DOI article:
Störtkuhl, Beate: Interactions between the Imperial and Royal Central Commission for the Preservation of Monuments and the Conservator Milieus in Galicia
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73804#0078
Folia Historiae Artium
Seria Nowa, t. 22: 2024/PL ISSN 0071-6723
BEATE STORTKUHL
Bundesinstitut fur Kultur und Geschichte des ostlichen Europa, Oldenburg
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE IMPERIAL
AND ROYAL CENTRAL COMMISSION
FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MONUMENTS
AND THE CONSERVATOR MILIEUS IN GALICIA
COMPETING COMPETENCES
As one of the intermediary bodies in the Habsburg Mon-
archy, the k. k. Zentralkommission fur Denkmalpflege (Im-
perial and Royal Central Commission for the Preserva-
tion of Monuments; below, the 'Central Commission),
subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Education,
was established in 1850 in Vienna.1 The founding was part
of the institutionalisation of monument protection in
Europe. But whereas in France with the patrimoine, and
the vaterldndische Kultur [patriotic culture] in the Ger-
man lands, a nationally defined concept of monuments
was constituted, the Central Commission for Monument
Preservation was to measure up to the multinational cul-
tural heritage in the multi-ethnic Empire and act as a cul-
tural cement'.2 This was a difficult balancing act, because,
until 1911, the Central Commission was only active in an
advisory capacity, supported by a network of - honorary -
local conservators and correspondents in the individual
crown lands of the monarchy, who for their part mostly
thought and acted in national categories.
This was also the case in Galicia, where the social struc-
tures of the Polish-Lithuanian noble republic persisted
1 Fundamental publications on the history are Th. Bruckler, Zur
Geschichte der osterreichischen Denkmalpflege. Die Ara Helfert,
Teil I, 1863-1891, Wien 2020; M. Fingernagel-Grull, Zur Ge-
schichte der osterreichischen Denkmalpflege. Die Ara Helfert, Teil
II, 1892-1910, Wien 2019.
2 B. Euler-Rolle, 'Zum genetischen Code der osterreichischen
Denkmalpflege', Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Kunst und Denk-
malpflege, 73, 2019, no. 1/2: 100 Jahre Republik. Denkmalpflege
zwischen Monarchie und Republik, ed. P. Mahringer, pp. 25-34,
here p. 26.
even after its partition in the late 18th c. and the annexa-
tion of its southern part by the Habsburg monarchy: key
positions in the intellectual and cultural spheres as well as
in state administration and regional politics were filled by
Poles. Their influence grew with the establishment of the
Diet (Sejm Krajowy/Landtag) of Galicia and Lodomeria in
1861 and the granting of full autonomy in 1873.3 In the east-
ern parts, especially in Lemberg (pl. Lwów, ukr. Lviv), the
capital of the crown land, the representatives of the Ukrai-
nian interests - until the later 19th c. still called Rusyns
(pl. Rusini, ukr. Rusyny) - tried to assert their political
and cultural demands against Polish dominance.4 The his-
toric Polish royal city of Cracow with the venerable Jagi-
ellonian University and the Academy of Arts and Scien-
ces (Akademia Umiejętności), founded in 1872, developed
into the focal point of Polish intellectual life, including
across the partition borders.5
3 See D. Gawrecki, 'Der Landtag von Galizien und Lodomerien,
in: Die Habsburgermonarchie 1848-1918, Vol. 7: Verfassung und
Parlamentarismus, part II: Die regionalen Reprdsentativkor-
perschaften, eds. H. Rumpler, P. Urbanitsch, Wien 2000,
pp. 2131-2170.
4 On that issue, see the chapter Lemberg und Galizien im Habsburg-
er Reich in Ch. Mick, Kriegserfahrungen in einer multiethnischen
Stadt: Lemberg 1914-1947, Wiesbaden 2010, here pp. 28-68.
