Page 12 - Lienz Treasure Chest

Bronze sculpture “Tratsch” (“Gossip”)
by Jos Pirkner

Lienz’s main square, then called “Kaiser-Josef-Platz” (Emperor Joseph Square), around 1930.

3 The bronze sculpture there from the “Schwarzer Adler”
“Tratsch” (“Gossip”), in the cour- (“Black Eagle”) inn as one of Tyrol’s
tyard of the district courthouse, at last “hereditary post offices”. 1609
the eastern passage to the main saw the first mention of an inn,
square – Life-sized figures discus- later known as “Goldener Adler”
sing the town gossip, by Jos Pirk- (“Golden Eagle”) and “Post”. Even
ner, from 1985. Crown Prince Rudolf and imperial
heir Franz Ferdinand honoured the
4 St Florian’s Fountain by Jos “Post” with their visit. Through the
Pirkner. The saint’s figure is a cop- Volksbank passage, a bit further
per repoussé work from 1956 ab- west, one can see the beautiful
ove a serpentinite bowl from 1985. courtyard.
Jos Pirkner is one of Austria’s most
famous sculptors. He lives and 6 Hypo-Bank building, Haupt-
works in Tristach, near Lienz. platz 4 – This highly sophisticated
work of modern architecture was
5 Old Town Hotel “Eck” (“Cor- planned by Raimund Abraham.
ner”), Hauptplatz 20 – The former Born in 1933 in Lienz, he worked
town fortress in the northwes- at the Cooper Union School of Ar-
tern corner of the settlement was chitecture in New York, America’s
the seat of the Counts of Lienz in most famous architectural school
the late 12th / early 13th century. by far. The Hypo-Bank building is
The most famous of the Gorizian only one of five buildings by Abra-
lords was Heinrich, Count of Lienz ham, which also include the Austri-
(†1256), whose poetry is inclu- an Cultural Forum in New York. The
ded in the Codex Manesse (about façade of the building is shaped like
1308). In the mid-14th century, a shield and connects to the adja-
this building housed the Gorizian cent buildings. The northern façade
coin mint, where even golden gu- is also worth a look.
ilders were minted. For some time,
the building also housed the post
office, which had been moved

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