Metternich Era

This essay discusses the change in the Viennese reception of Donizetti’s operas in relation to the internationalization of Viennese theatrical life during the last fifteen years of the Metternich regime (1833-1848), as well as the ensuing tensions between German nationalist ideology and the cosmopolitan aspirations of Habsburg cultural policies. While the transformation of Donizetti’s image from Italian to cosmopolitan composer resulted in part from the development of his career in Paris from 1838, it was also inseparable from the revived idea of cultural cosmopolitanism in the Viennese political landscape. The construction of a Viennese operatic identity, in particular, was increasingly set apart from national discourses, and revolved instead around different conceptions of cosmopolitanism. Donizetti’s two operas specifically written for the Kärntnertortheater, Linda di Chamounix (1842) and Maria di Rohan (1843), were regarded as a manifestation of a kind of cosmopolitanism that, in line with official cultural policies, accommodated harmoniously influences of diverse origins. Such attempted reconciliation of operatic cultures in Vienna, however, also emerged as part of the universalizing aspirations that German nationalists had reckoned as the mission of their national culture. Fluctuating understandings of cosmopolitanism in Vienna not only cemented Donizetti’s own position in the local musical landscape of the time; they also invite us to nuance our approach to “national” designations as focal concepts of the relationship between opera and politics in Vienna in the 1840s, and, more broadly, of nineteenth-century music historiography.

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674729711

Convened following Napoleon’s defeat in 1814, the Congress of Vienna is remembered as much for the pageantry of the royals and elites who gathered there as for the landmark diplomatic agreements they brokered. Historians have nevertheless generally dismissed these spectacular festivities as window dressing when compared with the serious, behind-the-scenes maneuverings of sovereigns and statesmen. Brian Vick finds this conventional view shortsighted, seeing these instead as two interconnected dimensions of politics. Examining them together yields a more complete picture of how one of the most important diplomatic summits in history managed to redraw the map of Europe and the international system of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Congress of Vienna investigates the Vienna Congress within a broad framework of influence networks that included unofficial opinion-shapers of all kinds, both men and women: artists and composers, entrepreneurs and writers, hosts and attendees of fashionable salons. In addition to high-profile negotiation and diplomatic wrangling over the post-Napoleonic fates of Germany, Italy, and Poland, Vick brings into focus other understudied yet significant issues: the African slave trade, Jewish rights, and relations with Islamic powers such as the Ottoman Empire and Barbary Corsairs. Challenging the usual portrayal of a reactionary Congress obsessed with rolling back Napoleon’s liberal reforms, Vick demonstrates that the Congress’s promotion of limited constitutionalism, respect for religious and nationality rights, and humanitarian interventions was influenced as much by liberal currents as by conservative ones.

Short biography of the Austrian general Adam Albrecht von Neipperg (1775-1829), second husband of Marie Louise of Habsburg .
From: Parma 2016 Dal ministro Magawly alla duchessa Maria Luigia, Quaderni del Museo Glauco Lombardi n. 16, Parma, 2016.

ÖZET
      Avrupa’nın üzerinde zaman zaman ideolojik hayaletler dolaşmıştır. Tüm Avrupa’yı etkisi altına alan ve uzun süren bu dönemler Avrupa sisteminin yeni bir evrim geçirmesine neden olmuştur. Her ideolojik hayalet tedirgin edici olmuştur ve ortak düşman ruhuyla ahenk oluşturulmuştur. Bunlardan biri milliyetçilik ve özgürlük hayaletidir ve Napolyon görünüşüyle, diğeri ise komünizm hayaletidir ve SSCB görünüşüyle ortaya çıkmıştır. Napolyon, milliyetçilik ve özgürlük akımlarını bilinçli olarak yaymamıştır ancak zamanlaması çok önemlidir. Napolyon’dan sonra ne monarşiye geri dönülebilecek ne de cumhuriyet tam olarak yayılabilecekti. Avrupa ahengi bir süreliğine sağlanmıştı fakat sonra tekrar kaos başlamıştır. Bu çalışmada Napolyon sonrası Avrupa’da geri dönüşü olmayan bir değişiklik yaratılmış olduğu irdelenmektedir.
ABSTRACT
Sometimes there have been ideological ghosts over Europe. This periods, long lasting and influencing all European states, caused a new evolution in European System. Every ideological ghost was uneasy and a harmony was formed by creating a common enemy in the spirit. One of these was the ghost of nationalism and liberty in the view of Napolyon and the other is the ghost of marxism or communism in the view of USSR. Napolyon didn’t spread the streams of nationalism and liberty conscioulsy but his timing was very important, After Napolyon neither returning to monarchy nor spreading of republics was possible. There was a European harmony for a while but later chaos began again.

