Leoben

Hibernation is over. Teddy Little Bear had to lose the beard.

Trip to Leoben, where Gösser beer was invented in a nunnery founded in 1004.

Leoben has had its coat of arms bearing the ostrich since the Middle Ages. The heraldic bird carries one horseshoe in its beak and one in its claw. According to medieval legends, the ostrich was an animal capable of eating and digesting iron. As the town of Leoben is popular for its mining, it was decided they could feed the bird with horseshoes. They wanted the message to be strong but since the anvil is not an easily recognizable shape, for a better understanding of its meaning and significance, the bird was attributed with two horseshoes to portray its delight of eating iron horseshoes. They are not even turned right for luck, horseshoes are supposed to be hanged with their ends pointing upward to act as a storage container for any good luck that happens to be floating by, whereas to hang it with the ends pointing down is bad luck because all the good luck will fall out. It's weird because the locals have had horses since the beginning of time, and they have only heard of ostriches and their ability to digest iron.

Album  Leoben 2024