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OUR PHILOSOPHY

Why Venture Off the Beaten Path?

Our Philosophy: There is something exciting about discovering a place that is off of the beaten path. After all, adventure and exploration are exciting aspects of human nature.  Finding that hidden gem that has been overlooked or waiting to be discovered is an incredible feeling.

So in addition to visiting Prague visit Český Krumlov, while touring Munich explore Ulm or Rothenburg, if in Edinburgh explore Glencoe and the Highlands.  Reward yourself with Hadrian’s Wall, Vindolanda, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Diocletian’s Palace — you deserve it.  Visit Finsa, Norway and see where the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was filmed.  Challenge yourself to discover and investigate new things and share new cultural experiences.  Roman ruins, WW2 and UNESCO sites, film locations, castles, fortresses, and natural wonders are some of our favorite “off the beaten path” destinations.  Exploring the charming small towns in proximity to these attractions can also be an adventure within itself.

Our general philosophy for defining an off the beaten path location:

— We haven’t heard of it;

— We cannot pronounce it;

— You have to really do your research to learn more about it;

— We can only get there by car, boat or on foot;

— No crowds, no tourist bus, no cruise ships, and real people live, work and study there;

— We do not hear English being spoken;

— There are no tour guides holding umbrellas;

— Lastly, when asked, locals describe it as a must-see.

In short, to travel off the beaten path, you have to earn it.  Do your travel homework.  Take a risk.  When it comes to travel, don’t stick to the ordinary, do the extraordinary.  You are generally always rewarded.  Just because you haven’t heard of it in a travel guide or a television commercial doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing.  If you get lost, don’t get nervous, get excited.  It is an amazing world out there — explore it.  Enjoy!

+++++

White House family and our philosophy on traveling


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Magdalenenhof

SenderstraBe 127, 1210 Wien
www.berggasthof-magdalenenhof.at

Magdalenenhof

SenderstraBe 127, 1210 Wien
www.berggasthof-magdalenenhof.at

Magdalenenhof

SenderstraBe 127, 1210 Wien
www.berggasthof-magdalenenhof.at

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Jewish Vienna Forgotten Internment Camps

JEWISH VIENNA | FORGOTTEN INTERNMENT CAMPS

VIENNA’S JEWS WERE DEPORTED FROM THESE FORGOTTEN INTERNMENT CAMPS PERSPECTIVES   Unlike in Germany, where the Jewish population was deported from several different cities, in Austria deportations of the Jewish population were centralized from Vienna’s Aspangbahnhof or Aspang Railway Station.  From February 1941 to October 1942, the majority of the Vienna’s Jewish population was deported to ghettos and concentration camps in the east from this train station.    The transports to the camps were organized by Austrian born SS Captain Adolf Eichmann, who was in charge of the Nazi Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Vienna.  Eichmann had one primary objective — to speed up the rate that Jews were being deported from the city. Before being deported, Jews were held against their will at four internment camps in Vienna’s 2nd District: – Kleine Sperlgasse 2a; – Castellezgasse 35; – Malzgasse 7; and  – Malzgasse 16 At these camps, Jews were bullied, humiliated, and robbed of their honor and last possessions before being sent to their deaths.  Today, these camps have all been completely forgotten to history. Between 1939-1945, a total of 48,953 Jews were forcibly deported from Vienna.  Of this number, 47,035 Jews were forcibly transported on trains that departed from the Aspangbahnhof.  Tragically, only 1,073 of the Jews deported from the Aspangbahnhof would survive the Holocaust.    HOMECOMPANION GUIDE    Disclosure: White House Travel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and Agoda affiliate programs, designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites at no extra cost to you.  

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Operation Radetzky Memorial in Am Spitz Floridsdorf

OPERATION RADETZKY MEMORIAL

Table of Contents A MEMORIAL DEDICATED TO THE MEN WHO TRIED TO SAVE A CITY Am Spitz, 21st District   OPERATION RADETZKY On 19 March 1945, Hitler issued what became known as the “Nero Decree” — the planned destruction of all infrastructure within the German Reich.  Operation Radetzky was the code name given to a defensive plan organized by a group of Austrian opponents of the Nazi regime to surrender the city of Vienna to the advancing Soviet army.  The plan involved four major players: Major Carl Szokoll, Major Karl Biederman, Lieutenant Rudolph Raschke, and Second Lieutenant Alfred Huth.  Today, the Operation Radetzky Memorial stands in their honor. THE NERO DECREE In Vienna, German troops were ordered to destroy the city’s vital infrastructure for transportation, information, industry and public utilities.  This would include bridges, railway stations, water plants, electrical plants, gas plants, important road corridors, public transportation networks – in short anything and everything the enemy could use to help them advance their goals.   Viennese Major Carl Szokoll was instructed to draft the plans for Vienna’s self-destruction.  However, this was not Szokoll’s first rodeo.  In July 1944, Szokoll participated in Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg’s plot to assassinate Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair and to assume power.  During Operation Valkyrie, Stauffenberg detonated a bomb in the presence of Hitler; however, Hitler miraculously survived the blast.  Believing incorrectly that Hitler had been killed, Szokoll and other plotters rounded up the leading SS and Nazi officials in Vienna. During the ensuing investigation, Szokoll was able to convince the Gestapo that he had simply been following orders and was released.  Szokoll was promoted to Major and was tasked with defending Vienna from the advancing Soviets.  In Spring 1945, Szokoll joined Operation Radetzky and became one of the key players.  For Operation Radetzky to succeed, Szokoll and other military commanders in Vienna needed to pretend they were making preparations to destroy the city, while actually making plans to save it from annihilation.  Szokoll worked closely with the Austrian Resistance group, the O5, to successfully contact Soviet leadership.  Separately, the Allies agreed to not bomb Vienna during the turnover.   TRAGEDY STRIKES On the evening of 4 April,  Major Karl Biedermann was betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo.  Biedermann’s role in Operation Radetzky, which had now been partially uncovered, was to secure the city’s bridges.  The Gestapo frantically investigated to determine the goals of Operation Radetzky.  The Operation continued as planned. On 5 April, Soviet planes dropped red flares to signal their arrival overhead.  The resistance fighters responded with green flares to mark the beginning of Operation Radetzky.  Lieutenant Rudolf Raschke, and Second Lieutenant Alfred Huth were arrested while trying to commandeer the Bisamberg radio tower on the northern edge of Vienna.  Szokoll was warned, evaded arrest and fled to the Soviet 9th Guards Army command post at Purkersdorf where he briefed the Soviets on the failure of the operation. 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World War 2 Sites Near Vienna Air Raid Shelter in Floridsdorf

VIENNA AIR RAID SHELTER

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