Habsburg Research Articles

Beyond (Ethno)linguistic Determinism: Diverse Approaches to Nationalism in Habsburg-Austrian Schools

Abstract Research on the nexus between education and nationalism in the Habsburg Empire has often focused on the role that language may have played in top-down nationalization processes and the popular dissemination of national thought. According to contemporary nationalist logic, undergoing education in a certain language of instruction also entailed the internalization of nationalist values inherent to its corresponding nationalist movement. The present article argues that the Habsburg educational experience was much more contingent, and draws attention to the diversity of pedagogical approaches towards nationalism and nationality that could be encountered in Austrian schools during the last five decades of Habsburg rule. By using examples from German- and Slovene-language textbooks, it shows that sociopolitical, temporal, as well as institutional factors played an important role in determining the practical values and attitudes towards the nationalism that students encountered during their school years. With systematic empirical studies remaining rare, further research will be necessary to gain a fuller insight into the complexities of the Habsburg education system and its potential effects on popular collective identity formation.

Inbreeding Effect on Maternal Mortality and Fertility in the Habsburg Dynasty.

We investigated inbreeding effects on longevity and fertility in the House of Habsburg, one of the principal royal dynasties of Europe. A total number of 124 Habsburg marriages, involving 107 men and 124 women, in the period of approximately 1450-1800 were considered for the analysis. Kinship and inbreeding coefficients were computed from genealogical information, which included more than 8000 individuals. We found a significant negative association between age of death and inbreeding coefficient (F) in those women who had children (regression coefficient b = -1.06, p = 0.0008). This result led us to investigate possible inbreeding effects on maternal mortality in the period of 4 weeks after the childbirth. A strong inbreeding depression on maternal survival was detected through the Kaplan-Meier curve for groups of women with different level of inbreeding (log-rank test p = 0.0001) and the Cox proportional hazards regression analysis (hazard ratio = 2.36, p = 0.0008). Effect on fertility was also found as more inbred women had longer interbirth intervals (b = 154.66, p = 0.022). Effects of male or female inbreeding on the number of children per woman were not detected through zero-inflated regression models suggesting that reproductive compensation might be occurring among the more inbred and less-fecund women. The effect of inbreeding in adulthood in the Habsburg lineage was at least as important as that previously reported on prereproductive survival. To our knowledge, our results are the first evidence of an inbreeding effect on maternal mortality in humans.

From Charles V to Philip IV of Spain: the concepts of Monarchia Universalis and Catholic Monarchy

ABSTRACT This text discusses the European system in the modern age, describing the concept of ‘state’ as an object bounded by property rights and its owner’s jurisdiction. In order to maintain the state, it was necessary to keep the inhabitants in a state of submission, through either persuasion or force. State policy consisted in preserving the possessions of the state, improving and increasing it, combining statecraft with the subjects and concert with other state-holders. States were not autonomous units, but domains, and state affairs concerned ways of increasing or maintaining their ownership. When two princes married, they united their states and created a new political and institutional framework, with each spouse taking on the conflicts and alliances of his or her partner, creating entirely new situations. Each peace treaty or alliance was solidly sealed with a dynastic union, as can be seen in the example of the rise of the House of Habsburg, which became the first European power after integrating the inheritances of three great lineages: the Austrian Habsburgs, who contributed fiefdoms and states in Central and Eastern Europe, the House of Burgundy, who contributed states in France and the Low Countries, and the House of Trastámara, who contributed the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.

Egertől Rióig, Riótól Pozsonyig?

Although Hungary was never part of the Iberosfera, thanks to the Habsburg dynasty, there existed a special historical relationship between them during centuries. It is a matter of honor to research and explore this connection between Hungary and the Lusophony. As we can see, there was a direct connection between the Napoleonic Wars, the pro Habsburg attitude of the Hungarian nation, and the independence of Brazil through the person of Archduchess Leopoldina, Royal Princess of Hungary and Empress consort of Brazil, who played a key role in the process. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the independence of Brazil, we should commemorate with dignity the Archduchess Leopol dina, the common hero of the Brazilian and Hungarian nations.

