Markian Prokopovych Bücher

The transformation of Lemberg from a decaying Baroque town to a vibrant city by 1914 highlights the interplay of architecture, public space, and politics during the Habsburg era. This study explores how the city's center evolved into a modern showcase, reflecting conflicting identities, while neglected areas remained overcrowded. It examines the duality of Lemberg as both cosmopolitan and provincial, revealing how its physical spaces became intertwined with cultural and political narratives amidst the backdrop of national and historical changes.

During the 1884 inauguration of the Royal Hungarian Opera House in Budapest, political elites staged a gala concert in the auditorium while the angry crowd, excluded from this ceremony, demonstrated on the street. In 1917, the crowds queuing to a Béla Bartók premiere needed to be forcibly held back. The book follows the history of the contested institution through a series of scandals, public protests, repertoire controversies and their representation in the urban press of the time. Such conflicts often led to larger issues that concerned the Opera House as a music institution, the birth of the modern public sphere and the modern audience. Thereby, the book calls for a critical rethinking of the cultural history of Budapest and Hungary in the late Habsburg Monarchy.