When Gnomes (& Other Tchotchke) Dream, They Dream of Austria

Three weeks on the road, dear readers, and we're thinking that day-by-day trip diaries may start to get a bit boring for you.  And timing seems ripe; though we don't like to generalize, we're seeing some clear patterns in our travels, whether in country character, food tastes, signage, and more - so I (Juliet) am making a radical editorial call here: thematic posts.  Just to shake things up, you know...  ;-) 

And I believe that there is possibly no better way to leap into the fray than with a photographic essay on....gnomes.  Garden tchotchke, if you prefer.  And frankly, lots of other tchotchke. 

Austrians really really like tchotchke. Adorable, colorful, cute, and occasionally somewhat bizarre tchotchke of all sizes and shapes. Gnomes are right at the top of that list.  It's a fair guess that we saw more garden gnomes on our Danube biking trip than we've previously seen across our entire lives. 

Diversity is very important in Austrian garden figurine choices.  Note the wide array of tchotchke typologies present in just this small sample. 

Just your average gnome.  And why, we have a pig, too.  Apparently pigs are a common form of gnome transport.  We had no idea.

How did this fascination with Austrian garden figurines all start, you may ask?  See we were happily biking out of Passau, enjoying the wooded bike path, some open meadows, the charm of the Danube river on our flank...and then, oh my...oh yes...screeching halt as I pass by the Gnome Oasis. We're not sure this is it's real name, but we're pretty sure it should be.

A very very small section of the garden. I think you can count up to about 20 little garden figurines in just this one photo.   Don't forget to include the ones in the windows, people!

Phil was very taken with these mole miner representations, positioned as a small, elegant grouping among the more traditional gnomes.

Gnomes with pointy hats are barely scratching the surface of the imagery here.  

We're not sure what the origin of these amphibians is, but they showed up an awful lot on our trip.

 
For example, we spotted these nearly a week later, but clearly there's common ground here.

Contemplative gnomery. 

This is really the last place I was expecting to see Laurel and Hardy. 

And by god we MUST have gnomes with windmills.  Together.  Because you really really can't create an image more trite than that one.  

OK, gnome with smiling happy garden snail; that's close.  But I still say the windmill collection wins.

And no garden would be complete without the requisite ducks.

Now I know you're all thinking, "hey, so one huge gnome garden.  Maybe it is the garden where every tchochke in Austrian history is represented, but is that really such a big deal?"

In response, I give you the Melk accordion museum.  Yes, there is a museum for accordions (which is kind of cool, as you can see in the amazing display below), and I thought this would be pretty awesome to visit from a musical/historical perspective.

Accordions from many different decades.  For those who might be wondering:  Austrians are often depicted in illustrations and movies playing accordions, usually wearing Austrian hats, knickers, and vests.  This is not how Austrians actually appear in real life, but they do have a strong accordion legacy, it is true.

The detail on this piece is exquisite.  A labor of love to build an instrument like this.

Again, mesmerized by the workmanship displayed on the shelves in front of me.  Made the mistake of turning around to see more...Ok, we're back to gnomes and tchotchke, people.  Cases and cases of gnomes and tchotchke, and -  I bet you know where I'm going with this - ALL playing, yes, accordions!!!

For starters, we've got the clown-cum-accordion collection...

Oh but wait...SMURFS!  Praise god, I knew we'd been missing the smurfs.  And here they are.  

Bears, too - though I really liked the addition of the Disney-style mice to the left, and (more detail below)....

...yes, indeed, the singing (or in this case, accordion-playing) Disney birds.  Bambi is just a step behind, and Snow White will be following in a moment.

They had  several cases of clowns.  So here are some more.

And - sigh - a garden gnome.  Because you just can't build a home (or museum) without one.

Here's his friend, the clown gnome.

But it turns out that gnomes and garden figurines are just a small piece of the tchotchke scene in Austria. Same museum, same displays, and outside we get this... 

Contemporary, sophisticated garden-plus-accordion sculpture...

And we were totally charmed by this one-off, eco-based design on the corner of our ferry boat crossing to Ottersheim

Tanze in Linz, anyone? 

And here's Phil's Tintin motorcycle signage brought to life.

But here's where we start to get into - well - "less conventional" forms of Austrian tchotchke.  Say, perhaps, a new addition to your doll collection?

And hard to know exactly what's going on here (please do note the tightly-packed ball of baby heads to the far left)...

Aha...there's comfort in the familiar.  Another gnome collaboration closer to Vienna, on the bike trail - a welcoming, colorful sight for weary bike travelers!

Ok, so maybe not-so-subtle request for donations...

But how can anyone resist the cheery chipmunks or squirrels popping their cute heads out of the fake tree trunk?

Heee-llloo...uh...Ok, we saw one of these gnomes before, but I believe we have a whole new take on the innocent gnome angle.  Once again, Phil was fascinated...and felt compelled to photograph our favorite little gnome fellow of the whole trip, below...

...and if that image offends you, here's what the gnomes have to say about that: