Living in an Altbau
Altbau is the German word to describe a turn of the century apartment or building. In Vienna, there are pretty high chances that you can end up living in one because they are everywhere. The only downside is that they are usually pretty expensive because they are gorgeous. But I am biased. What you can expect with an Altbau is that there are incredibly high ceilings, wood floors, oversized doors and large windows.
In total I have lived in Vienna for almost 14 years. When I moved here as a sullen 12 year old, we lived one year in an apartment. It was gorgeous but not altbau. I actually have no idea what its build date was but it was in a pretty area (Pötzleinsdorf). After one year of no elevator and lack of balcony (we had a weird courtyard that was useless in the summer unless you wanted to sweat and die), we moved to a house on Kahlenberg strasse. This was an interesting house from the 1920's that had its own quirks but was still not completely altbau. Years later I was back in Vienna and this time moved into a 1970's apartment that was narrow and dark but had a balcony (which was awesome). For years I dreamt of moving into my grand palais but it was just a pipe dream. Until that pipe dream became a reality and you know the rest.
I have been in many many altbaus but I never really noticed the quirks that they have. Usually because the hosts would not let me crawl into bed with them and stay longer than the party lasted. "You guys alright if I move in? No? Really? I make a meaaaaaan omelette". So now that we are nearing a month at our new place, I have noticed that there is definitely a difference to our old 1970's apartment. So here's what I have noticed. Walk with me.
You will change altitude walking from one room to the next. When I exit the living room, the floor slopes so if you've had a couple of glasses of wine, you might want to hold onto the wainscoting. Which brings me to the next point...
We have wainscoting. SQUEAL!
The doors are immense! Sometimes, when I'm delirious with exhaustion, I like to imagine a family of raptors living here. The door knobs are somewhat delicate which would suit a raptor's claw perfectly. I need to lie down.
Our bathroom is windy. I noticed this this morning. Our bathroom is beside our storage room which is beside the outside hall. The storage room is separated from the hall with small frosted windows (original 1905 glass which we covered up with shelving units because otherwise you can HEAR EVERYTHING that takes place in the hall). The storage room and the bathroom are separated by a wall but right at the top there are glass panels so that serial killers can climb up your Ikea shelving unit and watch you exfoliate. One problem; one pane is missing so now the serial killers can get in and so can wind. It's nipply today, folks!
The shindow. Shindow is the name a friend came up with and it is a combination of sh%# and window. Stay with me here. In our toilet room, there is a rope. When you pull that rope, a tiny window that you cannot see opens to the outside. We will save thousands on Febreze costs.
Ceiling as high as the eye can see. The ceilings are so motherloving high that you need to really think about your light fixtures. The Husband almost threatened divorce when he saw all the chandeliers I had purchased. He was thinking the 4.99 wall lights on the celing method would work just fine. He has now changed his tune because a) the lights look fabulous and b) try changing a light bulb on the ceiling in here, buddy.
Two things that are not altbau in our new place are floors and the windows. The floors are laminate wood and I love it! It is easier to clean and I am not acting like a freak everytime a drop falls - usually from my martini glass. I'm not perfect. Toddler and clumsy husband makes laminate flooring your best friend. Also, our windows were replaced as per our rental agreement. You might think we are master negotiators but we are not. They offered and we said "Well, hell yes!". Look, I love the look of the old double paned windows but they are a pain in the tukhus to clean. Plus, you can't tilt them and we have a fearless toddler so new windows it is! And the best part? We now have ledges to put crap on! Win.
I am sure that over the next few months I will discover more oddities and quirks that I adore. But first, does anyone know how to get the smell of raptor pee out? Thanks.
In total I have lived in Vienna for almost 14 years. When I moved here as a sullen 12 year old, we lived one year in an apartment. It was gorgeous but not altbau. I actually have no idea what its build date was but it was in a pretty area (Pötzleinsdorf). After one year of no elevator and lack of balcony (we had a weird courtyard that was useless in the summer unless you wanted to sweat and die), we moved to a house on Kahlenberg strasse. This was an interesting house from the 1920's that had its own quirks but was still not completely altbau. Years later I was back in Vienna and this time moved into a 1970's apartment that was narrow and dark but had a balcony (which was awesome). For years I dreamt of moving into my grand palais but it was just a pipe dream. Until that pipe dream became a reality and you know the rest.
I have been in many many altbaus but I never really noticed the quirks that they have. Usually because the hosts would not let me crawl into bed with them and stay longer than the party lasted. "You guys alright if I move in? No? Really? I make a meaaaaaan omelette". So now that we are nearing a month at our new place, I have noticed that there is definitely a difference to our old 1970's apartment. So here's what I have noticed. Walk with me.
You will change altitude walking from one room to the next. When I exit the living room, the floor slopes so if you've had a couple of glasses of wine, you might want to hold onto the wainscoting. Which brings me to the next point...
We have wainscoting. SQUEAL!
The doors are immense! Sometimes, when I'm delirious with exhaustion, I like to imagine a family of raptors living here. The door knobs are somewhat delicate which would suit a raptor's claw perfectly. I need to lie down.
 |
| The original tenant. This happened. |
Our bathroom is windy. I noticed this this morning. Our bathroom is beside our storage room which is beside the outside hall. The storage room is separated from the hall with small frosted windows (original 1905 glass which we covered up with shelving units because otherwise you can HEAR EVERYTHING that takes place in the hall). The storage room and the bathroom are separated by a wall but right at the top there are glass panels so that serial killers can climb up your Ikea shelving unit and watch you exfoliate. One problem; one pane is missing so now the serial killers can get in and so can wind. It's nipply today, folks!
The shindow. Shindow is the name a friend came up with and it is a combination of sh%# and window. Stay with me here. In our toilet room, there is a rope. When you pull that rope, a tiny window that you cannot see opens to the outside. We will save thousands on Febreze costs.
Ceiling as high as the eye can see. The ceilings are so motherloving high that you need to really think about your light fixtures. The Husband almost threatened divorce when he saw all the chandeliers I had purchased. He was thinking the 4.99 wall lights on the celing method would work just fine. He has now changed his tune because a) the lights look fabulous and b) try changing a light bulb on the ceiling in here, buddy.
Two things that are not altbau in our new place are floors and the windows. The floors are laminate wood and I love it! It is easier to clean and I am not acting like a freak everytime a drop falls - usually from my martini glass. I'm not perfect. Toddler and clumsy husband makes laminate flooring your best friend. Also, our windows were replaced as per our rental agreement. You might think we are master negotiators but we are not. They offered and we said "Well, hell yes!". Look, I love the look of the old double paned windows but they are a pain in the tukhus to clean. Plus, you can't tilt them and we have a fearless toddler so new windows it is! And the best part? We now have ledges to put crap on! Win.
 |
| Crap on ledges. My favourite past time. |
 |
| Altbau side effect? I've turned into my mother. |
Comments
Post a Comment