Thematic Items

Work & produce

Labour and work do not mean the same thing at all times. This is also true of the fruits of labour. Hence questions arise such as: Who works for whom? Who must work and who not? How did the status of work change over time? What was the connection between labour and a person’s social standing?

Collect & know

For people today knowledge is above all the product of science. The idea that knowledge is something which must be proved empirically is a relatively new one. In former times people had different concepts of knowledge; it could be religious or magical, handed down or inherited. Knowing was also always associated with collecting, for example strange objects, writings and books, animals and plants. What was of interest in this respect and how did this shape people’s view of the world at any given time?

Possess

Today’s society still has the rich and the poor, those with possessions and those who have none. However, earlier societies were not based on equal rights for all people: having possessions, especially in the form of land, was associated with membership of social and political elites; being without possessions, on the other hand, meant a life in dependency, often in poverty.

Move

For a long time the distance that people could move was determined by the muscle power of their legs or the tractive force of animals, and it could also be restricted by the authorities. Nevertheless, even in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period people were mobile. Migrant farm workers, travelling salesmen, journeymen and beggars, as well as explorers and soldiers: they were all on the move throughout Europe. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries new means of transport such as the railway train and the bicycle increased mobility.

Believe

For many centuries what a person believed was not a private matter: religion shaped society much more strongly than it does today. Faith became a duty for a ruler’s subjects and it was subject to the control of both state and church authorities. In the eyes of the Habsburgs Catholicism was the only ‘true faith’. Dissidents or those who had other beliefs were persecuted or marginalized. The Enlightenment introduced the concept of religioius tolerance, but in the world of the Habsburgs the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church was never called into question.

Rule & reign

As emperors, kings, archdukes and dukes the Habsburgs played a decisive role in shaping the history of Central Europe for more than six centuries. Nevertheless, there were times when Habsburg rule was disputed. Who actually ruled, with what aims and with what means? What conflicts with other rulers arose as a result? How did ordinary people become aware of being ruled in their everyday lives and what rights and duties did they have? Who was excluded from political power? Who was ruled by the rulers and who was not?

Order & differentiate

To differentiate means to divide into categories. People were assessed according to many different critieria: by sex, class, religion, property or ethnicity. The levels of significance attributed to the various categories changed over time: sometimes they were more, sometimes less relevant, but they always had an effect on many aspects of a person’s life. Whole territories were also categorized and shared out.

Protest & rebel

The Habsburg Monarchy, which spread over geographically diverse areas with a variety of cultures and ethnicities, was based on a social order which was strictly hierarchical. The result was that there were frequent countermovements which shook the existing arrangements of power and government. Peasants, women and students, but also renegade Habsburgs, attempted to rebel, and in some cases they used surprising methods. Who rebelled in the Habsburg Monarchy and what did they rebel against, with what means, with what goals and with what consequences?

Show & show off

In the strictly hierarchical societies of past centuries every class had its own ways of expressing itself, whether it was a matter of consumption, manners, in everyday life or on special occasions, with the culture of elite groups generally being regarded by the broad mass of the population as a model worthy of emulation. In the case of a ruling dynasty like the Habsburgs particular importance was attached to showing off; after all, such display was a matter of demonstrating conspicuously their claim to power. Much of what is nowadays seen as the greatest achievements of Austrian culture has its origins in the pomp and circumstance of the Habsburg court.

Forget & remember

The traditional view of Habsburg history as the history of a dynasty is based on the story of specific events and personalities. Everything else tended to be regarded as not worth being remembered and was consigned to oblivion. For long periods of Habsburg history there was a dominant culture of guided memory which affirmed the dynasty’s claim to power and ignored its weaknesses. How should these traditional historical images be dealt with nowadays and what are the new questions that should be asked?