the best not only to look at the picture but also observe it with your own eyes.