Summer retreat

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The Hamburg entrepreneur Henry B. Simms in the Klobensteiner Sommerfrische in 1910 . Painting by Lovis Corinth
Greetings from the summer resort Trebishain
postmarked August 30th 1909
Bremdorfer Mühle summer resort , Lausitz around 1918, according to FA Glienke

The word summer resort describes both the seasonal relocation from the city to the country and the destination.

history

The term “summer freshness”, which was particularly widespread in the 19th century, is defined in the Brothers Grimm's dictionary as “city dwellers 'holiday in the countryside in summer” or “city dwellers' love of country in summer”.

Moving from quarters in the city to the country estate was already common practice among the nobility in ancient times. The reasons are primarily economic in the beginning, the aristocracy had to look after the farm in the summer, which formed the economic basis of their rule. "Vacation" time was then in winter, when agriculture rests. One could move to the city and take part in social life. In addition, it was also valued to be able to escape the precarious hygienic conditions in the city in summer.

While the medieval nobility of Europe switched between different fortified residences rather out of political necessity , in aristocratic circles with the flourishing of cities since the beginning of the modern era ( Renaissance ), the seasonal change from city ​​palace (winter castle ) to summer residence became common again. From industrialization the custom passed on to the upper middle class , who had country houses built.

The word itself is said to come from Italian, in Venetian one speaks of the fact that “the only purpose of the walk seems to be to seek freshness and cooling. they don't say 'go for a walk', but rather 'prendere il fresco' (to cool down) ”. For the German, early usage has been handed down from the Bozener area, where the citizens moved from the hot valley basin to the cool summer apartments of the low mountain range on the Renon and to St. Konstantin near Völs am Schlern :

"Fresh (e), f. ibid, in this sense from the 17th
century. it is attested: where they keep ire refrigeria or fresh instead of Bozen. "

From the 19th century, Europe was opened up by the railroad , and the previously time-consuming, inconvenient and also dangerous relocation of the entire household for a holiday trip was partially eliminated. From the middle of the 19th century, the summer vacation was an integral part of the summer life of the aristocracy and the wealthy bourgeoisie, which was mostly spent in seasonal villas built for this purpose. These often unheatable summer villas were often designed by well-known architects in the so-called home style.

Those who couldn't afford their own summer residence stayed in inns and then increasingly in private quarters. So summer vacation and the beginning tourism are closely linked, the accommodation then also includes the local entertainment offers for summer visitors, such as the previously unknown outdoor swimming at lakes, hiking or mountain climbing .

Ludwig Steub , the “discoverer” of Tyrol for the German north, used the term in his books and thus promoted its popularization.

In the more recent literature, summer vacation is not understood in the sense of "vacation in the country", but as a temporary relocation of the place of residence and work to the country.

Summer vacation in Austria

Summer resort villas in Rosenburg am Kamp , Lower Austria, around 1910

In Austria, the summer resort had a long tradition and was a status symbol, especially in the upper classes.

Well-known Austrian summer resorts in the fin de siècle were the Salzkammergut , the regions around Semmering and Rax , Baden near Vienna and Bad Vöslau , as well as the East Styrian Joglland . The Vienna Woods and the Kamptal were and are traditional Viennese recreational areas. Some of these regions have remained centers of summer tourism. They were z. B. by the Südbahn (from 1838), the Semmeringbahn (1854), the Westbahn (1858), the Kamptalbahn , the Salzkammergutbahn (1869), the Salzkammergut-Lokalbahn (1893) and the Wiener Stadtbahn (1898). In the early days , bathing resorts such as Bad Gastein , Bad Fusch or the so-called Styrian Thermenland (including Bad Gleichenberg , Bad Radkersburg and Bad Waltersdorf ) were added, whereas the Austrian Alpine region was only opened up relatively late through the use of automobiles and the expansion of mountain roads. Even the emperor went on summer retreat at the time - to Bad Ischl in the Salzkammergut, courtiers, dignitaries, artists, industrialists and the nobility followed him. Those Viennese social classes who could not or would not afford a stay in one of the posh seaside resorts preferred simpler summer retreats in the Wienerwald, Weinviertel and Waldviertel . Places such as Mönichkirchen , Bad Fischau , Gutenstein , St. Andrä-Wölker , Gars am Kamp , Wolkersdorf in the Weinviertel , or Drosendorf an der Thaya gained national recognition. At that time, numerous views indicated the popularity of the townspeople with the word "Sommerfrische", which was equivalent to a predicate, in front of the place name. Many smaller towns published their own brochures. A separate "Illustrated Guide to Austrian Health Resorts, Summer Resorts and Winter Stations" was published annually from 1908 to 1914 in various editions arranged according to the crown lands. Every summer resort was represented here with a brief description, number of accommodations and supplies, etc. Some places also had multi-page advertisements.

Sommerfrische Rosenburg am Kamp around 1910, typical postcard of an Austrian summer retreat with a view of the place and mention of important buildings.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Sommerfrische  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c summer retreat. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 16 : Sea life – speaking - (X, 1st section). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1905 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
  2. ↑ Otto Stolz : The word "summer vacation" . In: Archive for the Study of Modern Languages , 159, 1931, pp. 176–179.
  3. ↑ Lisa Fischer, Love in the Green. Creative summer retreats in the Schwarzatal and Semmering, Edition Mokka, 2017, Vienna.