Page - 182 - in Die Repräsentation der Habsburg-Lothringischen Dynastie in Musik, visuellen Medien und Architektur - 1618–1918

182 Sektion II: Herrscher, Staat, Nation Conclusion The representation of the Habsburgs in public monuments in Bosnia and Herzego- vina between 1878 and 1918 was quite restricted due to political and cultural reasons and mainly involved Emperor Franz Joseph. Although it would be expected that the Austro-Hungarian administration would be the one using the Emperor’s image in monumental form to promote ideas of development and progress in the time of the occupation, it was in fact the local, pro-regime oriented circles who encouraged initi- atives for the raising of monuments to Franz Joseph. Initially, these were architectural monuments in honour of the Emperor, and later on, in the annexation period, they were followed by imperial busts which served the purpose of demonstrating loyalty to the dynastic house and gratefulness for the implementation of a parliamentary life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During World War I, the statues of the Emperor, in the raising of which wider social layers participated, also incorporated remembrances of the fallen warriors who fought “for the Emperor and the homeland”. Apart from the Emperor, the monuments also showed other Habsburgs such as Franz Ferdinand and his spouse Sophie, through which it was attempted to express regret for the first victims of the war and to achieve redemption for their assassination. From a formal and stylistic point of view, almost all the monuments were shaped in an academic and historicist expressive manner. Representations of the Emperor were initially of court and ceremonial character, but they displayed military features in the war period. On the other hand, the monuments of Franz Ferdinand and So- phie showed emphasis on the sacred element, i. e. the focus of their representation was directed at their piety and their sacrifice. The reasons for the aforementioned persistence of academicism and historicism in art can be sought in the taste of the rul- ing and military powers who engaged sculptors like Anton Brenek, Theodor Khuen and Eugen Bory in the construction of monuments. Although they might seem out- dated from the perspective of modernity, their works of art were contemporary and similar, if not identical to those monuments built across the Monarchy. It needs to be added that in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they were built in an environment that had almost no tradition of creating sculptures in the public space, so that these monuments were a novelty in every sense of the word. Ultimately, the monuments with representations of the Habsburgs, or more pre- cisely with Franz Joseph, clearly demarcated the imperial space, even before Bosnia and Herzegovina was officially annexed to Austro-Hungary. The image of the Em- peror could have been used to express supranational values because a unique national body in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in the Monarchy did not exist. However, monuments built in his honour served even more the function of affirming those