{"id":12856,"date":"2019-03-20T05:09:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T04:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=12856"},"modified":"2025-02-24T20:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T19:31:14","slug":"austrian-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/austrian-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"The Austrian Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/crown.jpg\" alt=\"A golden crown\" class=\"wp-image-12921\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/crown.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/crown-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In 1804, hundreds of years after Rudolph I first marched into Vienna and liked the look of the place, the unofficial Habsburg &#8220;empire&#8221; became an actual official empire. Its name? The Austrian Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But why the sudden need for formality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Threat of Napoleon drove decision<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Franz I was the first Emperor of Austria<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-city-tours-l205280\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_ToursHabs\" rel=\"sponsored\">short tour<\/a>* in the Habsburg capital<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Previous: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/holy-roman-empire\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"12853\">The Holy Roman Empire<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Next: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/austria-hungary\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"12858\">Austria-Hungary<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to stay an Emperor<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/franzmonument1.jpg\" alt=\"Bronze monument in the Hofburg\" class=\"wp-image-52375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/franzmonument1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/franzmonument1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/emperor-franz-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"52378\">Monument to Franz I<\/a>: the first Emperor of Austria)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor and also ruler of various Habsburg lands, saw the writing on the wall when a certain Napoleon Bonaparte developed imperialist tendencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given Napoleon&#8217;s ambitions, the days of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/holy-roman-empire\/\">Holy Roman Empire<\/a> seemed numbered. And such a development would lead to an alarming gap on Franz&#8217;s r\u00e9sum\u00e9: no more empire would mean no more calling yourself emperor. The horror!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1804, as part of contingency plans for Napoleon potentially causing havoc in Europe, Franz declared his own lands were now collated within a new entity: the Austrian Empire. He gave himself an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/austrian-crown\/\">official crown<\/a> and the hereditary title of Emperor.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"382\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/napoleonandstaff.jpg\" alt=\"Napoleon Bonaparte with his staff\" class=\"wp-image-44181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/napoleonandstaff.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/napoleonandstaff-300x229.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Emperor Napoleon I and his staff on horseback, Horace Vernet, 1810 &#8211; 1850. Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Better safe than sorry, you might say. Nobody wants to become demoted to just a king when you&#8217;ve been used to being a Holy Roman Emperor (regardless of how many different places you may be king of).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than just vanity motivated Franz, however. A formal, standalone empire would be politically more robust and more likely to survive any Napoleonic troubles relatively intact and independent. At least in theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plan sort of worked, too.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/battleofausterlitz.jpg\" alt=\"The Battle of Austerlitz\" class=\"wp-image-44183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/battleofausterlitz.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/battleofausterlitz-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Battle of Austerlitz, 1805, anonymous, 1805 &#8211; 1899. Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1805, Napoleon beat the Austrians and Russians at the battle of Austerlitz. In the aftermath, Franz ceded various possessions to the French Emperor and his allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly after, in July 1806, Napoleon established the Confederation of the Rhine: a collection of German states under French hegemony. Membership of that Confederation saw all these German states leave the Holy Roman Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The losses represented a death blow to that particular political grouping. In August 1806, Franz abdicated as Holy Roman Emperor and dissolved the Holy Roman Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, thanks to his advanced planning, Emperor Franz II (his title as head of the Holy Roman Empire) still remained Emperor Franz I (his title as head of the \u201cnew\u201d Austrian empire he&#8217;d called to life two years previously).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/emperorfranz.jpg\" alt=\"Emperor Franz I (and II)\" class=\"wp-image-44184\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/emperorfranz.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/emperorfranz-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Picture of Emperor Franz II. (from 1792 to 1806), also Emperor Franz I. (from 1804); published by Johann Hieronymus L\u00f6schenkohl; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 90518; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately for the &#8220;new&#8221; Emperor, the contingency plan didn&#8217;t work out entirely as intended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Austrian Empire did indeed survive, but not without a few losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Napoleon continued his expansionist efforts and his nasty habit of winning battles; negotiations over territorial integrity can be difficult when you have a persuasively-large French army on your doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ongoing conflicts with France led to peace treaties that saw more of the Habsburg territories removed from the family&#8217;s rule. The 1810 marriage of Napoleon to Franz&#8217;s eldest daughter Marie Louise in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/augustinerkirche\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"17061\">Augustinerkirche<\/a> cemented an eventual (short-lived) alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/burggarten1.jpg\" alt=\"The Burggarten from the Hofburg\" class=\"wp-image-45688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/burggarten1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/burggarten1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Vienna&#8217;s Burggarten park owes its existence to Napoleon)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The French emperor left his mark on Vienna in many other ways. For example&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Austrians built the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/burggarten\/\">Burggarten<\/a> park in space cleared by retreating French soldiers in 1809<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Napoleon once owned the carriage Empress Elisabeth used to enter Vienna after her engagement to Emperor Franz Joseph. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/schonbrunn\/wagenburg\/\">Imperial Carriage Museum<\/a> now has it on display<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The precious metal cot for Napoleon and Marie Louise&#8217;s son sits in Vienna&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/schatzkammer\/\">Imperial Treasury<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately for Franz, European history is like a never-ending game of snakes and ladders: one minute you\u2019re on top, the next you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"414\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/delegatescongressvienna.jpg\" alt=\"Delegates at the Congress of Vienna\" class=\"wp-image-44185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/delegatescongressvienna.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/delegatescongressvienna-300x248.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Delegates to the Congress of Vienna, deciding the future of Europe. Photo courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Napoleon\u2019s eventual defeat allowed Austria and his other enemies to reorganise borders again more favourably at the famous Congress of Vienna in 1814\/1815.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, despite Napoleon&#8217;s removal from the chess board of European politics, the Austrian Empire still didn&#8217;t last all that long; it became the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/austria-hungary\/\">Austro-Hungarian Empire<\/a> in 1867.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1804, hundreds of years after Rudolph I first marched into Vienna and liked the look of the place, the unofficial Habsburg &#8220;empire&#8221; became an actual official empire. Its name? The Austrian Empire. But why the sudden need for formality? How to stay an Emperor (Monument to Franz I: the first Emperor of Austria) Franz [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12856"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80699,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12856\/revisions\/80699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}