Page - 381 - in Rudolf Eitelberger von Edelberg - Netzwerker der Kunstwelt

Across the Leitha 381 Polish history garnered praise across Europe, but one might mention others such as the Czech painter Václav Brožík (1851–1901) or Bertalan Székely (1835–1910) in Buda- pest, who gained a similar international recognition, and embodied the phenomenon that was such a clear source of concern for Eitelberger. Such sentiment, even the federalism of aristocratic conservatives, who merely sought to maintain their local autonomy against interference from central government, was based on a dangerous cocktail of eccentric nostalgia about a past that never was and, as well, on active destructive interventions into contemporary politics : Der Föderalismus beruth auf sehr verschiedenen Elementen ; auf romantischen Ideen der Hochtories, auf querköpfigen Anschauungen von Historikern und Archäologen, welche eine Restaurationspolitik des historisch Vergangenen treiben, und findet zugleich Beifall bei jenen Nationalitätsstürmern, die von demokratischer Grundlage aus das altösterreichische Staats- princip durch Nationalitäts-Ideen aus den Angeln heben wollen.52 As with other Liberals, it was, for Eitelberger, a matter not merely of critiquing a rival political programme, but rather of addressing an ideology that threatened the consti- tution of the state, into which so much had been invested as a means of achieving the ultimate social goals of Liberalism. It might be queried why Eitelberger dwelt so much on this issue in art, rather than in practical politics, but the stakes were deadly serious : for it was in the sphere of ideology, of the imaginary, that political programmes were framed, and therefore his target was something potentially more serious than the mundane policies enacted and debated in political life. In his speech at the opening of the Museum of Art and Industry Eitel- berger staged a plea for openness to the global market, arguing : “Der nationalökon- omische Föderalismus ist viel gefährlicher als der politische. Er isolirt nicht blos den Markt der Industrie, sondern verengt den geistigen Horizont der Industriellen.” Indeed, “Der Geschmack ist nicht Etwas, das sich unter einen politischen Glassturz stellen lässt ; er verträgt keine Isolirung.”53 Yet of course this is exactly what was increasingly at the forefront of debate : the determination of national style. 52 “Federalism is based on very different elements : on the romantic ideas of High Tories, on the skewed views of historians and archaeologists whose politics seek restoration of the past, and it gains the applause those nationalist attackers, who use democracy as the basis for seeking to unhinge the old principal of the Austrian state by recourse to ideas of the nation.” Eitelberger, Zur Reform der Landesmuseen in Oesterreich, in : idem, Gesammelte kunsthistorische Schriften, vol.  2 (cit. n.  4), pp. 241–252, esp. pp.  243 f. 53 “Federalism in the field of national economics is much more dangerous than political federalism. It does not only isolate the industrial market but also restricts the intellectual horizon of industrialists.