Il saggio, scritto a quattro mani da due studiose che hanno entrambe approfondito l'éntourage di Antonio Canova, studiando approfonditamente l'una Bartolomeo Ferrari e la sua stirpe di scultori, l'altra Cincinnato Baruzzi, che alla morte del maestro avrà il compito di gestirne lo studio romano per conto del fratello, esamina la vicenda della realizzazione della Pietà. Il gruppo modellato da Canova prima della morte e già tradotto in gesso, venne infatti realizzato dal Ferrari in bronzo per il Tempio canoviano di Possagno e in marmo dal Baruzzi. Entrambe le commissioni sono legate a Giovanni Battista Sartori Canova, ma al marmo venne successivamente  preferita, anche per influenza di Leopoldo Cicognara,  la fusione in bronzo. Il gruppo marmoreo, dopo complesse vicende che qui vengono ricostruite sulla scorta dei documenti, approdò alla chiesa del Santissimo Salvatore a Terracina, dove si trova ancora.

The Congress of Vienna in Atlantic perspective. The Paris Conference  on the contention of the Banda Oriental

The article deals with the Paris Conference on the Banda Oriental (1816-1819), the summit which solved the question of the aforementioned region (between Uruguay and Brazil) disputed by Spain and Portugal. The Conference is taken as an effective  point of view to see how European states  acted in order to maintain or reinvent the existing political, cultural and ideological boundaries with the Hispanic-American colonies during the falling of the old empires. The research aims at investigating  these powers’ actual projection in the Atlantic space, questioning the teleological perspective on revolutions which has always given prominence to the national mobilization while neglecting other dinamics linked to the revolutions. To do so, the “reactionary” Atlantic space envisioned by Spain and the “liberal” Atlantic spaces  envisioned by France and Russia will be discussed and compared.

The article is about the work of Joseph Hatzinger, son of builder Paul (Pál) Hatzinger from Székesfehérvár (Hungary), and Joseph’s sons Heinrich and Paul. Joseph worked in Osijek and in Slavonia in the second half of the 18th century. In the early 19th century, his older son Heinrich spent almost a decade as a professor at the Genie-Akademie (Military Academy of Engineering) in Vienna and designed two important Early Neoclassical churches at Terezin and Josefov fortresses in Bohemia. His younger son Paul, after a brief period as a lecturer at the Genie-Akademie, worked as an engineer in various parts of the Habsburg Monarchy during the first half of the 19th century, from Galicia, across Dalmatia, to Vienna and Lower Austria in the final phase of his career. Finally, his great-great-grandson Gusztáv Kasper, the grandson of Paul Hatzinger Jr, became a Hungarian railway engineer at the turn of the 20th century.

The aim of the present study is to examine the establishment and organisational building up of an artificial state-part, the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, which was legitimised by the Congress of Vienna. The new state was meant to be an integral part of the Gesamtmonarchie reconsidered by Emperor Francis I, which posed a major challenge in view of the historical heritage of the two provinces (governo). The conquest of Lombardy and Venetia each involved the adoption of various,
mutually antagonistic historical heritages, which were to be dissolved by the organising elite comprised by the COHC (in contemporary documents Central-Organisierungs Hofcommission). The work -  was performed by the chief officials and military leaders, most of whom belonged to the circle around Metternich and were regarded as reformists in their time (Karl Kübeck, Franz Hohenwart, Peter Goëss, Joseph von Sardagna and Heinrich Bellegarde) - was not only comprehensive and successful, but also proved enduring and stable in comparison with the other contemporary Italian
states. Compared to the other parts of the Habsburg Monarchy, the new state was a lot more modern
and more developed in terms of its institutional structure, yet nonetheless constituted an integral part of the Gesamtmonarchie.

