The Habsburg Cities: Budapest, Vienna, Prague & Bohemia
31 August - 21 September 2012
Tour Highlights
Led by Dr John Wreglesworth and Dr Iva Rosario, this tour examines the development of the three nation-states, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic, by visiting their capitals: Budapest, Vienna and Prague. The tour’s special characteristics are:
- • Extended stays in these three cities so that you may achieve a full understanding of their development and present character
- • Three days’ touring to some of the most beautiful, untouched historic cities of Bohemia and Moravia - Telc, Ceske Krumlov, Ceske Budejovice, Tabor & Kutna Hora - and Vranov nad Dyji Castle
- • 4 concerts (2 in Vienna and 2 in Prague)
- • A comprehensive program of visits to major art collections, museums, palaces and castles.
Includes visits to Esterházy Palace, Fertöd • Sopron • Dürnstein • Melk • Krems (Austria); Vranov nad Dyji Castle • Ceske Budejovice • Tabor & Kutna Hora (Czech Republic) & 4 musical performances
Program Options
You may take either the Budapest/Vienna or Prague/Bohemia section of this tour as detailed below:
The Habsburg Cities: Budapest & Vienna Tour Code 21220a
- 13 days 31 August - 12 September 2012
- Overnight Budapest (5 nights) • Vienna (7 nights).
- Includes Esterházy Palace, Fertöd • Sopron • Dürnstein • Melk & Krems, 2 musical performances.
The Habsburg Cities: Prague & Bohemia Tour Code 21220b
- 11 days 11 - 21 September 2012
- Overnight Vienna (1 night) • Telc (1 night) • Cesky Krumlov (1 night) & Prague (7 nights).
- Includes Vranov nad Dyji Castle, Ceske Budejovice, Tabor & Kutna Hora & 2 musical performances.
Guest Lecturers
Professor Tibor Frank is the Professor of History and the Director of the School of English and American Studies at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. In 1998 he was awarded a D.Litt from the Hungarian Academy. He lectures for ASA on Hungarian politics and society.
Dr Judit Zerkowitz is a specialist in literary history and teaches at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She has published widely in her field and lectures for ASA on the development of Hungarian literature.
About the Tour
We call the cities we visit ‘The Habsburg Cities’ because the Habsburg dynasty, which influenced the course of European development for more than 500 years, left a powerful mark upon each of them. This is expressed in the visual extravagance of many of their buildings and public spaces, as well as in their art collections.
The program investigates the cultural ambience of each city, as expressed in its art, architecture and cultural life. Each city has its own distinctive plan and mix of architectural styles which have been determined by its history. For example, Vienna boasts elements of the Gothic and Baroque which stand isolated within the fabric of the great 19th century city. Vienna rivalled Paris and London in the grandeur of urban projects such as the Ringstrasse. Counterpointing this vast urban enterprise is the fine Central European Baroque of the Belvedere and the grand rhetoric of the 18th century parts of the Hofburg.
Whereas Vienna is a majestic imperial capital, Prague, in the rhythms of its urban spaces and the mix of its architectural forms, reflects a wonderfully intricate but cohesive structure. The four original towns which make up the now unified city boast masterpieces of the Romanesque, Bohemian Gothic, Renaissance and the Baroque, wedded in an inimitable architectural symphony. Prague is one of the most intact and untouched historical cities in the world and thus its urban environment is of unparalleled beauty. It managed to preserve its urban cohesion despite the upheavals of the Hussite revolution and the Thirty Years War, which gave successive generations and power-groups the chance to rebuild precincts in diverse styles. Budapest is very different. It is predominantly a 19th century city, its earlier monuments having suffered from the Ottoman invasion and extensive later city planning. It nevertheless boasts an excellent group of historicist, Jügendstil (Art Nouveau) and early modern buildings, and a fine aspect upon the Danube.
Our investigation of the cultures of these cities will also involve a study of the dominant visual styles - Gothic, Baroque and Secession - in painting, sculpture and the decorative arts in museums and galleries. The fine collections of the Habsburg form the kernel of such important museums as the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna. This collection (one of the world's largest), not only gives you a keen vision of the history of western art, but also touches upon another theme of the tour, the use of great art for the purposes of advancing and reinforcing dynastic claims to power. For example, dynastic interest dictated that the collection have a large number of major portraits.
We normally associate the expression of power by absolute monarchs with Baroque palace architecture. By perpetuating a reputation for munificence, dynasts such as the Habsburg established collections of paintings and other art works, and associated themselves with artists in order to justify their rule. The beauty of the works they collected allowed them to portray themselves as educated aesthetes, whose right to rule was justified by taste.
We shall not, however, restrict our investigation purely to visual culture. Through performances in each city, we shall explore the political culture of music, be it the court works of the 18th century, the nationalistic compositions of such composers as Dvorak or Smetana, or poignant creations of an Empire in decline such as the works of Mahler. Four performances are included so that the group may experience the music that forms such a vital cultural part of these cities.
The 3-day tour of Bohemia and Moravia offers matchless natural beauty and a rich bounty of monuments and towns found in UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. Historic towns, fortresses, palaces, monasteries and churches all reflect the region’s wealth and sophistication in the medieval and early modern periods. They often occupy very dramatic locations on crags overlooking beautiful rivers or are within dense forests such as the Sumava or Bohemian forest.
