Amid Empire, Nation and Nostalgic Vision

Erecting and removing monuments in Hapsburg Trieste

Abstract

The article aims to shed light on the past and present of monuments that were erected in Trieste after the 16th century as expressions of loyalty to the Hapsburg dynasty and the Austrian state. I consider monuments artefacts of memory. The reasons behind their construction were conditioned historically by specific social and political circumstances. The same applies to their reception once they were erected. With the spread of national movements from the mid-19th century, Hapsburg monuments received new connotations and became objects of various, even contradictory ideological interpretations. Many monuments were removed for this reason; however, with a recent onset of Hapsburg Monarchy nostalgia, they have made a comeback in the Trieste public space.