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Emperor’s jubilee on December 2, 1908

ID: 25

History

Commemoration of the commencement of the Emperor’s rule (December 2, 1848), along with his name day and birthday, were one of the main state holidays. The 60th anniversary in 1908 was a classical example of honoring of the monarch in the main city of the province. It combined the testimony of loyalty to the Empire and the Emperor with the attempts of showing the local elite's strife for autonomy. The latter got manifested, in particular, in the way of decorating the buildings using national or regional colors. Besides that, the holiday was an occasion for different social groups to show their loyalty to the state and the ruling dynasty.

Event description with localization

Days before the jubilee the windows of city apartment buildings were decorated with unified stickers with the Emperor’s image, which were to replace the traditional festive illumination. Besides being the manifestation of loyalty, it was also a charity campaign at the same time since the money from the cards were to be handed over for the children in need. Therefore, the organizing committee urged the citizens to beware of falsified ones and to notify the police about unscrupulous sellers. Besides that, flags were hung on the government and public buildings.

The decoration of buildings normally testified to political sympathies. A public institution or a self-governed body could decorate the building in national colors, and not state or regional ones, while the Governor or state structures could not do this. Therefore, there were Bengal lights of white and red colors on the City Hall, while in the illumination of the Governor's  palace, yellow color prevailed. Barrels with tar were lit on the High Castle.

The holiday of December 2, 1908 started at 6:00 a.m. with a 24-time gun salute on the Citadel, and after that the military orchestras played marches.

At 9:00 a.m. in both Roman and Greek Catholic churches, and synagogues of Lviv ceremonial services started, the representatives of the regional and city authorities participated in these. Traditionally, the Governor, count Michał Bobrzyński, the President of the city Stanisław Ciuchciński and the majority of officials participated in the festive Mass in the Latin Cathedral which finished, as usually in such cases, with the performance of the anthem "God, save Emperor Franz" ("Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser"). Some representatives of the state government  were "delegated" to St. George Greek Catholic Church and the Armenian Cathedral. In the former Jesuit church, a Mass for military men was held.

After the Mass the Governor Michał Bobrzyński hosted the willing private individuals and delegations in the Governor's palace to get congratulations for the Emperor. In the large assembly hall at the City Hall building, a ceremonial session of the City Council was held.

Persons

Bobrzyński, Michał (1849-1935) – count, the Galician Governor
Ciuchciński, Stanisław (1841-1912) – the President of the Lviv City

Sources

  1. "Gazeta Lwowska", 1908, №№ 228, 276-278.
  2. "Kurier Lwowski", 1908, №№ 563, 565.
  3. Unowsky Daniel L., The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism. Imperial Celebrations in Habsburg Austria, 1848–1916 (West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue UP, 2005).
  4. "Wiek Nowy", 1908, №2252.
  5. Історія Львова, Т.2 (Львів: "Центр Європи", 2007).
  6. Мельник Б. В., Довідник перейменувань вулиць і площ Львова. ХІІІ–ХХ століття (Львів: "Світ", 2001).
By Nazar Kis

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