National Houses in Moravia and Austrian Silesia before 1914 : Architecture and Fine Arts as an Opportunity for the Manifestation of National Allegiance

Authors

GALETA Jan

Year of publication 2020
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Acta historiae artis Slovenica
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/ahas/issue/view/803/330
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.3986/ahas.25.2.09
Keywords National Houses; history of architecture; nationalism; Moravia; Austrian Silesia; Deutsches Haus; Národní dům
Description National Houses are one of the phenomena not only of the architecture but also of the national revivals in the territory of the Habsburg Empire in ca. 1850–1914. These centres of social life were built by clubs and associations, not just as their private seats, but to attract a greater au-dience and boost national enthusiasm through theatre plays, balls, fests, lectures, or welcoming restaurants. It is evident that buildings with such clearly nationally orientated functions allowed for national propaganda to reach out to their surroundings as well as their visitors. This was accomplished by several means: the architectural style itself; the iconography of architectural decoration and works of art; the festivities accompanying the ceremonial openings of national houses and the speeches given at these events; the campaigns led by the press to defame opposing national houses and their visitors, as well as so-called ‘renegades’. Thus, the paper presents a connection between architecture and national propa-ganda and demonstrates it through specific example.
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