In Part II. I analize notions, observations and experiences of travellers who travelled on board of DDSG steamships in 1830s and '40s. At first I make some remarks on cultural context; i.e. what does it mean travelling by steamship. I take a closer look at spaces of steamships (like rooms, the deck, embarking and disembarking), then I show the reader the circumstances of dining on steamship and between Cernavodă and Constanța. Travellers from Ottoman Empire to Wallachia and to Habsburg Monarchy had to face quarantine measures, therefore I assess experiences of travellers who had spent time in quarantine. Finally I highlight the importance of travellers' mindsets in a sketchy mental map, in which notion of "East" and "West" are crucial.

of the newly established steamship-route between Vienna and Constantinople. From 1834 to mid '40 years there were significant hindrances when a traveller decided to go from one (European) capital city to another (strikingly non-European) one. In this Part I. I took a look at the political background, the problem with shipping through Iron Gates, the quaratine-system and I added to my study the landroute between Cernavodă and Küstendje (now Constanța).

The first part of the essay examines two recent books on Metternich – by Alan Sked and Wolfram Siemann – which question the legitimacy of the Risorgimento out of a partiality to the Austrian Chancellor. Then Metternich’s view of the patriotic struggle in Italy is analysed, with reference, first, to his espousal of the reason/passions dichotomy characterising anti-revolutionary thought, and, second, to his disparaging assessment of the Italian character. It is argued that, contrary to the image of Metternich as a man of the Enlightenment, both threads place him firmly in the nineteenth century. His obsession with revolution is especially insisted on.

In this Hungarian language study I analize the framework of the newly established steamship-route between Vienna and Constantinople. From 1834 to mid '40 years there were significant hindrances when a traveller decided to go from one (European) capital city to another (strikingly non-European) one. In this Part I. I took a look at the political background, the problem with shipping through Iron Gates, the quaratine-system and I added to my study the landroute between Cernavodă and Küstendje (now Constanța).

Fra il 1816 e il 1819 le potenze della Quadruplice Alleanza si incontrarono a Parigi per risolvere, con l’ausilio del governo francese, la disputa fra Spagna e Portogallo circa il possesso della Banda Oriental (tra gli attuali Uruguay e Brasile). La Conferenza di Parigi fu il primo appuntamento diplomatico dopo il Congresso di Vienna. Nonostante ciò, essa non è stata considerata dagli storici della Restaurazione, poiché si è sempre ritenuto che il sistema di Vienna avesse coinvolto esclusivamente gli Stati europei e i loro territori in Europa.
Questo volume riflette sull’impatto della Conferenza di Parigi sul sistema di Vienna e prova a dimostrare come essa si rivelasse un passaggio importante nel confronto fra gli stati e le élites di governo per la gestione della crisi degli imperi e delle monarchie all’indomani della grande rivoluzione. L’indagine fa luce sul ruolo della Francia nella trattativa, mediatrice fra le posizioni avverse, sintesi dello spirito dei congressi e facilitatrice del dialogo fra le potenze della Quadruplice e la Spagna. La riflessione sottolinea, inoltre, il peso dell’intervento nelle politiche interne degli stati più fragili, quale compito specifico che la diplomazia post-Congresso di Vienna si attribuì rispetto alle epoche storiche precedenti. Emerge, infine, la densità delle relazioni nello spazio atlantico, nel quale gli attori europei e le élites creole agirono nella prospettiva di conservare o reinventare i legami politici, ideologici e culturali fra vecchio e nuovo mondo.
La ricerca si avvale della corrispondenza ministeriale e diplomatica custodita presso gli archivi del Ministero degli affari esteri a Parigi – La Courneuve e l’Archivio Storico Nazionale di Madrid,
The  Restauration in the Atlantic Space. The Conference of Paris on the Banda Oriental (1816-1819)Between 1816 and 1819 the powers of the Quadruple Alliance met at the Conference of Paris to solve the question of the Banda Oriental, a region between the current Uruguay and Brazil, disputed by Spain and Portugal. The Conference of Paris  was the first diplomatic summit after the Congress of Vienna.  Nontheless, it has always been neglected by the studies on Restauration, as the Congress of Vienna has been always considered to be solely related to European States and their European territories.
This volume reflects on the impact of the colonial question on the Vienna  system and attempts to demonstrate that the dispute on the Banda Oriental  helped European States and elites to manage  the crisis of monarchies and empires in the post-napoleonic era. At First, the investigation sheds light on the role of France at the Conference, which anticipated the spirit of the European Concert by reconciling the opposite positions and promoting the dialogue between the Quadruple Alliance and Spain (1818-). Moreover, the analysis highlights the emergence of «intervention» in the domestic politics of the minor States as a practice and doctrine specifically on the rise in the first years of the Restauration, and never practiced in the previous centuries. Finally, the intensity of the relationships between European actors and creole élites stimulates a reflection concerning the fundamental unity of the Atlantic space, as, albeit the territorial empires were near their fall, both Europeans and South American elites acted in order to maintain or reinvent the existing political, cultural and ideological boundaries. The research draws upon the ministerial and diplomatic correspondence at the Ministry of Foreign Affaires Archives at Paris -La Courneve and at the Naciolan Historical Archive in Madrid.

