The so-called Political Testament, written by Charles Eusebius the Prince of Liechtenstein for his son and heir around 1680 includes, among other things, a substantial, detailed passage dedicated to music at the prince's court. Music is not just one element of court representation here. This key aspect, in the text of the instruction, comes with a detailed insight to possible problems with a music ensemble, as well as with the use and character of individual instruments. This study focuses primarily on the status of musical ensembles and musicians within the structure of the aristocratic court, beginning with Charles I (d. 1627), through a partial analysis of the situation at the court of his son Charles Eusebius (d. 1686) and finally brings an outline of the role of musicians and musical life with the third generation of princes from Liechtenstein. Certain continuity can be assumed, in particular, in attempting to adapt its own court to princely habits (for example, as regards the minimum number of trumpeters etc). In general, however, it must be stressed that the trumpeters or the trumpeter ensemble constituted an essential part of the princely court, whereas the existence of a musical ensemble always depended on the actual needs, preferences and economic possibilities of a particular prince.
There was published a pamphlet called Aké bude Slovensko o sto rokov? (1920), [What will Slovakia be like in 100 years?] just a century ago. It offered a vision of Slovak national state's future – the state flourishing with social welfare, scientific and technological progress and moral maturity of citizens. Adaptation of "happy national home" idea for future, written by engineer Jozef Dohnány (1873 – 1947), carries marks characteristics for utopias. The conference paper approaches to Dohnány's vision as to a branch of modern dynamic utopic phenomenon, creating a communication space, especially in the 19.th and 20.th century, for expressing desires and ideals, testing possibilities of mental borders and calling for social or political mobilization in favour of achievement realistic, or even unrealistic aims. The paper uses interdisciplinary interpretative approach for analysis of Dohnány vision's ideological structure, compares it in relation to More's prototype of utopia and refers to representations of "period's presence" in utopic genre.
The aim of the current paper is to assess the Bulgarian reflections on T. G. Masaryk's death in 1937. I am going to apply the theoretical approach of the German historian Reinhart Koselleck, who asserted that the "political cult of the dead" should be explored in a certain historical context and the commemoration of the "dead hero" was intended to reconstruct historical events and images. Therefore, before approaching my main objective, I will make a brief overview of the Bulgarian image of TGM in the context of the Bulgarian-Czechoslovak political relationship during the interwar period. I rely mainly on Bulgarian and Czechoslovak periodical press as well as on archival sources, published documents, and secondary literature, related to the subject. In my case study the periodical press assumes the role of intercultural communication and a mechanism of constructing cultural and national stereotypes.
In Czech history the theme of the Battle of White Mountain has repeatedly been used as a tool in political struggles. During the interwar period it was instrumentalized in connection with the extensive land reform and was presented as "redress for post-White Mountain grievances". This applied to the nobility in general and to the Liechtensteins in particular, where the actions of Charles of Liechtenstein were to be the main argument for expropriating their property without compensation. In the end, however, expropriation without compensation only affected the members of the Habsburg-Lothringen dynasty.
This paper deals with the problem of mobilization of the society in favor of governmental foreign policy actions in Austria within 1808–1809. The Austrian government during the period of 1805–1809 had the aim to restore its influence in Germany and Austria. Under the leadership of foreign affairs minister Philipp von Stadion the discussion on state and social reforms, and on the new war against France becomes active. To get a positive reply from the public opinion, the mass media become an instrument of Stadion's administration and his supporters within the court in turning the public in favor of actions against France. One of the examples of such media was the newspaper Vaterländische Blätter für Österreichischen Staat. Historiography of the topic is limited and mostly presented in German language and published in Austria.
Libuše Bráfová, granddaughter of František Palacký and daughter of František Ladislav Rieger, decided to set up a museum in the house where her family had lived for several generations. In my paper I will focus on the following questions: What did the idea of home mean to Bráfová? Why did she decided to open her house to public? What were functions and purpose of the museum and why was setting it up so difficult? Besides, I will be interested in the functionig of the museum in the first years of its existence, the popularity of this institution among the Czech public and the experiences of visitors of the home of the most important Czech family in the 19th century.
This essay is thinking about the sense and the reasons of Czech supremacy over Poland, which the chronicler Cosmas attributed to Vratislav II. (1061–1092). It is said that Vratislav boasted about the title "King of Bohemia and Poland" since 1085.
The article focuses on the letter of Gustav Friedrich, the professor of auxiliary historical sciences at the Prague University, addressed in 1906 to Emil Ottenthal, the director of the Institute for the Austrian history (Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung). In this letter Friedrich intervened in favour of Václav Hrubý, who later become the first professor of auxiliary historical sciences at the Masaryk University in Brno. This unique document further illustrates the relationship of Fridrich and his students and the interrelationships of the younger generation of historians, otherwise known mostly from inconsistent personal testimonies.
The bad fame of bohemian king Wenceslas IV, which was deposed by the roman electors in 1400, derives also from their well composed deposition letter, since it became the most important explanatory reference to the contemporary historiographers in the Roman Empire. The article enlightens its different influence phases as well as the slow transformation of its legal arguments into a spectrum of defaming narratives.
This study is a contribution to the lively discussion over the past twenty years comparing the ideas formed by T.G. Masaryk, Friedrich Naumann and M. Hodža during the First World War. The author mainly focuses on comparing ideas from their key well known publications (Masaryk's The New Europe, Naumann's Mitteleuropa, Hodža's Federation in Central Europe). He states that all three politicians agreed that Europe in the future had to be democratic, but their specific ideas about its character and about the importance of nation states differed. Naumann's plan was to create a democratic Central Europe under German leadership, which Masaryk and Hodža refused outright.