#austrian nobility

[tiaramania]

TIARA ALERT: Countess Leonie von Waldburg-Zeil-Hohenems wore a diamond necklace tiara for her wedding to Count Caspar Matuschka at St. Karl Borromäus Church in Hohenems, Austria on 22 June 2024

[royalty-nobility]

Portrait of Princess Maria Josefa Hermenegilde von Esterhazy

Artist: Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755–1842)

Title: Portrait of Princess Maria Josepha Hermenegilde von Liechtenstein, later Princess Esterházy (1768-1845), as Ariadne on Naxos

Date: 1793

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna, Austria

Princess Maria Josepha Hermengilde Esterházy

Princess Maria Josepha Hermengilde Esterházy de Galantha (née von Liechtenstein, 13 April, 1768 — 8 August, 1845) was the daughter of Franz Josef I of Liechtenstein. On 15 September 1783 she married Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy de Galantha, who in 1794 became the Prince of Esterházy. In 1785 she bore a son, Paul Anton and in 1788 a daughter, Leopoldine.

[microcosme11]

An Austrian noble feels conspicuous

Prince Charles de Clary-et-Aldringen was assigned to deliver a letter from Francis II confirming the proxy marriage of his daughter. The prince was ordered to Compiègne and then to a hunt, but he didn't have the right outfit with him so he had to borrow from French generals.

At the hunting rendezvous, another meal: it was the only time that I found myself at table with the Emperor. It was for me the strangest feeling in the world to be almost next to him, dressed the same as Savary, as Davout, as Duroc. I was wondering if it was really me. Lunch was a ten-minute affair. I was quietly having coffee when, looking up, I noticed that I was the only one there; I even thought I saw the Emperor smile with one of these gentlemen at the fact that the Austrian chamberlain was so leisurely; and at the moment I put down my cup in fear, we all got up.

[Following this is a hilarious description of the hunt. Napoleon kills a deer after many attempts and then asks the prince if he's ever seen such a lovely hunt. "Jamais, Sire!"]

(Souvenirs du prince Charles de Clary-et-Aldringen: Trois mois a Paris...) google books but it's only in French.

[indristian]

Y'know if Activision had straight up been like "Yeah, so there's this Austrian guy and his name is König." I would have maybe been like "Is that a jab at how noble titles are illegal in Austria?" But no, there probably wasn't a thought behind the eyes of the designer other than "What's a funny German codename for the tall man?"

[illustratus]

Schloss Paulenstein by Joseph Holzer

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Franz Schrotzberg (Austrian, 1811-1889) Gräfin Mako, ca.1878 Belvedere palace, Vienna

[omgthatdress]

Sorry if it's a stupid question, but I thought you'd be best to answer it. Why was Coco Chanel's "Little Black Dress" so special? I've been going though your early 1900s tags and knee-length dresses existed way before Coco. Black dresses too. Knee-length black dresses too. What was so special about Chanel? I'd argue that Paul Poiret had a much bigger influence on fashion, with some of his looks being 1920s back in 1910s. So why Chanel became so big? Is it all down to business?

It's historical context. One of the biggest things about appreciating fashion history is being able to put it all in context.

Although black dresses were popular evening wear throughout the Victorian and Edwardian era, the dresses of that era were still over-the-top and extremely fancy. The dress was designed by a couturier, House of Worth being the most influential and popular, silk had to be imported and woven, the beading and embroidery and other details hand-crafted by métiers, and then all assembled by seamstresses in the atelier.

Poiret started out with this notion of radically simplifying fashion. His robe de minute was a sort of proto-flapper dress, and it got its name because it only had two seams and could be sewn up in a minute. In spite of this, Poiret couldn't fully escape Edwardian ostentatiousness, and frequently used exotic silks and fancy detailing, still seeing his designs as works of art. His primary supporters were still the titled nobility of old Europe

World War 1 had everything to do with simplifying fashion. Well, that and the Russian Revolution the collapse of the Hohenzollerns and Austrian Habsburgs and the general collapse of the old aristocracy. Couture houses were forced to close, and Poiret was made to serve as a tailor for the French army. When he re-opened his house, he re-opened to a new world.

Chanel viewed clothes through a much more practical lens, rather than as works of art. She made menswear-inspired clothing with clean lines and few accessories, which was much more in line with the new, liberated woman of the 1920s. The little black dress caught on because it was something every woman could wear and every woman could look good in. It was dependable and practical, thus, "the Ford of fashion." Rather than relying on the old, decaying nobles whose money was running out, Chanel's clientele came from the industrial business class that had an endless supply of new money.