Stella Ghervas, "La Sainte-Alliance: un pacte pacifique européen comme antydote à l'Empire", in Europe de papier. Projets européens au XIXe siècle, ed. Sylvie Aprile et al. (Lille: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2015), pp. 47-64.

Abstract:
"One of the key treaties of the “Congress System”, born out of the Congress of Vienna, was the Holy Alliance, signed in Paris on 26 September 1815, and ratified by most European states. This short document, with its mystical accents, deserves more careful attention than it has been given in the past. One of its major innovations was that it promoted the ideal of a “family” that included all states of the continent, including Russia. This article analyses the intellectual sources perceptible in that covenant – among them, a tradition of perpetual peace going back to authors of the eighteenth century, such as Abbé de Saint-Pierre. It also examines the reasons for the Holy Alliance’s lack of success, as well as two of its main side effects: the eviction of the Pope from his position as the tutelary figure of European politics, and the ideological ambiguity that would later contribute to the emergence of the Eastern Question."

As the differentiated global reaction to the crisis in Europe shows, diplomacy is still geared to the Age of Empires and CoE. It has still to fully adjust to the rise of nationalism and nation-states, even though we were envisioning a world beyond nationalism and nation states not so long ago. Has the prevalent system of diplomacy served us well and made the world a better place?

Özet
Habsburg ve Osmanlı Devletleri yüzyıllar boyunca siyasi, diplomatik ve kültürel ilişki içinde bulunmuşlardır. 19. yüzyıl ile birlikte Osmanlı topraklarında yaşanan Yunan İsyanı (1821-29) ve Mehmet Ali Paşa İsyanı (1831-41), bir anda tüm Avrupa’nın gündemine oturmuş ve Napolyon’un ardından, bilhassa Metternich’in (1773-1859) büyük çabalarıyla yeniden tesis edilmeye çalışılan Avrupa düzeninde bütün taşları yerinden oynatmıştır. 1815 Kongre Sistemi’ndeki uzlaşı gereği, mevcut Avrupa düzenini muhafaza etme amacıyla, yenilikçi ve ayrılıkçı akımlar ve girişimler karşısında tüm monarşilerin desteklenmesi fikri sebebiyle, bir monarşi olan Osmanlı Devleti de Avrupalı monarşiler tarafından desteklenmelidir. Bu dönemde Metternich’in Osmanlı’dan yana tavır alan devlet politikası Şark siyasetinde önemli bir değişken olmuş ve bu konu siyasi tarihin önemli başlıklarından biri olarak tarihçilerin dikkatini bir hayli çekmiştir. Ancak Metternich’in Osmanlı Devleti’ne dair görüşlerinin nasıl oluştuğu, hangi kaynaklardan beslendiği soruları ise arka planda kalmıştır.
Metternich’in kararlarında danışmanı Friedrich von Gentz’in (1764-1832) büyük etkisi bulunmaktadır. Ancak Osmanlı Devleti ile şahsi hiçbir etkileşimi olmamış ve bu konuda eğitimi bulunmayan Gentz’i kim veya kimler bilgilendirmekte ve yönlendirmektedir? Diğer taraftan Habsburg Devleti’nin Şark siyaseti, dönemin şarkiyatçıları tarafından benimsenmekte midir, yoksa eleştirilmekte midir? Tüm bu soruların cevabı için dönemin şarkiyatçılarının konuya bakışlarına, fikir ayrılıklarına ve hatta tartışmalarına bakmak gerekmektedir. Bu çalışmada bilhassa Gentz, Anton Prokesch von Osten (1795-1876), Franz von Ottenfels-Gschwind (1778-1851) ve Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774-1856)’in eserlerinden, hatıratlarından ve mektuplarından ve dönemin dergi ve gazetelerinde yayımladıkları siyasi makalelerinden faydalanılarak 19. yüzyılın ilk yarısında Habsburg Devleti’nin Şark siyasetinin perde arkasındaki tartışmalar anlaşılmaya çalışılacaktır.