5 See F. Ziejka, '"Tu wszystko jest Polska..." (0 roli Krakowa w życiu
duchowym Polaków w wieku XIX)', Rocznik Krakowski, 62, 1996,
pp. 31-51; W. Bałus, Krakau zwischen Traditionen und Wegen in
die Moderne, Stuttgart 2003. On the self-positioning of Poles and
Ukrainians in the Habsburg Monarchy and the changes appear-
ing during WWI, P. Szlanta, 'Der lange Abschied der Polen von
Ósterreich', in: Die Habsburger Monarchie und der Erste Welt-
krieg, Teilband 1: Der Kampf um die Neuordnung Mitteleuropas,
Seria Nowa, t. 22: 2024/PL ISSN 0071-6723
BEATE STORTKUHL
Bundesinstitut fur Kultur und Geschichte des ostlichen Europa, Oldenburg
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE IMPERIAL
AND ROYAL CENTRAL COMMISSION
FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MONUMENTS
AND THE CONSERVATOR MILIEUS IN GALICIA
COMPETING COMPETENCES
As one of the intermediary bodies in the Habsburg Mon-
archy, the k. k. Zentralkommission fur Denkmalpflege (Im-
perial and Royal Central Commission for the Preserva-
tion of Monuments; below, the 'Central Commission),
subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Education,
was established in 1850 in Vienna.1 The founding was part
of the institutionalisation of monument protection in
Europe. But whereas in France with the patrimoine, and
the vaterldndische Kultur [patriotic culture] in the Ger-
man lands, a nationally defined concept of monuments
was constituted, the Central Commission for Monument
Preservation was to measure up to the multinational cul-
tural heritage in the multi-ethnic Empire and act as a cul-
tural cement'.2 This was a difficult balancing act, because,
until 1911, the Central Commission was only active in an
advisory capacity, supported by a network of - honorary -
local conservators and correspondents in the individual
crown lands of the monarchy, who for their part mostly
thought and acted in national categories.
This was also the case in Galicia, where the social struc-
tures of the Polish-Lithuanian noble republic persisted
1 Fundamental publications on the history are Th. Bruckler, Zur
Geschichte der osterreichischen Denkmalpflege. Die Ara Helfert,
Teil I, 1863-1891, Wien 2020; M. Fingernagel-Grull, Zur Ge-
schichte der osterreichischen Denkmalpflege. Die Ara Helfert, Teil
II, 1892-1910, Wien 2019.
2 B. Euler-Rolle, 'Zum genetischen Code der osterreichischen
Denkmalpflege', Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Kunst und Denk-
malpflege, 73, 2019, no. 1/2: 100 Jahre Republik. Denkmalpflege
zwischen Monarchie und Republik, ed. P. Mahringer, pp. 25-34,
here p. 26.
even after its partition in the late 18th c. and the annexa-
tion of its southern part by the Habsburg monarchy: key
positions in the intellectual and cultural spheres as well as
in state administration and regional politics were filled by
Poles. Their influence grew with the establishment of the
Diet (Sejm Krajowy/Landtag) of Galicia and Lodomeria in
1861 and the granting of full autonomy in 1873.3 In the east-
ern parts, especially in Lemberg (pl. Lwów, ukr. Lviv), the
capital of the crown land, the representatives of the Ukrai-
nian interests - until the later 19th c. still called Rusyns
(pl. Rusini, ukr. Rusyny) - tried to assert their political
and cultural demands against Polish dominance.4 The his-
toric Polish royal city of Cracow with the venerable Jagi-
ellonian University and the Academy of Arts and Scien-
ces (Akademia Umiejętności), founded in 1872, developed
into the focal point of Polish intellectual life, including
across the partition borders.5
3 See D. Gawrecki, 'Der Landtag von Galizien und Lodomerien,
in: Die Habsburgermonarchie 1848-1918, Vol. 7: Verfassung und
Parlamentarismus, part II: Die regionalen Reprdsentativkor-
perschaften, eds. H. Rumpler, P. Urbanitsch, Wien 2000,
pp. 2131-2170.
4 On that issue, see the chapter Lemberg und Galizien im Habsburg-
er Reich in Ch. Mick, Kriegserfahrungen in einer multiethnischen
Stadt: Lemberg 1914-1947, Wiesbaden 2010, here pp. 28-68.
5 See F. Ziejka, '"Tu wszystko jest Polska..." (0 roli Krakowa w życiu
duchowym Polaków w wieku XIX)', Rocznik Krakowski, 62, 1996,
pp. 31-51; W. Bałus, Krakau zwischen Traditionen und Wegen in
die Moderne, Stuttgart 2003. On the self-positioning of Poles and
Ukrainians in the Habsburg Monarchy and the changes appear-
ing during WWI, P. Szlanta, 'Der lange Abschied der Polen von
Ósterreich', in: Die Habsburger Monarchie und der Erste Welt-
krieg, Teilband 1: Der Kampf um die Neuordnung Mitteleuropas,