Of course, the world would change again after World War II, and Chanel would be usurped by Christian Dior as the new arbiter of elegance and modernity. Dior brought extravagance and opulence back to French couture, and his nipped-waist designs hearkened back to the nostalgia for pre-war times. Chanel was dealing with the fallout of an affair with a German intelligence officer and had to self-exile from France for several years.

Eventually, she returned, but the brand was out-of-date and diminished. Rather than cutting-edge elegant ballgowns like she had made before, the Chanel brand was pretty much just limited to its iconic suits, and as time wore on, it was considered to be something of a stuffy old lady brand until Karl Lagerfeld revived it in the 80s.

[the-arcane-booty]

I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of studying the real-life influences that went into the creation/worldbuilding of Nevarra.

For example: Antiva is based off of Italian and Mediterranean influences, Tevinter has Roman Empire vibes, and Orlais has a lot of commonalities with France.

I’m not saying that it these influences have to be 1:1, but I’m a huge anthropology/folklore nerd and it’s fun for my brain to dig deeper into stuff like this. It supports that fantasy is not just an escapist genre, but a method of deeper exploration of the world we already live in. More beneath the cut:

Nevarra is a tricky one. My initial inclinations were to lean toward ancient Egypt as its primary influence. Mostly their reverence for the dead is one that is very tangible. The mages work with corpses and cadavers, all while tending to tombs and cemeteries. A majority of Thedas deal with the concept of death in a spiritual manner, rather than a physical one, due to the nature of Andrastean beliefs.

The food culture is also described to be inspired by North African cuisine. Lots of flat breads, yogurts, and veggies are dominant in their dishes. It’s common for Nevarrans to be vegetarian. The landscape is also implied to be fertile with agriculture. Such connections are similar to that of societies along the Nile river. Beetles are also highly respected as a symbol. Like scarabs, people collect the wings and display them as decor.

While the Egyptian symbolism and archetypes surrounding death may play a big role in the cultural practices, there’s a few things that are also to Central European/Balkan culture. Like the concept of royalty/nobility more closely resembles the political structure of the Austrian empire. There’s mentions of dukes and duchesses being involved in cultural celebrations.

The artistry is also highly appreciated in Nevarran culture. There are so many artisans involved in making jewelry for grave dowries. There’s expert landscapers tending to beautiful memorial gardens. Sculptors that create magnificent statues to honor the stories of the dead. Nevarran art may seem morbid, but brings the subjects of darkness to light. This is a rather gothic approach to artistic expression and appreciation.

I like to think that Mourn Watch! Rook is artistically inclined as well. Even if it is in a way that is seen as dark or morbid.

ANYWAY I’ll probably ramble more about this later but I am interested in how the cultures mix to create a whole new world :3

[fafayayarhen]

Yap more about Austria

why am i being enabled

this is a dangerous thing

because allow me to open the subject that it is criminally underwhelming how in the source material little is explored about Austria's relations to the low countries (Netherlands - Luxembourg - Belgium), Portugal, Liechtenstein, Bohemia (later Czechia) and Slovakia, Slovenia, given the extensive reach of the Habsburg reign when they became the running contenders for the imperial throne of Holy Roman emperor

in fact Austria in the series had so much potential to be fleshed out as a dominating force with a lot of connections if Himaruya had delved a little further into the significant role the duchy had been elevated to given how the Habsburg instrumentalised the duchy into their empirical domain, with Vienna as the capital the bigger they expanded

- The low countries before it became Spanish possessions had been another fief in the HRE. The Habsburgs managed to attain it by way of marriage through Maximilian I to Mary of Burgundy, the Burgundian monarchs having held the fief beforehand. The succession of the inheritance was through his heir, Philip, who married into the Spanish monarchy. When the thrones were unified under Charles V's ascension as emperor, son of Philip, grandson of Maximilian, that's how Spain got to enjoy the chunk of Habsburg domains similarly to Austria also having access to Spain's New Worlds posessions.

- Bohemia was prominent in claiming the Austrian duchy to better their chances at aiming for the throne. Not only was Ottokar already with a nomination, he was on good terms with the Austrian nobility. In turn, Austria would've been pretty good friends with lil Bohemia at the time before being forcefully ripped apart because a certain SOMEONE wanted to fuck Ottokar over. Bohemia was later another domain grouped into Habsburg possessions later into their long reign.

