Private furnishings of the Imperial family in the 19th cent.

The private living environment of the Viennese court as the subject of cultural studies has hitherto been confined to the apartments of the relevant ruling imperial couple. And even here we have no consistent, sequential analysis of the changes that were periodically carried out and their effects on the family environment, whether in terms of state ceremony, or the interior arrangement. The main intention of the planned research project is to investigate the living conditions of the closest dependent members of the family; in particular, to analyse systematically the functions of the rooms and facilities assigned to the residents - ranging from the official salon to the private bedroom and dressing room. The studies will not be confined just to the court palaces (Hofburg) and main residences, gleaned from archival documents, inventories and museum holdings (assignable artefacts and furnishings), but other buildings will also be researched - stately homes, court buildings and castles, hunting lodges and so on. Since it will investigate individual ideas and private wishes about the home environment and interior design, this will necessarily involve addressing the stylistic transition from Biedermeier to historicism as foil to the current political changes - above all as compared to the interior design of the state and official rooms. Hence the project`s aim is to produce a multi-level study of imperial living culture in the nineteenth century, incorporating the revolutionary developments of the decorative arts, meanwhile relating ceremonial and architectural preconditions to the personal situation in the life and position of the residents. Research will be based on the analysis of documentary records and objects; it will unquestionably broaden the picture hitherto painted of the living culture of the Viennese court and its influence - or dependency - on interior design during the "Ringstrasse" era. The analysis takes its approach from cultural studies, thus will involve - also in the international context - interdisciplinary issues and cross-linking related to the culture of everyday life, social history, and aspects of gender. The outcome of the research project will be reflected in exhibitions of the "Hofmobiliendepot - Möbel Museum Wien" - (Imperial Furniture Collection Vienna). It will therefore be accessible to a wide and appreciative public and documented in specialist catalogues. Moreoever, the acquired information will be edited and processed in the object database of the Bundesmobilienverwaltung (Federal Administration of Moveables). These activities simultaneously offer important prerequisites for the restoration and reconstruction of the furniture and wall decorations, and, where appropriate, historically authentic re-arrangements of the imperial family`s apartments, now of such significance for cultural tourism (including the Vienna Hofburg, Schönbrunn Palace, Belvedere, Eckartsau Palace).

Aim of the research project was to investigate by means of the available source material the residential and home-living environments of the non-ruling members of the Imperial House in the nineteenth century as experienced between the court and individual requirements, and to represent them in an art-relevant and art-historical context. The project focused on researching the residences of the closest relatives of the imperial couple Franz Joseph and Elisabeth. In the course of the work, three persons emerged as particularly relevant for the fields of architecture and furnishing, namely, Archduke Maximilian of Mexico (1832-67), Crown Prince Rudolf (1858-89), and Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914).The project tasks encompassed the history of the building and furnishing of the city and country seats of the aforementioned archdukes also ranging far beyond the borders of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy, all the way to Mexico in fact. These tasks addressed the apartments of Crown Prince Rudolf in the Vienna and Prague Hofburg and the hunting lodge in Mayerling. Of relevance for the emperors brother Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian were the small palace of Maxing near Schönbrunn, Villa Lazarovich and Miramar Castle in Trieste, also the Dalmatian island of Lacroma. As emperor of Mexico he resided in Chapultepec Castle in the Mexican capital and also the in the country seat of Olindo. The successor to the throne Franz Ferdinand even kept seven residences, ranging geographically from Innsbruck to Bohemia: Ambras Castle, Blühnbach Castle, Lölling Castle, Artstetten Castle, Belvedere Palace, Eckartsau Castle, Chlumetz Castle(Chlumec) and Konopischt Castle (Konopit?). The research furthermore encompassed the hunting lodge of Mürzsteg.The richly abundant new findings include the reconstruction of all the histories concerning the building and furnishing of the stately homes, also the identification of around 2,000 items of furniture that are kept in the Bundesmobilienverwaltung (Federal Furniture Administration) and which could be assigned to the individual stately homes and owners. Work has already started on the restoration of historically significant items. The medium-term plan is to re-install them in the original rooms (e.g. Eckartsau). The results will be processed into the Federal Furniture Administration database.We were able to acquire new knowledge as well on the architects, artists and artisans working for the Imperial House. The research on the technical re-equipment of the individual residences also proved to be particularly illuminating. Franz Ferdinand proved to be pre-eminent as an innovator in this field; he had electricity installed in all the residences and equipped with sanitary facilities, central heating systems and lifts.A comprehensive publication on the research results is in production; this will include illustrations of original plans, architectural drawings, and historical and contemporary photographic material.