Die (Ohn-)Macht der "Mitte". Zur gesellschaftlichen Position bürgerlicher Schichten in Kleinstädten

The Powerful/Powerless Middle Class. The Social Standing of the Middle Class in Towns. This chapter focuses on the consequences of social, economic and political change affecting the life circumstances of the Lower Austrian middle classes during the 19th century. Connecting to the well-established research field of the bourgeois history of Lower Austria and the Habsburg Monarchy, the article takes up the New Political Sciences’ approach of focusing on the political impact of ideas to analyse the function and the consequences of the popular concept of the “middle class”. The economic consequences of liberalism and industrialisation on middle-class livelihoods are also discussed on the basis of rich statistical material. While producing opportunities and wealth for those eager to be educated and making their way in the industrial sector, modern times threatened the social and economic status of the traditionalist petty bourgeoisie. The idea of the “middle class” provided those confused by social and economic change with interpretations and strategies with which to articulate concepts of an ideal society and influence the distribution of resources accordingly.

Einverständlich versus uneinverständlich. Scheidungsoptionen katholischer Ehepaare 1783-1868

Uncontested versus Contested. Divorce Options for Catholic couples 1783–1868. This chapter considers divorce records of Catholic couples living in Lower Austria during the long 19th century, contrasting the legal situation with court practice. With regard to the development of marriage law between the poles of ecclesiastical and secular responsibilities, we outline the divorce options and analyze the strategies employed by wives and husbands. An excursus on the possibilities of divorce in other European territories contextualizes the four subsequent micro-studies. Doctors and craftspeople from sovereign cities and markets as well as farmers from ecclesiastical or aristocratic domains come into view. Finally, in two micro-studies we analyze the consequences of the transfer of the jurisdiction back to ecclesiastical courts from 1856 onwards. A look at the further legal development and a short summary completes the article.

Hilfe für Abgebrannte, ländliche Feste und medizinische Versorgung. Wohltätiges Engagement für Frauen

Support for Victims of Fire, Rural Festivities and Medical Care. Women’s Char- itable Engagement. Within the framework of 19th-century gendered stereotypes, women were understood to be caring, emotional and, increasingly, pious. The impact of such norms was not solely restrictive; rather, women also began to use them to enter fields of activity that were understood as specifically female. This chapter is concerned with female charity as a social practice and asks to what extent gender-specific norms were used as a resource and who claimed expertise on the matter. Thereby, the Society of Aristocratic Women to Promote the Good and the Useful founded in 1810 is taken into consideration. The “good deed” offered women the opportunity to inscribe themselves in the collective memory of a place or region, to appear in public and to claim expertise, mostly in cooperation with the clergy. Although the apolitical motivation of their activities was and always had to be emphasised, women established themselves as by no means apolitical actors.

Die "Macht" der Bauern? Agrargesellschaft im Wandel

The Power of the Peasants? The Transformation of Agrarian Society. This chapter examines the development of a clear estate consciousness among the Lower Austrian peasantry in the nineteenth century and considers its implications for power relations in the land. Prior to 1848, the peasant population were ruled by feudal landowners, and were entitled to an insignificant degree of self-governance only on the village level. When the landholding reform (Grundentlastung) put an end to feudalism in 1848, autonomous communes were formed in which the upper peasantry now had some say. The liberalism that prevailed from 1861/67 onwards shattered the traditional societal foundations, and crisis set in with debt and a steep decline in prices from 1880 onwards. The articulation of peasants’ problems by a vintner (Steininger) and experts and politicians with an interest in social welfare saw the emergence of an increasingly dense agrarian network via specialist associations and trade unions. Ultimately, these efforts culminated in the foundation of a successful political organisation, the Lower Austrian Farmers’ Association, which may be considered a manifestation of athe emergence of an estate consciousness realisable on the political level.

Monumente zu Ehren Kaiser Josephs II. Ökonomisierung und Standardisierung im Denkmalkult

Monuments in Honour of Emperor Joseph II. Economization and Standardization in the Cult of Monuments. The Habsburg Emperor Joseph II (r. 1765–1790) was commemorated in the late 19th century in the Austrian hereditary lands, especially in Lower Austria, and in Bohemia, by means of numerous full-length monuments, whereby the ruler was held in high esteem above all because of his religious policy and the liberation of the peasantry he initiated. Most of the statues come from the Moravian foundry in Blansko and do not show elaborate iconographic programmes, but were intended to popularise the regent in the form of generally understandable, easily recognisable solutions. This production demonstrates on the one hand the economization of the cult of monuments directly linked to casting technology, and on the other hand the politicizing coding of entire regions characteristic of the late 19th century which – far from the major metropolises – became hotly contested sites of the Habsburg culture of remembrance.

Die Hocharistokratie. Grundbesitz, Karrieren, Lebensräume

The High Nobility. Landed Property, Careers, Living Spaces. This chapter outlines the social position of Lower Austria’s high nobility against the background of social change in the long 19th century. It focuses on the inner structure of the nobility, the dimensions of their landed property, economic management and wealth, professional careers at the court, in diplomacy, administration, the military and the church, and noble living spaces in the Vienna Residence and on the estates. The examination of various facets of a distinctly aristocratic lifestyle points to continuities as well as breaks in traditional patterns of behaviour and values; it also shows the chances and failures of autonomous life plans of women and men. This broad depiction of noble mentalities, ways of life and options for action reveals the ambivalent consequences of the progressive change in elites. Despite the loss of old positions of power, the exploitation of economic opportunities, the formation of networks across boundaries of social class and an unbroken paternalism opened up opportunities for the old high aristocracy to assert itself.