BOOM TSCH BOOM kurrentschrift? BOOM

Alack, alas, today is my last day in Europe. I was planning on writing an epic Salzburg entry right now, or maybe even two. But the only internet access I have at the moment is in the lounge/dining hall/bar/CLUB? of a Frankfurt youth hostel, where I'm trying to look as grungy-cool as possible to blend in while being pounded with obscenely loud electronica. So since I can't concentrate at all (given that I am outwardly a youth and inwardly an old geezer), I can't tackle a proper entry right now. I also have about 200 photos from Salzburg and I'm not even sure how to make an entry out of that, other than to post the photos and say, "lookie, Salzburg is prettie!"

In the meantime, I give you... MORE KURRENTSCHRIFT

Partway through my trip I just gave up on reading Kurrentschrift. I need to spend about 2 months practicing with it before I can consistently read it, and even then the handwriting differs drastically from author to author.

In one particular source I was glancing through in Salzburg -- a catalogue of gifts made to the Mozarteum in the late 19th century -- the writing started out difficult and, as one secretary superseded another, became utterly impossible. 

Difficult to read every word, but beautiful and tidy handwriting. 

The name Schubert is clear enough, but what's the other word? After squinting at a Kurrenschrift table and seeing the word several more times, I realized it's "Werke," as in a book of "Schubert's Works". This gives an idea of how weird letters look in Kurrentschrift.

I guess the other secretary was on to bigger and better things, or deceased, and replaced by a raving lunatic. 

Handwriting degrading throughout the catalog.

And at this point I just gave up. 

Fortunately, the location of the archive -- the sweltering top floor of Mozart's birth house -- was the perfect place to read, and made the whole process of not understanding primary sources much more cheerful.

Archival research: the ideal. Considerably more picturesque than the jail-like Staatsarchiv in Leipzig.

Researching in luxury.

The view from the window.

As for the rest of my Salzburg adventures, and my massive number of photos, I'll have to get to that when I'm back in the states. Or by that time, I'll probably see everyone who would normally read the blog and I'll just show you the photos. These entries are getting increasingly sloppy, impatient, and grouchy, so perhaps it is time to say...

ADIEUX