Bine - University of Vienna Medical School

René Bine is 22 as he writes his accounts of medical school in Vienna in 1904. He's full of observations on professors and fellow students as well as the cultural and political events of the day. 

Since Sigmund Freud was at the University of Vienna at the time, I am surprised that I have yet to come across any reference to him in René's cards. He does mention Alfred Fuchs though, who was also a professor of psychiatry and nervous diseases at the time. He also speaks of Dr. Edmund Neusser, another professor and, like René, an ardent music lover. In fact, Professor Neusser was himself a very accomplished pianist and married Paula Mark, a soprano with the Vienna Court Opera.

This is a picture of Professor Edmund Neusser.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Here's the card that René sent to his family back in San Francisco.
 

And here's what what he had to say:
 

Fuchs, the nerve man is popular as ever. Occasionally he hypnotizes a patient + thus livens up the otherwise quiet but most instructive and interesting demonstrations. Brother Eserich I have forgot to call on but 4 times this week as I preferred to favor Prof. Neusser for a change. Neusser gives lectures + demonstrations, but his voice is poor + hard to catch unless one be accustomed to it. He is to-day said to be the greatest diagnostician in Vienna, if not in the world, being chief over Kovack, ex-chief over Ortner, tho' for us Ortner seems as good. -

Nothing new otherwise. Everything is OK + I hope you can say ditto. Papa's foot I suppose is now a bobo long forgotten. Ma's cough, I know she does not want to lose, for without headaches she'd have no kick coming - Give my best regards to all the folks + receive best kisses from loving brother and son

René

You can read more about Dr. Norbert Ortner here. Of perhaps more interest is René 's reference to Brother Eserich, if as I believe, he is actually referring to Theodor Escherich, who was a professor at the University of Vienna at the time. It was Professor Escherich who discovered the bacterium Escherichia coli (also known as E. coli), which was named after him. He was also a very distinguished looking man.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

This is one of many posts on the correspondence of Dr. René Bine of San Francisco. If you'd like to read more, go to the bottom of the web page and click on the tab for Dr. René Bine.

Here's the back of the card.

Tiny Children of Normandy

Can these children possibly be this small? They seem out of scale with the rest of the picture. In fact they look to be about the size of a potted plant.

Here's a close-up.

René Bine - Two Sundays in Vienna

René Bine is studying medicine, but he's also interested in music and art so Vienna is a great place for him to be. His first-hand accounts are so detailed that you really get a sense of what it was like to be there. As always, the messages are written on the front of the card since the postal service did not allow messages to be written on the address side at that time. 

It's autumn 1904, and René has been out with good friends Tillman, Paul, and Hirschler. Paul and Hirschler were almost certainly classmates Paul Biber from UC Berkeley Medical School and Lee Hirschler from the University of Virginia Medical School, but I'm not sure who Tillman was.

Sunday evening Tillman, Hirschler, Paul + I sat in the Volksgarten from 9:15 11:30 drinking beer + listening to one of Vienna's best orchestras. It is a very nice resort, in Louvre style but larger. Many eat dinner there for the music starts 4 P.M. + it is wonderful how people begin to go home at 10 P.M. (music stops 11:30)

Sunday afternoon from 5 to 6:30 we witnessed a great socialist demonstration against the Mayor who elected by them proved traitor to the Socialists. Celebrated his 60th birthday, but to carry out the proceedings the Rathouse (city hall) had to be walled off by police to keep the crowd away. No one would come within 2 blocks of " + over 1500 Police were on duty there. Crowd were only once in danger of charging + were easily quelled.

Note: The mayor that René Bine refers to was Karl Lueger, founder of the Christian Socialist Party, and a man known for his anti-semitic rhetoric. 

The second card is from another Sunday concert at a different location a week or two later.

Sunday afternoon we went to the Ronacher Café [not Ronacher Theater] + there listened to about 3 1/2 hours to music performed by Johannes Müller + orchestra. Strauss, whom we heard last Sunday, may be a greater man, but I prefer Müller's band. I am perhaps prejudiced by the fact that Ronacher Café is but 1/2 the size of Sophie Saal therefore more cozy, warmer + the music reaches all parts. Everybody sips coffee, chocolate or beer but the audience is most quiet during the time the orchestra plays. We enjoyed it so we forgot all about dinner till 8 P.M.. We then went + found a very fine restaurant "Kellerei zum St. Stephan" + I tell you we enjoyed a good dinner, Tillie, Paul, Hirschler + I. We were all at home at 10.

The message continues with the beginning of a sentence: "Hirschler...", but I don't think I have that next card.

There are more though. The adventures of  Dr. Bine continue on Friday.
To read some of the previous Dr. Bine posts, click here.