- Can I mention that as opposed to how the series depicted Liechtenstein to be by herself up till Switzerland found her, the kingdom was another fief in HRE. And of course when our favourite greedy schemers became the powerhouse ruling the empire, the little kingdom was another of their property and Liechtenstein and Austria maintained a fair, amicable relationship all the way to world war one. The only reason the territory was conceded included financial instability where they literally had no money left to help Liechtenstein out, so this battered single parent Austria had no other choice to send his (step) daughter away for Switzerland to take her in.

- Portugal. Was. An. Ally. During the war of the Spanish succession. Portugal and the Dutch, whilst their aim was to weaken the Spanish empire and chip away at their new world possessions, it was a mutual agreement between their coalition and the Austrian Habsburg. Not to mention during the joint-empire situation, Austrian monarchs married into Portuegese line to, some semblance of interaction would've made sense to portray these elements of how ridiculously LARGE the circle of network the Habsburg created.

- Don't get me started on Belgium.

- Did you know she spent some period of time in Habsburg Austria household before gaining independence? Part of the concessions following the war of the Spanish succession; prior to this, the Dutch already rebelled and became their own sovereign after detaching from the low countries. It left Belgium and Luxembourg, and they became Austrian-Netherlands when they reaffirmed their hold over this territory in the bunch of treaties that were signed following the war. So to see not a lick of interaction. Even acknowledgement. Not even EITHER of them ever having a moment with each other is so. Speaking of.

- The Belgian king tried to steal imperial treasure from Austria after WWI. Roderich would've given her and the king hell because they tried taking the order of the golden fleece amongst the other things. Have you any idea how hilarious that would be if Himaruya could depict that in the series? Austria would be so composed about it while taking jabs at her like oh remember the little kingdom who thought herself big daring to loot my treasury? Hmm?

- There is. So much. SO many potentially interesting, diverse elements to explore and grow aph Austria with. This is such a unique character considering this wealthy source of historical significance that played a huge part of reigning the longest and shifting the power balance throughout the continent not once, not twice, but three times because it all started with the over-eager Habsburg family that originated from Switzerland.

- Austria would've been the greatest conman to ever exist because that's how Habsburgs entered the bloody battle for the throne; convenient forgery and embellishment to legitimise their claim and marriage connections that solidified their backing. This prospect of grand ambitions single handedly shaped the way Roderich is as a person that he was empire first before reuniting with his personhood to the original roots of his Austrian self.

[dogfancier]

"Gerri von Oberklamm, a well-known, outstanding dog with finished structure and a great deal of nobility. He always shows himself to advantage and always offers to the eye, be he at rest or in motion, a captivating picture."

German shepherd whelped July 1917, Austrian Champion 1921.

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

.... endless amount of knowledge ...

The Austrian National Library in Vienna is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. The Baroque Grand Hall houses over 200.000 historic books.

The impressive Grand Hall is almost 80 meters long and 30 meters high, and is crowned at its center by a mighty dome. The riotously colorful fresco by court painter Daniel Gran shows the "becoming a god" of Emperor Charles VI, who commissioned the construction of the library in 1723. This also stands hewn in marble in the center of the central oval – directly beneath the dome. There are other 16 statues of rulers and nobility of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg family.

[inky-duchess]

Hello Duchess, hope your day is going well! Sort of a niche question, but what do you know about fashion from the Carpathian region around the 1870s? Specifically nobility/wealthy landowners (which I think were called boyars). Thank you!

The Carpathian nobility (Serbian, Slovakian, Austrian, Czech, Poland Ukrainian, Romanian) would follow European fashion so that's bustle skirts and dresses for the ladies and suits for the men. Most of the upper wealthy class can afford the best fabrics and patterns from central Europe. They might encorporate some traditional embroidery, add some local furs.

[royalty-nobility]

Empress Elisabeth

Artist: Georg Martin Ignaz Raab  (Austrian, 1821–1885) 

Title: German: Kaiserin Elisabeth

Genre: Portrait

Date: 1874

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Belvedere Museum, Belvedere Palace, Vienna, Austria

Elisabeth, nicknamed Sisi or Sissi, was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898.

[fitzrove]

Rambling about Hass in Elisabeth for a REALLY long time. TL;DR - yeah, it is necessary as a song...

Because of the costumes and staging people often just see it as "the antisemitism song", which it is, strongly, but I think sometimes the wider context presented therein is ignored. Really, the song shows how antisemitism and hatred are fuelling and entangled with other movements!!