An enlightened aristocrat at the crossroads of countries and languages

This paper focuses on the personality of an important aristocrat from the Age of Enlightenment, Ignác Dominik Chorynský, as a person living and acting on the border of countries and languages, creating an extensive network of social and intellectual contacts around him. The vast personal archive of this nobleman conserved in Opava still awaits closer examination. Ignác Dominik Chorynský, a member of an old Moravian family, settled after 1750 in Velké Hoštice under Prussian domination, due to his marriage to Countess Barbora Hodic, while also being active in Opava, on Austrian territory. This paper examines the “frontier” position of Ignác Dominik from several aspects. The first is from the political aspect: the count was a subject of the King of Prussia and, at the same time, a regional governor in the Prussian and Austrian parts of Opava, still subordinate to the House of Habsburg. Moreover, his brother Jan Nepomuk fell in the Seven Years’ War against Prussia. Obviously, the position on the border also played a role in the representation of the count, as evidenced by the “Banquet Hall of Three Lands”, which he had built in Velké Hoštice. In the following portion, this paper presents Ignác Dominik’s wide network of contacts: amongst the local nobility in Silesia, amongst actors on the Prussian side (Frederick II, the nobles and intellectuals of Wrocław), and in Moravia (his brothers Matyáš and František Jan, Count Mittrowsky, etc.). This paper then delves into the theme of artistic transfers, as Ignác Dominik contributed to the cultural development of his region with his activities (building the castle in Velké Hoštice, rebuilding the so-called “Blücher Palace” in Opava, collecting works of art, etc.). Finally, this paper focuses on the possible role of Silesian and Prussian milieu on Ignác Dominik’s cultural activities. This paper also demonstrates the unique position of the Opava and Hlučín regions after the Wars of Austrian Succession and the imminent role of Ignác Dominik and his close friends in the cultural development of the region.

Encompassing the world in the Alps: the Habsburg Court at Innsbruck in the late renaissance and early Baroque

ABSTRACT This article examines the importance of travel writing for understanding the cultural climate around the Habsburg dynasty’s court at Innsbruck, Austria during the late Renaissance and early Baroque. It argues that prominent travel accounts’ descriptions of the Innsbruck court reveal points of commonalities between popular and elite cultural understandings of objects associated with Habsburg piety and prestige. Furthermore, it contends that these travel accounts also illuminate how the objects themselves reflect the dynamic relationship between local Alpine traditions and global Habsburg interests.

Az első rendőrségitörvény-javaslat

The establishment of the Hungarian public administration was marked by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, after which the establishment of the Hungarian state police came to the fore. In 1848, Bertalan Szemere entrusted Paul Hajnik with the establishment of a national police force, in 1873 a state police force in the capital, in 1903 a border police force, and in 1918 the Wekerle police bill. At the beginning of this process, the Police Act proposal of 1871 by Pál Csepy, which clearly calls for the establishment of a national police force, was drafted and survives. Aim: The aim of the study is to present the circumstances and content of the first Police Act proposal, from the beginning of the police nationalisation process. Methodology: The author of the article examines the beginning of the nationalisation of the police, the first police act and its content by searching and analysing the literature on policing around the Compromise. Findings: The Compromise of 1867 also provided opportunities for the restoration of autonomy in the field of police and policing. After Habsburg rule, the following three ideas for future policing emerged: strengthening the old Pandour world, organising a military-style gendarmerie or a civilian-style police force. After a professional debate in the first police journal, the participants in the first Congress of Police Chiefs advocated a national police force, for which a high-quality police act was drafted and submitted to the political leadership. Value: The nationalisation process of the police started in 1848 and lasted until 1920. In the preceding period, a law on the field police was passed in 1840, and after 1872 laws were passed on the metropolitan police, the border police, the police of Fiume and the gendarmerie. Comparing the 1871 Police Act with the laws on the above subjects, it can be seen that the latter was comprehensive, covering all aspects of policing, and proved to be valuable and timeless.

