What do you think?
Rate this book
The Everyday Life of the Emperor: Francis Joseph and his Imperial Court
The Court in Vienna under Emperor Francis Joseph was not only Europe's most illustrious and refined, it was also a huge economic enterprise, serving as both home and workplace for just under 2,000 people. The author reveals multitudinous facets of Emperor Francis Joseph's court and displays them in highly entertaining fashion, the court truly comes alive again. She takes the reader through a typical day in the life of the emperor, from his early morning toilette to the evening ceremonies; she tells tales of glittering ceremonies, receptions and audiences; she provides insights into the private and the family life of the emperor.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
12 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Martina Winkelhofer
12 books3 followersDr. Martina Winkelhofer, Historikerin und Autorin, fühlt sich wohl beim Studium in staubigen Archiven. Seitdem sie für ihre Dissertation über den habsburgischen Kaiserhof tausende Hof-Akten ausgewertet hat, tut sie nichts lieber, als Persönliches und (oft allzu) Menschliches aus alten Quellen, Akten und Briefen zu filtern.
Zu Martina Winkelhofers Spezialgebieten gehören Gesellschafts-, Adels- und Alltagsgeschichte und natürlich – wie könnte es anders sein, wenn man in Wien lebt, forscht und schreibt – die Geschichte der Habsburger.
Ihre Bücher wurden in zahlreiche Fremdsprachen übersetzt. Neben ihrer Forschungsarbeit berät Martina Winkelhofer Rundfunkanstalten und Kulturinstitutionen in historischen Belangen und tritt immer wieder als Interviewpartnerin und Kommentatorin auf. Für Österreichs auflagenstärkste Tageszeitung schreibt und gestaltet sie neben einer wöchentlichen Geschichtskolumne auch höchst erfolgreiche Geschichtsmagazine.
-
A devoted wife and mother of two, I always see the role of family life in the historical settings I work on. Just like the challenges of my own work combine quiet archiving with exciting TV-productions, diligent text processing and colourful presentations, historical personalities lived and worked in a much more complex pattern than often assumed. Napoleon didn’t just fight battles and Empress Sisi didn’t comb her hair all day long. They all spent time with their loved ones (or lamented if they couldn’t do so), considered the petty affairs of daily life and lived human lives full of passion and joy. Alongside the grand historical narrative, it is also this human, very intimate dimension of history that I aim to make visible in my work.
Zu Martina Winkelhofers Spezialgebieten gehören Gesellschafts-, Adels- und Alltagsgeschichte und natürlich – wie könnte es anders sein, wenn man in Wien lebt, forscht und schreibt – die Geschichte der Habsburger.
Ihre Bücher wurden in zahlreiche Fremdsprachen übersetzt. Neben ihrer Forschungsarbeit berät Martina Winkelhofer Rundfunkanstalten und Kulturinstitutionen in historischen Belangen und tritt immer wieder als Interviewpartnerin und Kommentatorin auf. Für Österreichs auflagenstärkste Tageszeitung schreibt und gestaltet sie neben einer wöchentlichen Geschichtskolumne auch höchst erfolgreiche Geschichtsmagazine.
-
A devoted wife and mother of two, I always see the role of family life in the historical settings I work on. Just like the challenges of my own work combine quiet archiving with exciting TV-productions, diligent text processing and colourful presentations, historical personalities lived and worked in a much more complex pattern than often assumed. Napoleon didn’t just fight battles and Empress Sisi didn’t comb her hair all day long. They all spent time with their loved ones (or lamented if they couldn’t do so), considered the petty affairs of daily life and lived human lives full of passion and joy. Alongside the grand historical narrative, it is also this human, very intimate dimension of history that I aim to make visible in my work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 19, 2020
Despite pretending to be an intellectual with the appropriate set of interests and hobbies, I can't really stop my brain from being interested in gossip and tabloids, and hence being drawn to a book that is serious and based on serious historical research but may ultimately teach me the emperor's favourite colour of his underwear. Moreover, this type of "microhistory" books (At Home: A Short History of Private Life being a distant and an excellent relative) have been hugely entertaining to me , so here we are.
The Everyday Life of Emperor is really what it says on the can, very focused and barely mentioning anything else. Starting with a chapter on the actual average day of the emperor Francis Joseph (that would start promptly at 3:30 every day, to the great suffering of pretty much everyone involved), it takes us through his life in the court at various stages of his life. The narrative is very inward-looking, which comes back to the laser-tight focus I mentioned earlier. Outside historical events are mentioned only in context of their effect on the court (and the reader is half expected to be aware of them), a lot of the text is devoted to the economy of the court and how various people tried to make it more economically efficient. The empress hardly makes a direct appearance.
