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NATIONAL STYLISTIC ASPIRATIONS IN THE
ARCHITECTURE OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN
MONARCHY
—o> —
MONIKA PILKHOFFER
ABSTRACT
This article aims to introduce various questions of national identity
appearing through the stylistic aspirations of architecture in the Austro¬
Hungarian Monarchy. In the discussion of the topic the major emphasis falls
on the unfolding of the Hungarian national style; however, the Austrian,
Polish and Slovakian aspirations will also be mentioned. As a focus common
to all the aspirations is the locus of the conserved authentic forms, namely,
those enclosed mountain areas that were distant from civic centres. The
timber houses of Zakopane and Slovacko with their sunray ornamented
pediments, the German Heimatkunst deriving from rural architecture, or the
architectural trend led by Karoly Kos and the group called the Youngsters,
drew on very similar roots.
The role of national language, literature, music and gastronomy as means
to gain cultural and political independence from Vienna was discovered by the
intellectuals in the Romantic era and thus can be considered the forerunner
of Hungarian national style. Ödön Lechner made an attempt to renew the
language ofornaments thus creatingthe nationalstyle. The application offloral
motifs originating from folk art provided a possibility to leave historicism for
Art Nouveau. While Austrian artists challenged the relevance of a Hungarian
national style, Hungarians found the lack of Austrian national identity the
reason for not having developed a peculiar national style over the river Leitha.
Another fascinating question is why the popular style amongst the citizens
of territories with mixed nationalities (Szabadka, Marosväsärhely) and the
“peasant burghers” of the settlements in the Great Plain region could not find
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