Od listopada do listopada. Monarchii habsburskiej i Polaków wzajemne rozstawanie

The author of the text analyses the reasons why Poles from Galicia, southern Poland, departed from the so-called Austro-Polish conception and matured towards the ideal of full independence. He draws attention to the significance of the Act of 5 November 1916 for the initiation of emancipation processes among Poles living under the Habsburg rule.

Franc Jelovšek i novopronađeni oslik kapele sv. Ivana Nepomuka (1749.) u franjevačkoj crkvi Presvetog Trojstva u Karlovcu

In 2019, Baroque murals were discovered in the Franciscan Church of the Holy Trinity in Karlovac, specifically in the chapel constructed in 1748. Initially, the chapel was dedicated to St John of Nepomuk, but in 1904, the dedication changed to Our Lady of Lourdes. The chronicle of the Franciscan monastery (Archivium) in Karlovac preserves the decision of the Karlovac cavalrymen to choose St John of Nepomuk (1746) as their patron saint. Subsequently, the Franciscan guardian and friars requested permission from the general of the Karlovac Generalate to construct a chapel, and the request was sent and approved in the same year. A memorial plaque placed at the chapel’s entrance, engraved with the year of construction (1748) and the names of the donors, Feldmarschall Joseph Maria Friedrich Wilhelm Hollandinus von Sachsen-Hildburghausen and the “Illyrian” cavalrymen, also mentions their commander (cohortis chiliarcha), Maximilian Josef Baron Mittrowsky von Mitrowitz und Nemyschl. His coat of arms, name, and military rank (Vice-Colonello) are represented inside the chapel. The Karlovac Archivium further notes that the murals in the chapel were completed in 1749. Fragments discovered in the upper section of the wall and in the dome allow for a partial reconstruction of the paintings: on the south wall, it was St John of Nepomuk in front of King Wenceslaus (Václav IV), on the opposing north side, the Martyrdom of St John of Nepomuk, and in the dome, the Heavenly Celebration of St John of Nepomuk (?). Analogies with paintings from the 1740s in Štepanja Vas (1744), the Ajman castle near Škofja Loka (1739–1746), and Skaručna (1748) indicate Franc Jelovšek (Mengeš, October 4, 1700 – Ljubljana, May 31, 1764) as the artist. Veneration of St John of Nepomuk after his canonization (1729), particularly promoted by the Habsburg rulers, was part of the cults and religious practices known as pietas Austriaca, adherence to which was increasingly seen as a sign of loyalty to the dynasty, crucial during the wars of Austrian succession.

Whose experts? How federalism shaped psychiatry in the late Habsburg monarchy.

The late Habsburg period (1867-1918) created a constitutional dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. This paper discusses the role of psychiatry in Cisleithania, both as a developing profession and as a distinct 'policy field'. Tension between psychiatry's academic professionalisation and the creation of public institutions as signature projects by individual crownlands created complex relationships between psychiatry and politics. In federalist Cisleithania, psychiatrists became very 'political': whether employed by the state or a crownland influenced their position on policy, despite claiming that their expert knowledge was 'scientific' and 'objective'. The conflicts between asylum-based and academic psychiatrists mirrored those between the central state and the crownlands. This led to intractable delays in mental health law reform, eventually resolved by Imperial decree in 1916.

Fortifications and the early modern city—between advantage and barrier. Example of Wrocław/Breslau, Poland

SUMMARY The modernization of fortifications during the early modern period and their spatial development had a profound impact on the structure of the city and the everyday lives of its inhabitants. Using the example of the city of Wrocław/Breslau in Silesia (present-day Poland), we discuss the changes that occurred in the perception of fortifications between the Habsburg period, when the city authorities were responsible for their development, and the Prussian period, when the development of fortifications was a subject to central authority. Drawing on written, iconographic, and archaeological sources, we obtain a comprehensive picture of the process of city prestige-building through investments in fortifications. Additionally, we observe fortifications as a factor that negatively influences spatial development and diminishes the quality of life in the city. Preserved documents allow us to trace the losses incurred by residents and institutions due to the expansion of fortifications.

