Page - 286 - in Österreich-Ungarns imperiale Herausforderungen - Nationalismen und Rivalitäten im Habsburgerreich um 1900

© 2020, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847110606 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737010603 eralssincerely faithfulandeager todemonstratecitypatriotism,andirredentist whoignoredthefestivities;theSlovenesonthecontrarywereunanimousintheir adhesionto thecommemorations.Mostpressorgansreportedonthe local fes- tivities aswell asontheViennesecelebrations: theemperor’sportrait adorned thefrontpageonhisbirthdayaswellason2December, thedateofhisaccessto thethronein1848.Specialissueswerepublishedrecallingthemajoreventsofhis reign aswell as his personal tragedies (the violent deaths of his brotherMax- imilian,hissonRudolph,andhiswifeElisabeth).The leitmotivwashis fatherly figureenhancedbyhisoldage(78in1908);hewasthusdepictedasthe‘father’of the peoples regardless of language and confession. Beyond city patriotism Francis Josephwas themainelementof transnational identification. Twocasesof ‘constructed’Habsburgcities:Czernowitzand Sarajevo.Acolonialproject? In order to affirm the domination of the Habsburg Empire over Bucovina, Czernowitz was transformed in a showcase where the achievements of the monarchywere displayed. FacingRussia andRomania eastwards, Czernowitz andBucovinawereassignedthemissionofrepresentingthewesttowardseastern ‘barbaric’ lands. Although the press never ceased to lament about the ‘back- wardness’ of theprovince, in factCzernowitzwasgiven institutionsand infra- structures thatweredisproportionatewithrespect to its real signification.They were undeniably more ‘modern’ than their counterparts in the neighboring countries (where someof themdid simply not exist) and servedprecisely the purpose of displayingKultur anddevelopment.34The ‘colonial’ attitude of the monarchy toward Bucovina can be debated but there was a real intention of developing theprovince.ButCzernowitzwasalsoseenasaPotemkinvillage in comparisontothesadrealitiesof thecountrysidewhereunderdevelopmentwas obvious.Theabsenceofindustryreflectedthelackofdynamismoftheprovince. As ameans to hide these problems, themonarchy insisted on showing its be- nevolentpresence in town.The road toprogresswasparticularlyobviousafter the foundationof theuniversity in1875.Before thatFrancis Josephhadalready visitedthetownontwooccasions.Initiativeshadstartedin1873 for thecoming commemoration of Bucovina’s integration into theHabsburg lands. Not only wastheopeningoftheuniversity tobethemajoreventplannedfor1875butalso 34 Michael John, ‘Schmelztiegel’ – ‘Mosaik’ – regionales Zentrum1880–1914: Stadttypus im Vergleich.Migration, IntegrationundEthnizität, in: BrnoV&dni,V&deˇnBrnu. Zemsk8me- tropole a centrumrˇ&sˇe v 19. Stolet& [Brünn–Wien,Wien–Brünn. Landesmetropolenund ZentrumdesReiches im19. Jahrhundert],Brno2008,p. 221–241,herep.230. CatherineHorel286