The nationalists in that song come from various groups and social classes, and identify as their enemies:

Socialists

Pacifists

Jewish writers

Jewish women

"Those who are not like us"

Crown prince Rudolf (because of his - historically strong - friendships and other positive associations with Jews)

The Habsburgs as a whole

Elisabeth and her Heinrich Heine (= a Jewish poet) monument project (which also attracted such strong criticism from German nationalists [Austrian Germans who were nationalists, not "Germans" in the modern sense] historically)

Hungary

The "barons" - so the nobility

The "slavic state"

The ongoing "betrayal of the people"

And to contrast, they identify as good:

Strength ("the strong wins, the weak fails", and also "strong leaders") and "purity"

"Unity"

Glory/splendour ("pracht")

Christian values

"Unified Germany", an alliance with Prussia and even an Anschluss (the joining of Austria and other "ethnically German" [so-called] lands to the German Reich. Hmm does anyone remember who also strove for and eventually implemented this... /s)

The conservative Wilhelm II as emperor (again, they want to join Austria into the German Reich)

So like. There is a glorification of all things "German" and of conservative values (religion) and reactionary power politics ("weakness" was and is by similar groups now considered to be a major flaw of liberalism and a liberal world order - in the song, pacifism and socialism are also connected to it), as exemplified by Wilhelm II's Germany specifically. To contrast, racial enemies ("non-Germans") threatening "racial purity" must be eliminated, with violence if necessary. And the Habsburg monarchy, being a multinational empire, is described as immoral and weak because of it being multinational (and the position of Slavs and Hungarians in politics and imperial administration).

The themes of "betraying the people" (Volksverrat) are especially interesting because the enemies of the nationalists as listed in the song, Jewish women, pacifists and socialists, were also the people blamed for German defeat in WW1 (the "stab in the back" at the home front myth). It's overall 19th and 20th century anti-establishment fascist imagery.

Ajdkkf I don't think I'm clearly making my argument but the song's key functions are:

To dispel the myth of the late 19th century being "the good old days", the glory days of Austria before the world wars somehow magically came to happen and ruined it. In fact, the songs shows that the developments leading to the world wars stem from politics and mass movements of hatred that developed alongside and gave power to & drew power from nationalism in the 19th century

To show the audience exactly what Rudolf is talking about in "Die Schatten werden Länger (reprise)". What is the "evil that is developing"? It's not Rudolf's personal petty wish for more power, or his angst about not being emperor yet, or some generic amorphous disdain for how FJ is reigning; it's not the lack of Hungarian independence either, for god's sake. I will die on this hill, if you cut Hass or replace it with conspiracy or whatever you can cut Rudolf as well, Elisabeth as a show is (in my opinion) a good portrayal of him precisely because it depicts him as a political thinker (in contrast to many depictions and post-Mayerling accounts which diminish that and just talk about Mayerling and his "immorality" - a talking point devised by the nationalists and antisemitists who hated him lol, liberal politics were connected to lack of morality) and someone who, unlike most of his contemporaries, saw that antisemitism, emphasis on "power" and realist power politics, exclusionary/hateful rhetoric and excess nationalism would lead to ruin. AND Hass also shows that he was hated by the German nationalists for this! As was his mother, for her sympathy to Heine...

To connect genuine popular dissatisfaction (from Milch - Hass is a reprise of Milch in terms of rhythm and the call-and-response structure where Lucheni talks to the crowd) with inequality, the lack of democracy and the excesses of royalty... to the rise and presentation of fascism as a "solution"

To show that 19th century nationalism was, in many ways, exclusionary, antisemitic, racist and "war-mongering", and that this rhetoric is old - not somehow magically appearing for WW2 and then disappearing again - and will time and again rise... and that it's everyone's responsibility to recognise it for what it is when it happens, if we are to have a reasonable, decent world to live in.

The framing of Hass sometimes confuses people I will never recover from that one post cancelling Elisabeth das musical for being antisemitic because Hass exists ajiddfkdllfgl what's next, it's pro-suicide and homophobic because a character technically dies from being gay? but to me it's rather clear that it's unsympathetic lol, with the whole doomsday atmosphere (no music, just footsteps/marching and drums and screaming, it's meant to be threatening), the way the ensemble harshly criticises the most sympathetically portrayed characters we have seen so far (Elisabeth and Rudolf) for things that seem petty and harmless (having Jewish friends), and the extremely direct comparison drawn to N*zism (to indicate what such a movement would develop to) in many stagings. I don't know how to say this but somehow I've always assumed that "H*tler and n*zism = evil" is EXTREMELY common knowledge and it mystifies me when people like. Think it should have been stated more clearly in the show. Like, the show is working off the assumption that you know what it is and that it's bad because of the millions and millions of people they killed............. this is EXTREMELY common knowledge in Europe, not least in Germany and Austria lol.

