"The Noble Emperor has seen Us and We have seen Him, and – we have met"

Notices from emperor Francis Joseph I journey from Ljubljana to Jesenice on 16th and 17th of July 1883

Abstract

The cult of Emperor Francis Joseph I had in the multinational Habsburg monarchy a connecting role. The emperor gradually became the central symbol of the monarchy; his visits to individual provinces were of versatile political-propaganda tasks. In July 1883, he honoured the sexcentenary of the Habsburg government in Carniola and Styria by visiting the both provinces. On the journey the emperor made approximately ten stays during which he listened to brief greeting speeches of mayors, delegates and priests in Slovene and German languages. The reception scenes were carefully decorated, crowds gathered along the way, in towns and boroughs. The Slovene population wanted to remind the emperor of the predominant Slovene character of the province of Carniola.