by Ingert Kuzych, Peter Cybaniak and Roman Dubyniak
1908 jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef and Ukrainian connections
The year 1908 was filled with events and festivities marking Emperor Franz Josef's 60th year on the throne of his multi-ethnic empire. Austria-Hungary at the time was the second-largest European state (by area) after the Russian Empire, but was composed of almost a dozen major nationalities. In addition to the dominant German-speaking and Hungarian groups, the empire included a complex conglomeration of Czechs and Slovaks, Poles, Romanians, Italians, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs and Ruthenians - the Austrian designation for Ukrainians._1_
By the time of this diamond jubilee, the emperor was 78 years old, having assumed the throne in the turbulent year of 1848 when he was only 18. He retained his firm grip as head of state through many years of early marital happiness and subsequent unhappiness, deaths in the family and even assassination attempts in 1853 and 1882.
Early jubilee events
The first commemorative event occurred on May 7, when Kaiser William II of Germany, leading an assembly of rulers from German states, rendered his personal regard and congratulations at Schönbrunn Palace (Figure 1). Although the date was almost eight months ahead of the actual date of the emperor's jubilee on the throne (the accession occurred December 2, 1848), the aged leader was much gratified by the thoughtfulness shown by the Kaiser and the other German leaders.
Other special events soon followed. On May 21, 1908, a massive gathering of 82,000 Austrian schoolchildren assembled on the lawns of Schönbrunn Palace to acclaim Franz Josef. Much touched, the old emperor acknowledged the loud salute of the youngsters by replying, "The older I get, the more I love children."
Three weeks later a historical jubilee pageant was held on Vienna's famed Ringstrasse. Here, however, the event did not succeed so smoothly. The plan was that the project would be financed by the sale of seats in the grandstands. The reality was ethnic animosities, bureaucratic bungling, a deficit of a million kronen, and a trial for corruption.
The event illustrated the centrifugal forces that continued to pull the empire apart and presaged the complete collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire a decade later - at the conclusion of World War I. The Hungarians simply declined to participate in the pageant. To them, Franz Josef had been crowned king of Hungary in 1867, so a 41st anniversary was not seen as a special occasion worth celebrating. The Czechs fell out with Vienna Mayor Karl Lüger and went home; the Italians became offended with the depiction of Field Marshal Radetzky (who had defeated them in 1848); and the Croats complained that the printed program slandered them.
To make matters worse, a few days before the event a rumor started that disaffected workers would overturn the stands. Although false, the damage was done and ticket sales dried up. Eventually, well-dressed people were pressganged into free seats to make the audience look larger.
Who eventually showed up to take part in the jubilee pageant? One of the largest contingents - some 2,000 - came from the ethnically Ukrainian areas of Galicia (Halychyna) and Bukovyna. They really had no political axes to grind and they took advantage of the opportunity to visit the faraway, grand capital of Vienna. Normally, these folks could not have afforded such an excursion, but they took advantage of the perks offered to parade participants: 3 kronen payment, plus free travel, board and lodging.
An image of the Ukrainian contingent sauntering down the Ringstrasse survives (Figure 2) on a postcard. Other postcards from this time period show native dress from Bukovyna (Figures 3 to 5) and Galicia (Figures 6 to 8).
The exotic dress and appearance of the Ruthenian parade members amazed and shocked the Viennese onlookers. The realization that over 60 percent of the Ruthenians were illiterate (compared with only about 3 percent for the Germans), produced no calls for remedial action. Instead, a condescending attitude and a rash of defamatory cartoons appeared in the Vienna newspapers. Although an appearance of harmony among the nationalities was maintained during the pageant, the reality of German superiority remained.
Later jubilee events
On December 1, 1908, the younger members of the ruling Habsburg dynasty met with the emperor in the private theater at Schönbrunn Palace where they proffered flowers and sang for the emperor. On the following day, Wednesday, December 2, 1908, the heir to the imperial throne, Franz Ferdinand, led a gathering of Austrian archdukes and their families in assembling at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna and offering their felicitations on the 60th year of Franz Josef's accession to the throne. Several hours later, a festive musical gala was held at the Vienna opera house, where the emperor was enthusiastically applauded by the audience. After 60 years, the old gentleman had become a father figure to his people. Indeed, most citizens of the empire had never known any other leader.
The Austrian Postal Service could not let such a unique occasion pass without some special commemoration. It commissioned its best artist, designer and engraver, Koloman Moser, to prepare an 18-stamp set of commemorative postage stamps,_2_ as well as a number of pictorial postal cards, in honor of the aged Franz Josef. All of these postal materials were created in the lovely Jugendstil fashion (literally "youth style," also known as Art Noveau), popular at that time. The stamps - Austria's first ever set of commemoratives - depicted not only the emperor (as a young man, in middle age and in advanced years), but also some of his illustrious Habsburg predecessors (Figure 9). However, it is not the stamps upon which we will focus, but instead upon two of the postal cards, which have a distinct Ukrainian connection.
The front (obverse) of all of the postal cards carries a green imprinted 5-heller stamp depicting the 18-year-old Franz Josef at the time he ascended the throne in 1848 (Figure 10). The reverse shows a black and sepia-colored drawing of the 78-year-old monarch in 1908, along with views of Schönbrunn Palace on the outskirts of Vienna (left) and the Vienna Hofburg Palace (right)_3_; see Figure 11. The abbreviated Latin text at the bottom of the card may be translated as: Franz Josef I, by the Grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, Galicia, Illyria, etc. and Apostolic King of Hungary. Although the postal cards had a face value of 5 heller, they sold for 15 heller at the post office counter. Considering that the price of a local Vienna newspaper at the time was 10 heller, the postal cards were rather expensive.
Eight different obverse inscriptions make up the postal card set (but the reverse pictorial side remained the same). While every card carried the German notation of "Jubiläums-Korrespondenz Karte" (Jubilee Postal Card), seven of them additionally displayed inscriptions in other languages and two of these were in Ukrainian. Figures 10 and 12 show these two types: the first has a German-Romanian-Ruthenian inscription, while the other is German-Polish-Ruthenian.
The card in Figure 12 was sent from Lemberg (today's Lviv) to Buchach; it is canceled with a special red anniversary marking dated December 2, 1908. These red cancellations were available only at the main post offices in the 14 province capitals of the empire and are much sought after by collectors. (Lemberg/Lviv was the province capital of Galicia.)
Franz Josef's jubilee postal cards were valid postally for a full 10 years, until 1918. However, the aged emperor passed away two years earlier, in 1916, at the age of 86.
1. The Ruthenians-Ukrainians made up the fifth-largest ethnic component of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with about 8 percent of the overall population. The Germans and Hungarians dominated with 24 and 20 percent, respectively; next came the Czechs (13 percent) and the Poles (10 percent). The Romanians constituted 6 percent of the populace, while all other ethnic groups were 5 percent or less. [Back to Text]
2. Commemorative stamps (also called commemoratives) are issued to honor an individual, a historic event, a special anniversary or a national landmark. They are released in limited quantities and are available for a certain period of time. These stamps are in contrast to definitive stamps (definitives), which are "regular" stamps issued in large indefinite quantities over a prolonged period of time, usually several years or more. [Back to Text]
3. Both sights are a "must see" for any visitor who can spend at least a couple of days in Austria's charming capital. [Back to Text]
Ingert Kuzych may be contacted at P.O. Box 3, Springfield, VA 22150 or at his e-mail address: [email protected].
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 7, 2005, No. 32, Vol. LXXIII
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