Page - 349 - in Der griechisch-orientalische Religionsfonds der Bukowina 1783–1949 - Kontinuitäten und Brüche einer prägenden Institution des Josephinismus

Zusammenfassungen 349 place.9 In our case this should probably be expanded to ›space‹. What can we deduct, in an overview, from these two insights for the Bukovina Religious Fund ? The emperor’s reformist approaches, based as they were on the enlightenment, mani- fested themselves in a sustained way in the Bukovina, which was in a peripheral position to the centre of the empire, Vienna. I have already been able to show this elsewhere in terms of the general development of the later Austrian crown land.10 More precisely, the immediate effect of the work of the Greek-Oriental Religious Fund as an organisation can be traced mainly in the region itself into the 19th century, and thereafter, as an institution, until its dissolution in 1948. Viewed over the longer term, the Bukovina Religious Fund should thus count as one of the ›successful‹ Josephinian reforms. In the spiritual regu- lation plan, in the establishment of a consistory for the Greek-Oriental Church in the province, and the foundation of the Orthodox Religious Fund, two central reformist en- deavours of the late 18th century meet : the attempt at territorial consolidation of the state, externally, and the reorganisation of the Orthodox (regional) Church  – as part of a (re) structuring of the state administration  – internally. Both measures are essential stepping stones towards creating an awareness of the country, a regional identity of the Bukovina and its inhabitants (in close relation to the Austrian idea of the whole state). In this way the Religious Fund shaped a central aspect of the normative, organisational ›preparation‹ of the province and later furthered the emergence of a regional identity for the Bukovina (i.e. the former upper Moldova), a territory that did not previously exist in this form. The Religious Fund is a good example for the wide overlap of intrinsic orientation patterns of the Fund as an institution, and those set by the state. The relation and mutual impact of institutional change and national question seems highly complex with regard to the Bukovina Greek-Oriental Religious Fund and takes a central place in the analysis. It was characterised by the internal positions on hierarchy, which had to be redefined with every new bishop. The relation to the state, however, remained loyal for the most part, without any major deviations, until the end of World War I, when it shifted markedly. We can thus call the Bukovina Religious Fund an im- perial institution. Recent research on institutions in eastern Central Europe underlines the inherent connection of institutional and legal modernisation until World War I. It points out, however, that this connection was largely shaped by the “needs of the impe- rial state” rather than by those of the nation state. The reason given is a later shift “from an imperial to a national system”11 compared to Western Europe. I would agree with this 9 Lowndes 1996, Varieties, 182. 10 Scharr 2010, Landschaft. 11 Siegrist & Troebst 2012, Einführung, 322.