The Manifestation of Austrian Freedom by Joseph von Hormayr

Abstract

The paper examines the issue of legitimation of Habsburg sovereignty by means of historical myth. The dissolution of the Old Reich and reformist discussion forced Austria to form a new self-representation. It was shaped by the historical knowledge as a political instrument for all ethnic communities of the Habsburg Empire. The challenge of conceptualization of AustrianGerman community and “the Austrian Freedom” was undertaken by a romanticist-historian Joseph von Hormayr. The article analyzes the works by Hormayr, e. g., “The Austrian Plutarch”, “Austria and Germany”; “The Army of Inner Austria under archduke Johann’s command during the war of 1809 in Italy, Tyrol and Hungary”; “History of Andreas Hofer, the hotel owner in Passayr”; “Small history of the Fatherland”; and “General contemporary history from the death of Frederick the Great to the Second Parisian peace treaty”. In these works, Hormayr and his Hungarian co-author Alajos Mednyánszky formulated the concept of “Austrian freedom” c justifying the Habsburg legitimacy and its Empire. It referred to Medievalism, e. g., the roots of Austrian statehood dating to the Babenbergs and “freedom of Austria” in the “Old Reich”. Furthermore, Hormayr presented the Austrian Germans as a separate community in “the German world” having rights to its own statehood and empire due to “unity and sovereignty” and the role of Antemurale Christianitatis during the Ottoman era. This concept of the “last stand of Christianity” came back during the Napoleonic warfare, according to Hormayr. In addition, the “Austrian freedom” turned out to be a common value for both Austrian Germans and non-Germanic ethnic communities of Austria, impacted further development of the Empire.

Keywords:

Austrian history, Austrian identity, Austrian freedom, Joseph von Hormayr, romanticism, conservatism, the Habsburg empire, Vormärz era