GLAMhack 2024, 6-7 September, Lucerne, Switzerland

Different Perspectives on the Habsburg

Project Idea

Originating from the territory of today’s Switzerland, the dynasty of the Habsburg has been present in many different countries, and its members have been associated with a variety of historical events that have left their traces in our collective memories. By means of this international cooperation project, we intend to tell the story of the Habsburg from the point of view of the various populations concerned. Putting the different memories side by side, we want to seize the occasion to reconnect on a different level, leaving the Habsburg family tree and the world it stands for behind us.

Project teams in several countries create artistic (and possibly participatory) coverage of the perceptions of the Habsburg in their respective country. The resulting creations (presentable on a screen) would then be integrated in a website and included in installations to be displayed at Habsburg memory sites in the participating countries, juxtaposing the different perspectives in a modular fashion. An additional module could be dedicated to a participatory project involving people from all participating countries, taking the history of the Habsburg as a starting point to think about how peoples and nations would live with each other in an ideal, utopian world.

The idea is to start with sub-projects in México (Chapultepec Castle), Switzerland (Sempach battle site), Austria (various sites), and Bosnia (Sarajevo site of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand). Further countries and memory sites could be added as the project evolves.

Current State of Advancement (September 2024)

Pilot Project in Mexico

A student group at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP)^[1] has implemented a pilot project for México. In parallel, it is planning to reach out to Chapultepec Castle (residence of Emperor Maximilian and his wife Charlotte) and another Habsburg memory site in México.

• Short animation film: Memories of Habsburg (presented on 5 Sept. 2024)
• Short animation film: Reflections on the “making of” (presented on 5 Sept. 2024)  

Projects in Switzerland, Austria, Bosnia, etc.

We are looking for cooperation partners in various countries who would be interested in developing an artistic and/or participatory project in relation to a Habsburg memory site in their country and in connecting with the other partners on an international level.

Switzerland

Habsburg Memory Sites

• Habsburg Castle (built: ca. 1020)
• Muri Abbey (founded: 1027)
• Königsfelden Monastery (founded: 1308)
• Morgarten (1315) Battle Sites
• Sempach (1386) Battle Site
• Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sissi) - Assassination (1898) Site in Geneva / Statue

See also:

• Kauf Luzerns durch Habsburg, 16. April 1291 (Staatsarchiv des Kantons Luzern)
• Hugener, Rainer (2012): Erinnerungsort im Wandel. Das Sempacher Schlachtgedenken im Mittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit. In: Der Geschichtsfreund. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins Zentralschweiz, Jg. 165 (2012), S. 135–171.
• Elsasser, Kilian, T. (2015): Die Geschichte der Alten Eidgenossenschaft in neuen Schläuchen – eine Ausstellungskritik. In: Nike-Bulletin, 2015(3), S. 8-10.
• Neue Sicht(en) auf Morgarten 1315?, Der Geschichtsfreund. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins Zentralschweiz, Jg. 168 (2015). 
• Niederstätter, Alois (2015): Das Morgarten-Geschehen aus österreichischer Sicht : Erinnerung und Historiographie. In: Der Geschichtsfreund. Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins Zentralschweiz, Jg. 168 (2015), S. 45-56.
• “Die Eidgenossen kommen! Geschichten zum Aargauer Schicksalsjahr 1415 erleben (Kanton Aargau, 2024)
• Zeitgeist um 1900: Ein Rundgang durch Luzern (Kurt Messmer, Blog Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum, 2024)

International Project

The international project needs to be further specified. Several funding avenues have been identified that need to be evaluated.

Contact Persons

If you would like to cooperate and implement the project in your own country, please get in touch:

• Sandra Palacios (sandra.palaciosg at correo.buap.mx)
• Beat Estermann (beat.estermann at opendata.ch)

[1] As part of the CultureFLOW programme implemented in cooperation between BUAP and Opendata.ch in the context of the Swiss GLAMhack 2024.