So um yeah akwkldlf, sorry for the ramble, I just feel like the song can be poorly understood and criticised on shaky ground sometimes. I mean, I am not Jewish and not equipped to talk about whether it's triggering or traumatising to watch especially with lived or family experience of antisemitic violence... But I think for non-Jewish people there is a huge responsibility to be aware and vigilant of antisemitism, historically and in the present, and sometimes it needs to be hammered home for people to understand...

By that last point I also somewhat mean... I think you don't "get" to be triggered by it if you're not Jewish but perhaps otherwise affected by politics of hatred. Of course I'm not emotions police lol, but many Jewish people have intergenerational trauma AND have to live with extremely similar antisemitic rhetoric and culture to this day, so there I understand criticisms - and there is also a discussion to be had about how and to what extent it is ok to use and display Jewish suffering as a device to educate non-Jewish people.

But anyway, to my original point. This is something I've seen people say and I just... if you're queer and it makes you uncomfortable to see Hass because modern n*zis hate you and it's traumatic, I mean, it's valid to feel uncomfortable and you can choose not to watch it personally to avoid being triggered, but you don't get to call for it to be erased from the show for "problematic content" or for "escapism" or to make you feel better. It is there because the destruction of the 19th century world, and Rudolf's and Elisabeth's suffering, is intrinsically tied to the rise of such hateful politics and without that being shown there is no show. You don't get to make it something it's not, this show is not ONLY an epic gothic romance with imaginary boyfriend, it's a commentary on past, present and future politics in that it shows the dangers of conservatism, antisemitism, racism and illiberalism. Calling for or supporting censorship, or state emphasis on militarism/"destroying the enemy", or advocating hatred, violence or oppression against any group based on ethnicity, religion, race, political views, etc. are all political stances held by and propagated by various people today in various political contexts. And you are not immune to antisemitism or reactionary nationalism if you're queer or whatever, so you have the constant responsibility to think critically about your worldview and your politics!!

[minetteskvareninova]

Reasons To Support Rhaenyra

She's better than Aegon. A low bar, I know, but she still climbs it!

Even if you don't think she's all that great, her immediate heir is Jacaerys, and unless you are a stupid bastardphobic Westerosi noble, you gotta admit he's probably going to be a great king (mind you, this post is from a vantage point of the end of season 2, we know what's coming but shhhh!). "But the lords of Westeros-" Homie do I look like a Westerosi lord to you.

She's much hotter than Aegon too. I mean, if we are using arbitrary feudal bullshit as arguments, might as well use other kinds of bullshit also.

I know being a woman doesn't actually mean shit for feminism in Westeros, but it does give me War of Austrian Succession flashbacks, and that's enough for me! Again, is that really any more arbitrary than "has a penis and the right bloodline"?!

It also gives me somewhat baseless hope that her tax policy might be decent or something (look, most theresian reforms are completely inapplicable to Westeros - MAYBE urbár if we're being generous?). Like some basic administrative competence from a monarch would be nice after her dad.

Okay, this one is actually dead serious - I don't think the Great Council of Westeros should be a thing, and it should never ever get a say in the matters of succession. In the real world, representative bodies under feudal system only got a say in the matters of succession in a serious crisis, like when the royal house died out, or the country was under an imminent threat of an Ottoman attack and the only heir was a fucking fetus. And these were, like, organized institutions that also do other stuff, like approve taxes or issue laws. Not one time arbitrary gatherings of the local nobility (and only nobility, no representatives of the cities or the church, because in Westeros those have no power and it makes me mad) that are essentially called because the king is too senile to decide which one of his grandchildren he wants to be an heir. Like, for fuck's sake. Why are regular Great Councils not a thing then, if the approval of Westerosi nobles is so important for the king?! Why don't they also ask them their opinion on taxation or war or whatever?! Basically, the Great Council is stupid and I don't like it, also I am not a fan of feudal representative bodies in general, especially when they represent ONLY nobility. Like do you want Hungarian Diet, because that's how you get... Something even worse honestly.

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Karl von Blaas (Austrian, 1815-1894) Portrait of Countess Gabriella Andrássyove, born Pálffy, 1865 Vihorlatské múzeum v Humennom