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25. 08. 09. - 15:00

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25. 08. 09. - 15:00

Mozart 'peeing stone' parties boost Lower Austrian town

By Thomas Hochwarter

A Lower Austrian town is holding a series of parties to mark a local’s claim that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once visited – to take a pee.

The small community of Raschala near Hollabrunn’s claim to fame was dreamt up by a local more than 30 years ago and town residents decided to mark it with music and drink festivals.

Architecture professor Helmut Leierer told newspaper Kurier: "I was sitting with some friends at a tavern one night in 1976. We were quite drunk already and started to philosophise about who might have passed Raschala in the past centuries."

"I claimed Mozart drove through our town on his way to Prague in 1787 and asked the horse-carriage driver to stop to take a leak," he added laughing.

Town authorities say the claim had been a boon to its tourism industry and has even put up a memorial plaque in stone in its main road.

Austrian Times

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