Abstract
For centuries, the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires have been in political, diplomatical and cultural relations. The Greek Revolt (1821-29) and the Rebellion of Mehmet Ali Pasha (1831-41), which broke out in the Ottoman Empire, suddenly had been an agenda topic of Europe. And after Napoleon, the European order that Metternich (1773-1859) tried to reestablish with great efforts, turned upside down. Due to the consensus in the 1815 Congress System, to preserve the existing European order, the Ottoman Empire, which was a monarchy, had to be supported by the European monarchies. In this period Metternich's state policy in favor of Ottoman Empire was an important variable in Oriental politics and this issue has attracted the attention of historians as one of the important topics of political history. But the questions, how Metternich's views on the Ottoman Empire formed and from which sources originated, remained in the background.
In Metternich’s decisions, his adviser, Friedrich von Gentz (1764-1832) had a great influence. But who does inform Gentz, who has no personal interaction with the Ottoman Empire and no education on this subject? On the other hand, is the Oriental politics of the Habsburg Empire adopted or criticized by the orientalists of the time? For all these questions, it is necessary to look at the perspectives of the orientalists of the period, their disagreements and even their debates. In this study we will try to understand the backroom discussions about the Oriental politics of the Habsburg State in the first half of the nineteenth century, especially with the help of Gentz’s, Anton Prokesch von Osten’s (1795-1876), Franz von Ottenfels-Gschwind’s (1778-1851) and Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall’s (1774-1856) works, memoirs and letters, and their papers in the periodicals and newspapers.

Stella Ghervas, "The Congress of Vienna: A Peace for the Strong"

In the first of two articles marking the bicentenary of the Congress of Vienna, Stella Ghervas examines the Great Powers’ attempt to create a new European order following the defeat of Napoleon.
Link: http://www.historytoday.com/stella-ghervas/congress-vienna-peace-strong

Metternich emerges from Siemann’s richly textured book as something of a “genius” of statecraft, so much so that the German weekly Die Zeit (A. Cammann, “Gerechtigkeit für ein Genie,” 3 March 2016), suggested that the volume would make good bedside reading for Angela Merkel. Metternich’s credentials as a peacemaker and prescient, responsible critic of modern nationalism seem impeccable here, but Siemann’s revisionist account of Metternich as a moderate liberal and federalist is marred by his decision to shirk engagement with the prince's role in the internal workings of the Habsburg Monarchy. For all the book's mastery of fresh sources and praiseworthy iconoclasm its gracious interpretive leap over these matters seriously diminishes the power of Siemann's interpretation. The Metternich that emerges from the pages of this monumental book is quite simply to good to be true.

Stella Ghervas (2015). “The Long Shadow of the Congress of Vienna: From International Peace to Domestic Disorders”, Journal of Modern European History, 15, 4 (2015): 458-464.

To link to this article: https://elibrary.chbeck.de/10.17104/1611-8944-2015-4-458/the-long-shadow-of-the-congressof-vienna-from-international-peaceto-domestic-disorders-jahrgang-13-2015-heft-4

The decision makers at the Congress of Vienna were not true pacifists but they wanted to prevent future wars in Europe. Metternich, Lord Castlereagh, Tsar Alexander I and Tailleyrand did not really believed in liberalism but in Realpolitik. They aimed to uphold the monarchical principle but, at the same time, they supported the modernisation of international order. After the turmoil of the French Revolution and the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, they attempted to stabilize Europe within a balance of power system. The present paper aims at providing a critical review of the most important contributions on the occasion of the bicentennial anniversary of the Congress. Was the partial restoration of European monarchies simply a source of oppression or, by contrast, the continuation of revolution by other means? This paper examines the positive achievements of the Congress system such as moderate constitutionalism and the emerge of a Euro-pean culture of peace and security, on the one hand, and the negative consequences of 1815 including strong limitations on freedom and relocation of conflicts outside Europe on the other.