Suceava during the Habsburg rule – urban development and identity completions

This paper is part of the doctoral research concerning the places of sites and church towers in the development of urban patterns in the city of Suceava. For this article, we will dwell on the 18th and 19th century, when, in 1755, Suceava became a Habsburg territory, being part of Bucovina, an area that included the North-East of Moldova. This situation was maintained for a century and a half, Suceava also fulfilling the role of an Austro- Hungarian border town. In this period we can also mention an urban development of the city, a period that left numerous institutional buildings representing the new power. This impressive buildings are, as they follow: the Suceava Prefecture and the Suceava County Council (City Administrative Palace, completed in 1903-1904 and which originally housed the city administration, the police, the fire brigade, a savings bank and the history museum), Bucovina Museum (which includes more buildings ) - initially the seat of the District Headquarters, dating from 1902- 1903, Ștefan cel Mare National College (The Greek-Oriental Gymnasium, built between 1893-1895 on the site of the old Wood Market), the Old Hospital (General public home for the sick from Suceava, built in the period 1891-1903), the old Suceava Water Plant and many others. Also in these years, the city is equipped with construction equipment (for example, in 1908, the Electric Plant is commissioned), modernizations specific to modern times. A major interest was the establishment of modern institutions, characteristic of the Habsburg administration.

Moartea „ducelui Valahiei”: situaţia din Moldova în informaţiile Casei de Habsburg din vara anului 1496

Alexander, the son and – first – heir of Stephen III the Great of Moldavia, remains a highly controversial figure. Officially, he died on 26 July 1496, whilst with the host. The reports sent from Hungary to Stephen’s ally, Maximilian I of Habsburg (prior to 22-24 August 1496), and – most importantly – to his royal councillor Johannes Fuchsmagen (14 July 1496), show however that Alexander died at least a month earlier. He probably died on 26 June, as recorded in one of the chronicles of the Putna Monastery, Stephen’s necropolis, but not the burial place of Alexander (who was laid to rest at the Bistriţa Monastery). The impact of Alexander’s demise was considerable. His death was initially deemed that of Stephen himself, to the utmost concern of the House of Habsburg. Allegedly, both the Ottoman Turks and Sigismund Jagiello, the brother of Wladislaw II, king of Hungary and Bohemia, and of Jan Albert, king of Poland, were ready to occupy Moldavia. Within a year, Jan Albert did indeed attack Stephen, who had to be replaced with Sigismund as ruler of Moldavia. The Jagellonian plan was foiled by the conspiracy of Maximilian and Stephen, supported by the military intervention of Bartholomew Drágffy, the voivode of Transylvania as well as – between 1489 and 1496 – the father-in-law of the late Alexander

Z Wiednia do Mentorelli. Dar cesarzowej Marii Teresy dla sanktuarium Matki Bożej

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces on Mentorella (Lazio region, about 50 km east of Rome), one of the oldest in Italy and the world, was built on the site of the conversion of St. Eustace. In the first millennium it was taken care of by the Benedictines, who popularized the cult of Mary there and probably in the 12th century placed a wooden statue of Our Lady with the young Jesus inside the temple. The monks’ abandonment of the site (presumably in the late 14th century) resulted in the decline of pilgrimage traffic and considerable neglect of the place, which regained its former glory only after 1661, i.e., after the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher “discovered” Mentorella. At that time, a new phase in the history of the church began: the restoration project supported by Emperor Leopold I of Habsburg and the German princes, followed by the Jesuit mission (carried out until the order’s suppression), which elevated Mentorella to the rank of an important Marian sanctuary in Europe. The shrine could also count on the support of the Habsburg family in the 18th century – Empress Maria Theresa, known for her devotion to the Mother of God, donated a valuable robe for the statue of the Mentorella Madonna. When the church and monastery were taken over by the Resurrectionist Fathers, during the renovation of the buildings and rearrangement of the temple’s interior, the garments were removed from the statue and a chasuble (or chasubles) was sewn from the fabric donated by the Empress. In 2023, an inventory of the furnishings of the church and monastery on Mentorella was made. Among the preserved liturgical vestments, it was possible to select a chasuble composed from the dresses of Empress Maria Theresa’s foundation and confirm its provenance after comparing the embroidered fabric with a graphic depicting Our Lady of Men¬torella in dresses, made by Giuseppe Mochetti “dal vero” in the 1st half of the 19th century. While it cannot be determined that Empress Maria Theresa made the embroidery herself (she herself designed, embroidered, and decorated with appliqués many of the liturgical paraments she funded), the artifact is of great artistic and historical value – bearing witness to the sanctuary’s strong ties to the Habsburg monarchy.

