Linz Toasts a Traveler and Celebrates Cycling

18.09.2009

Every city has lots of peculiar, non-round-number anniversaries - it’s just that hardly anyone’s aware of them. Now, “Odd Jubilees” is taking steps to correct this unfortunate state of affairs! On September 20th, it’s time to celebrate a 183rd year and a 41,572nd day.

Does the name Joseph Kyselak ring a bell? In 1825, the Viennese civil servant walked clear across Austria. What’s so noteworthy about it was that he signed his name wherever he went—thus, his path can be said to have been marked by historical graffiti. In Linz, he’s supposed to have immortalized himself on the wall of the Castle, though some claim it was a boulder on the banks of the Danube. To mark this unusual journey’s 183rd anniversary, “Odd Jubilees” is reprising the signature on the Castle.
Johann Jax, a poor farm boy from the Mühlviertel region north of Linz, first became a tailor’s apprentice and then a soldier; he ended up as a dealer of sewing machines and bicycles. In 1895, he opened his Velodrome, a cycling school on Linz’s Bürgerstraße. To commemorate this, the Fleischmarkthalle is being converted into a cycling arena in which the public is invited to spend a few pleasant hours making the rounds.

Odd Jubilees – Act 4
183 Years of Kyselak in Linz
September 20, 2009
2 PM Myths surrounding the Façade of the Schlossmuseum
3:30 PM Film screening
Schlossberg 1, 4010 Linz

The Velodrome at 41,572 Days
September 20, 2009, 5-8 PM
Velodrome in the former Fleischmarkthalle
Holzstr. 3, 4020 Linz

Free admission