<em>Ephemeral Images: Zita of Bourbon-Parma and Picture Postcards</em>

Abstract

This article will focus on Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary’s visual representation on postcards between 1911 and 1922. It argues that Zita was consistently presented in the roles of wife, mother, and Landesmutter (mother of the country). On the face of it, it seems simple that Zita’s self-perception was wrapped up in the roles of wife and mother as coloured by her Catholic faith. However, this article shows that the picture is more complicated. While the roles themselves remained static, the way in which they were imagined and manifested changed as Zita underwent transitions in her life and status. These were influenced not only by her Catholicism, but also by external political forces and needs. Images of Zita and the imperial family were meant to provide the public with images of stability and domesticity in a time of great upheaval. Postcards produced in exile are evidence of a clear initiative on the family’s part and were used to keep the family in the public imagination and therefore maintain or create support for a potential restoration. It is possible to trace a line up to the present day, where Zita’s image continues to be used as a result of her status as Servant of God in the Catholic Church.