Political crisis vs. media crisis: specifics of the genesis of the Hungarian press of the Habsburg period in the 18th century

The early period of the Hungarian press - from the appearance of the first Hungarian newspaper “Mercurius Hungaricus” in 1703, associated with the anti-Habsburg liberation war led by Ferenc Rakosi II, to the beginning of the first Hungarian-language newspaper in 1780, - is studied. The peculiarity of this period is that the periodicals were published in Latin and German. The relevance of the study lies in analysing the historical experience of the genesis of the media in the political system of a multinational state, considering the specifics of the formation of the national press, which had its own political viewpoint, in the conditions of Hungary's subordinate position in the Habsburg monarchy, which initially laid down the crisis aspects of its independent development. The situation in European periodicals and the historical and political contexts of the Habsburg monarchy in the 18th century, in the face of which the Hungarian press was born in Latin and later in German, is considered. In the current realities of the global world and the digital society, it seems appropriate to refer also to the historical experience of counterpropaganda, which can be observed in the opposition of the Hungarian newspaper “Mercurius Veridicus ex Hungaria” to the publication of the monarch's court - the Viennese “Wienerisches Diarium”, and to analyse the information warfare in the Habsburg monarchy.

Paradoxes of the Czechoslovak Sokol Association in the Interwar Period

Abstract The article addresses some of the paradoxes of the interwar Czechoslovak Sokol Association. It shows how after 1918 Sokol historiography experienced a boom following national independence: a proliferation of accounts of the Sokol movement’s history to date told in largest part by the leadership of the association itself. These accounts re-narrated the history of the movement so that it became well-adjusted to the new culture of victory of the interwar state, positing throughout a separation between nation and empire and a struggle in which the former, aided by Sokol mobilization, was sure to emerge victorious. The article asks that we read this historiography ‘against the grain’, showing that the actual relationship of Sokol to late-Habsburg civil society was protean and shifting, and only re-cast as unswervingly adversarial in the post-1918 period. The second part of the article looks at the participation of Sokol members and leadership in the war in Slovakia (1919), presented in interwar historiography and commemoration as a culminating moment in Sokol’s participation in the national liberation of Czechs and Slovaks. In fact, there is a compelling case to be made that Sokol’s role in fighting and violence at this time also shows the ongoing contestation and conflict associated with the creation of Czechoslovakia. The article shows that re-narrating the history of the Habsburg period and the war itself to emphasize the voluntarist contribution of groups such as Sokol was an important part of establishing and maintaining the legitimacy of the interwar state.

Succus Prudentiae: Hevenesi Gábor neosztoikus emblémáinak festészeti recepciója

The Hungarian Jesuit Gábor (Gabriel) Hevenesi’s emblem book Succus prudentiae (The Seed of Wisdom) was published in 1690 in Vienna and then in 1701 in Nagyszombat (Trnava, Slovakia), containing fifty emblems. He compiled a collection of Christian wisdom and virtues with the help of quotations and paraphrases from the Stoic philosopher Seneca. In this article, I present two instances of applied emblematic reception of the emblems of Hevenesi’s Succus prudentiae in Transylvanian buildings. The first example is the painted decoration of a room in the castle of Nagyvárad (Oradea, Romania). The program survived only in fragments, yet, three emblems could still be identified. The use of a Jesuit emblem book points towards the conception of the decorative program during the Habsburg occupation of the castle during the first half of the eighteenth century. The second example is the former wall and furniture decoration of the Daniel manor house in Szasznagyvesszős (Michelsdorf/Veseuș, Romania). The inner decoration of this building was destroyed before the twentieth century, but it was preserved by the detailed description of the writer József Ponori Thewrewk from 1817. Based on his account, the walls and several pieces of furniture (including a folding screen and a cabinet) were decorated with Hevenesi’s emblems. This program was most possibly ordered by István Daniel the elder, a state official during the Habsburg rule in Transylvania. As an appendix, I draw attention to a surviving cabinet with emblematic paintings based on Jesuit Herman Hugo’s Pia desideria, now in the collection of the Sárospatak Catholic Museum.

