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  The Congress of Vienna in European Cultures of Memory
             
     

In 1814 and 1815 the Congress of Vienna attracted thousands of visitors to the Austrian capital. At the end of the Napoleonic era, nothing short of fleshing out a new order for Europe and an enduring system of peace for the continent was on the agenda. This major event will soon have its 200th-year anniversary. Various commemorative events have already been planned, and scholarly research on this topic has significantly intensified. Whereas for many years the Congress of Vienna was evaluated negatively, especially from national perspectives, it is now seen in a predominantly positive light: as a gathering in which a comparatively lengthy peace order was accomplished.

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The broad public however essentially remembers it as a sumptuous festivity, following Prince de Ligne’s popular quip: “Le congrès danse, mais il ne marche pas”. Closely connected to the picture of the Congress in the general memory is also Prince Metternich. Only the most recent investigations have begun to put his one-dimensional image as a reactionary oppressor of freedom and of national unity into question.

This project will start with these images and constructions. What are the existing interpretations of the Congress of Vienna and its results? Where did they originate? Which evolutions of negotiations, which courses of events and personalities have occupied the spotlight of remembrance? What is the relationship between these main points and their interpretations to the respective historical political situations? Which target was pursued and to which effect?
Thus this project does not examine the Congress of Vienna per se, but, for the first time, the cultures of memory relating to this major event. It therefore aims to analyze a classic topic in a completely new way, appraising its role in European memory. At the same time it will close a gap in a research field, that like few others over the last two decades has interested both the historical sciences and the public as hardly any other.
With this objective in mind the project analyzes various relevant sources of memory: historiography, newspapers, internet, encyclopedias, textbooks, exhibitions and feature films. Two levels of comparison will be therefore developed. First, the culture of memory will be explored by a diachronic comparison extending from the immediate repercussions up until today. Second, there will be a synchronic comparison that considers and perceives differentially the cultures of memory within various national contexts.
Insights shall be gained concerning the connection among “Zeitgeist,” space and historical understanding, the relationship between history and politics as well as the role of history in the shaping of identities. Lastly, an answer may be found whether the Congress of Vienna is to be understood as an European realm of memory.

 
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