People, encounters, places… the best from the Extinguished Countries.
For centuries Slovenia, parts of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro were part of the Habsburg Empire. Bosnia and Herzegovina was administered by Vienna for several decades between the end of the 19th century and World War I. What remains of these historical ties in Austrian foreign policy today? We discussed this with Florian Bieber, director of… Continue reading A special relationship between Austria and the Western Balkans?
The history of the Habsburgs has its roots not in Austria, as one might think, but in neighbouring Switzerland. It is here in fact – and more precisely in the canton of Aargau – that the castle built in the 11th century by Radbod of Habsburg, who is considered the founder of the lineage, is… Continue reading The Swiss roots of the Habsburg family
Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustible liquid derived from petroleum. Its discovery is generally attributed to Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner who distilled kerosene from bituminous coal and oil shale in 1846. To obtain kerosene distilled from oil, however, one has to wait a few years and travel to the other side of the world: to… Continue reading The Habsburg origins of the kerosene lamp
Everyone enjoys hearing a nice, cheesy love story. Ljerka Šram and Milivoj Dežman’s love story is undoubtedly one of those tales of an unending and enduring love that people have always murmured about, a love that was never meant to end happily. Here is how it goes. Once upon a time, in a city in… Continue reading The tragic love story behind the Brestovac Sanatorium in Zagreb
Most of the world knows Ivo Andrić as a Nobel Prize-winning author. However, to Habsburg administrators of his home of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andrić was a teenage troublemaker suspected of collaborating in the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. We spoke to Enes Škrgo, curator of the Memorial House of Ivo Andrić in Travnik, the author’s birthplace,… Continue reading The Nobel Prize Winner vs. Austria-Hungary
Stanisław Wyspiański (1869-1907) is one of the most versatile artists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. His message and own recognisable style are an absolute part of Polish culture and art today. Wyspiański was an accomplished artist as he was active in various fields of art, and in each, he always pursued… Continue reading Painter, writer and poet, Stanisław Wyspiański is the ultimate icon of Habsburg Kraków
Have you ever wondered where masochism comes from? It started during the Habsburg Empire, in Galicia (which used to be a region from eastern Poland to western Ukraine). Leopold von Sacher-Masoch grew up there, raised by his Ukrainian nurse who has had a huge influence on him. She told him Ukrainians tales and sang to… Continue reading The Origin of Masochism, an Unfortunate Writer and Galicia
Galicia is a historical and geographical region in central-eastern Europe, today divided between western Ukraine and eastern Poland. The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was created following the Partitions of Poland starting in 1772 and was under the rule of the Habsburgs. It was an economic resource, a cultural hub and a strategic military region,… Continue reading Keeping Galicia’s heritage alive
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sissi, is a prominent symbol of the Habsburg Empire. She was an icon in her time and still is nowadays. She has inspired many works of fiction, such as Sissi – The Young Empress (1956) or lately The Empress (2022), which created a fantasy that tends to drift… Continue reading Erratic, impulsive, adventurous Sissi
The concept of “feminism” developed in Europe during the 19th century, when the first women’s rights movements emerged. We all know about the Suffragettes movement in the UK founded in 1903 but what about feminism in the Habsburg Empire? We have discussed with Catherine Horel, historian and writer of Multicultural Cities of the Habsburg Empire… Continue reading Austro-Hungarian Feminism
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