Five chapters:
I. Az első törvények  és az első gőzhajók [The first laws and the first steamships]
II. A nagytőke, az Állam és a Gőzhajózás [The big business, the State and the case of steam shipping]
III. Vállalkozók partikuláris gőzhajózási kísérletei [Attempts of entrepreneurs on particular steam shipping ]
IV. A monopólium haszna [The profit of the monopoly]
V. Függelék [Appendix]

This paper wants to argue that Széchenyi’s idea was not simply a tactical move not to confront the all powerful Metternich too early. It is to show that a key issue for Count Széchenyi was to try to unite his country, decomposed by an outdated feudal constitutional structure and by the “divide et impera” strategy of Vienna. His analysis of the causes of social disintegration was forceful and relevant – and the cure rather courageous, though adopted from the discourse on commerce in the British (more exactly mostly Scottish) Enlightenment, but utilised in a wholly different context (the Hapsburgs instead of the Hannoverian house), for a rather different purpose (to create social cohesion) beside the usual one (of defending civil society, initiating social progress and theaccumulation of wealth). It was not his mistake that it did not work out quite as he wished for – although he, too, relied on a rather softened version of the discourse on commerce.

Austria el fuerte más débil y el débil más fuerte.
Cuando uno no se siente bien por dentro y tampoco se siente bien con la gente a su alrededor, normalmente quiere parecer fuerte y juntarse con los mas fuertes para aparentar que uno está bien. Muy probablemente la gente te admirara y buscara tu aprobación en varios casos y buscará estar contigo. De esta manera la gente te tiene respeto Esta situación fue por la que paso Austria durante el siglo XIV pero lo que nosotros hacemos de forma inconsciente (juntarse con amigos), Austria necesito ayuda de un personaje que fuese dedicado, meticuloso y con objetivos claros. Austria encontró la ayuda en un diplomático del principado de Metternich, que durante los 40 años que estuvo como Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores del Imperio, su ambición lo hizo crear un sistema de alianzas con el que salvaguardó a el Imperio Austriaco de su destrucción. El sistema de alianzas que profeso Metternich fue creado de manera meticulosa y delicada para poder mantener al moribundo Imperio Austriaco como un actor importante en la política europea de su época. De no ser por Metternich seguramente sería otra la historia que se enseñaría en las aulas. Este sistema de alianza hasta la fecha es utilizado por los países industrializados como por los países en desarrollo.

A servizio dell’impero austriaco dapprima come diplomatico e
poi, dal 1809, come primo ministro di stato (dal 1821 formalmente indicato con il nome di “cancelliere”), Clemens Lothar principe di Metternich è così a lungo al potere (fino al 1848) e ben più a lungo rispetto agli altri attori del Congresso di Vienna, da risultare primo emblema della
Restaurazione. In questa poderosa biografia del cancelliere austriaco (900 pp., 16 capitoli, originariamente pubblicata in tedesco), Wolfram Siemann, porta a compimento un lavoro archivistico e analitico totale. La ricerca è infatti condotta sulla documentazione ufficiale prodotta dallo statista, custodita presso l’Archivio di Stato di Vienna, ma soprattutto sullo sterminato materiale dell’archivio di famiglia giunto
intatto all’Archivio Nazionale di Praga.

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9667359&fileId=S0067237814000137

This essay highlights some aspects of the Congress that illuminate several dimensions of the transition between the revolutionary-Napoleonic and Restoration-Biedermeier periods. The experience of the Vienna Congress illustrates that the Austrian restoration, and the Habsburg and Austrian patriotism that helped characterize it, was not as conservative or reactionary as often depicted. Civil society – understood in its broader social and economic senses rather than simply as a realm separate from the state or a Habermasian public sphere – showed strong development between police oversight and a patriotic upswell, the latter at once encouraged, tolerated, and restricted by the regime. The public festivities of the Congress bore the imprint of voluntarist associational life, markets, and entrepreneurship, as well as of the court, state, and military establishments, and in ways that demonstrate the strength of reformist impulses in both Austrian society and administrative circles. There was more space for cultural-political discourse than often thought, and the messages, though not oppositional, still took up positions in the universe of patriotic liberal ideas of both enlightened and Romantic origin and gently pressured the government to do the same. Not least, more room existed for the expression of nationalist ideas than usually acknowledged for the multinational Habsburg realm, in part because notions of federative or multinational nationhood made it seem quite possible to strive to establish an Austrian identity – national or supranational, as one will – that was compatible with disparate ethnic identities rather than endangered by them. Reexamining the Congress in that wide and varied middle zone along the spectrum between more purely cultural and political activities proves as revealing for Austrian history in the post-Napoleonic period as it does for European.