Lost archives and found voices: reconstructing the marketing history of medical marijuana in Austria-Hungary

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the marketing history of medical marijuana cigarettes in the past three decades of Austria-Hungary.Design/methodology/approachThis paper constructs an analytical narrative based on information scattered in historical periodicals.FindingsTowards the end of Habsburg rule, two Ljubljana-based pharmacists, the Trnkóczy brothers, managed to establish themselves as monopolistic suppliers of pre-rolled medical marijuana cigarettes for the entire Austrian part of the dual monarchy. Garnering the support of the regional Carniolan Government, Julius von Trnkóczy successfully argued his wares were not affected by the prohibition passed against imported French medicinal cigarettes. This happened despite medical opposition, suggesting that Trnkóczys could only operate this business because of their elevated social status. In the past decade of the 19th century, Ubald von Trnkóczy took advantage of newly loosened regulation to obtain an official permit by the royal-imperial government in Vienna. This was followed, in late 1909, by an advertising campaign covering mass media throughout the empire. This was enabled, amongst others, by a cutting down on medicinal claims. Their declining price is further indication that the cigarettes were mass marketed, especially as their core ingredient, cannabis, underwent price inflation.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of its later illegality, the research subject was for a long time considered embarrassing, leading to an absence of retrievable documents. Missing archival sources are thus a major limitation, but one which can be overcome by the concurrent reading of historical periodicals – ranging from mass-market newspapers to specialist journals and legal texts. This paper has implications for 21st-century challenges in the marketing of newly legalized medical marijuana.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the marketing history of cannabis, a drug rarely discussed in historical literature outside its medical and regulatory context, and reconstructs previously forgotten case histories.

High hopes before the fall: Otto Bauer and Oszkár Jászi on nationality and Habsburg rule in the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, 1907–18

ABSTRACT This study offers an overview of ‘the nationalities question’ in the Habsburg Empire, with special focus on its treatment by the Austrian social democrat, Otto Bauer, and the Hungarian ‘radical’ or ‘liberal socialist’, Oszkár Jászi. Analysing and comparing the writings of these intellectuals published between 1907 and 1918, this article shows how the contrasting legal and political contexts in Austria (Cisleithenia) and in Hungary (Transleithenia) led these authors to create contrasting alternative solutions to the problems posed by the multi-ethnic composition of the Habsburg Empire. It is argued that these thinkers’ positions were fundamentally defined by Austria’s status as a ‘nationalities state’, Hungary’s identity as a nation-state, and the authors’ own affiliations with the dominant nationalities within their respective states. The article underscores the important temporal component at work in their respective pre-1918 assessments of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary and its effect on their stances on the reign of the Habsburgs. Whereas Bauer saw the Hungarian king and Austrian emperor Franz Joseph as a possible strong ally for the implementation of his ideas, Jászi viewed the acts of the Habsburg dynasty as alien to Hungarian interests and therefore as a source of potential danger.

The Military Cemeteries of the Great War in Croatia 1914–1941

This contribution strives to give an initial overview of various legal frameworks and the connected everyday practices concerning military cemeteries containing the remains of Croatian soldiers – for the most part members of the Austrian- -Hungarian armed forces – and to situate them within the changing political and cultural context, including memorial manifestations such as public monuments, individual war memoirs, and soldiers' frontline newspapers. As a consequence, the 1914–1941 period is further subdivided into the 1914– 1918 Habsburg period, the short 1918–1921 intermezzo, and the 1921–1941 Karađorđević period, albeit none of this was exactly uniform. Apart from literature and published sources, the research was also based on archival documents (Croatian State Archives in Zagreb, Archives of Yugoslavia in Belgrade).