The overall picture that emerges is of a ruler 100% devoted to his role of being the state symbol, the leader of the country, someone painfully predictable and dull by design and complete devotion. I saw certain parallels with the character of queen Elizabeth II in The Crown series, who, outside of her innermost private life does not step out of her "crown" role. The main difference would be that this book, being more of an academic exercise, does not exaggerate the emperor's humanity in private and makes him seem retain his role of the emperor in front of most people, including the family, at most times.
The Everyday Life of the Emperor shows the inner workings of the court towards the end of the era where courts actually mattered, and shows a life of an individual exceptionally well suited for his role.
The Everyday Life of Emperor is really what it says on the can, very focused and barely mentioning anything else. Starting with a chapter on the actual average day of the emperor Francis Joseph (that would start promptly at 3:30 every day, to the great suffering of pretty much everyone involved), it takes us through his life in the court at various stages of his life. The narrative is very inward-looking, which comes back to the laser-tight focus I mentioned earlier. Outside historical events are mentioned only in context of their effect on the court (and the reader is half expected to be aware of them), a lot of the text is devoted to the economy of the court and how various people tried to make it more economically efficient. The empress hardly makes a direct appearance.
The overall picture that emerges is of a ruler 100% devoted to his role of being the state symbol, the leader of the country, someone painfully predictable and dull by design and complete devotion. I saw certain parallels with the character of queen Elizabeth II in The Crown series, who, outside of her innermost private life does not step out of her "crown" role. The main difference would be that this book, being more of an academic exercise, does not exaggerate the emperor's humanity in private and makes him seem retain his role of the emperor in front of most people, including the family, at most times.
The Everyday Life of the Emperor shows the inner workings of the court towards the end of the era where courts actually mattered, and shows a life of an individual exceptionally well suited for his role.
August 6, 2017
I love this book like no other and I'm holding this impression even after having it read again, with an almost 5 years in between the two times I have read it. It is beautiful, it is detailed and most importantly it provides a humane and approachable image of the court, its officials and workers and at times even Franz Joseph himself
May 12, 2022
When I picked this volume up at a library sale, I was excited by the prospect of learning about daily life in the court of Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria. I had the feeling the book would display a world that combined the familiarity of nineteenth-century daily life with the “foreignness” of a highly hierarchical, European court.
I suppose it does. There really are a number of interesting details. Allow me, however, to give you a taste of the style of this book. “It was assumed that there was ongoing contact between Francis Joseph and Ferdinand until it became known that whereas quick trips of the emperor to visit his uncle in Prague were frequently indicated, there are no sources to confirm that they ever took place in the early years of his reign. The trips which were assumed by Czech historians in particular could have served no other purpose for the young emperor but to squeeze some financial support out of his rich uncle.”
I am not sure whether the fault should be laid at the door of the author or the translator, but a number of key sentences are grammatically incorrect and frustratingly difficult to understand. Combined with the tiny print and dry density of the text, this grammatical ambiguity has defeated me. I am going to donate the book back to the library.
I suppose it does. There really are a number of interesting details. Allow me, however, to give you a taste of the style of this book. “It was assumed that there was ongoing contact between Francis Joseph and Ferdinand until it became known that whereas quick trips of the emperor to visit his uncle in Prague were frequently indicated, there are no sources to confirm that they ever took place in the early years of his reign. The trips which were assumed by Czech historians in particular could have served no other purpose for the young emperor but to squeeze some financial support out of his rich uncle.”
I am not sure whether the fault should be laid at the door of the author or the translator, but a number of key sentences are grammatically incorrect and frustratingly difficult to understand. Combined with the tiny print and dry density of the text, this grammatical ambiguity has defeated me. I am going to donate the book back to the library.
March 21, 2020
What a nice tidy book. Enjoyed it emmensely.
November 18, 2025
das wichtigste fehlte: eine karte
April 22, 2019
Ein ernstes, inhaltsreiches und auch spannendes Buch. Habe nicht erwartet, dass solche quasi wissenschaftlichen Sachen so dargestellt werden koennen un d so leicht zu lesen sind. Sehr interessant. Habe scholn die naechsten zwei Werke von frau Winkelhofer auf meiner Leseliste.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews