Austria - free ebook by Frederic Shoberl

AUSTRIA; CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, CHARACTER AND COSTUMES OF THE PEOPLE OF THAT EMPIRE.

BY FREDERICK SHOBERL. ILLUSTRATED BY TWELVE COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. The proper study of mankind is man.— Pope. Philadelphia: PUBLISHED BY C. S. WILLIAMS. W. Brown, Printer. 1828....

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PREFACE.

On turning over the pages of this work, some readers may possibly be surprised to find that so large a proportion of the engravings belong to one of the countries composing the Austrian empire. When, however, it is considered that a high degree of civilization tends to assimilate the manners, amusements, and dress of the great mass of the inhabitants of those countries in which it prevails; and that the people of the German states of this empire are scarcely, if at all surpassed in that respect

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CHAPTER. I.

PROVINCES OF THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE—THEIR EXTENT AND POPULATION. The empire of Austria, one of the most extensive and powerful of the states of Europe, is composed of provinces situated in Germany, Poland and Italy, and embraces the whole of Hungary. The German dominions of this monarchy consist of Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Bohemia, Moravia, part of Silesia, and the Tyrol and Salzburg. In Poland it possesses the kingdom of Galicia. The Hungarian states are: Hungary prope

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CHAPTER II.

OF THE DIFFERENT NATIONS IN THE AUSTRIAN DOMINIONS—THE JEWS—THE GERMANS—THE SLAVONIANS, INCLUDING THE BOHEMIANS—THE SLOWACKS—THE WENDES AND THE RASCIANS OR ILLYRIANS—THE MAGYARES OR HUNGARIANS—THE WALACHIANS—THE ZIGANIS OR GIPSIES—THE ARMENIANS—THE GREEKS, &amp;c. The population of the Austrian dominions is composed of different races, each having particular manners and even a peculiar language. All these nations are far from being actuated by the same spirit, or feeling the same attachment

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CHAPTER III.

RELIGIONS—ROMAN CATHOLICS—GREEK CHURCH—ARMENIANS—PROTESTANTS—SOCINIANS—JEWS—MAHOMETANS. All the sects of the Christian religion are to be found in Austria, and the Jews, Armenians, and Greeks, are more or less numerous in the different provinces. Such a diversity of religious opinions cannot fail to have a considerable influence on the minds and manners of the inhabitants. The Roman Catholic is the religion both of the sovereign and of the state. The great majority of the inhabitants of Austria

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CHAPTER IV.

CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE OF AUSTRIA IN GENERAL. The south of Germany would be the most fortunate country in Europe, if the government to which it is subject had not shown in many circumstances a weakness that but ill accords with the wisdom of its views. Temperate in its climate, fertile from the nature of its soil, and happy in its institutions, it remains invariably in a monotonous state of well-being, which is prejudicial to the activity of the mind alone, not to the happiness of the citizens.

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CHAPTER V. AUSTRIA, LOWER AND UPPER.

INHABITANTS OF LOWER AUSTRIA—MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE OF VIENNA—AMUSEMENTS—HOUSES—POPULATION AND MORTALITY—SHOPS—PAVED STREETS—THE FIRE-WATCH—COSTUMES OF UPPER AUSTRIA. The inhabitants of Lower Austria, in which the capital of the empire is situated, are, with the Hungarians, the most fortunate of the subjects of the imperial sceptre. Cultivating a fertile soil, and not having, like the Styrians and the Tyrolese, to struggle incessantly against an inclement climate, they are happy in their geograph

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CHAPTER VI. STYRIA.

COSTUME OF THE INHABITANTS—THE JOANNÆUM AT GRATZ. In Styria the costume of both sexes is singular. The head-dress of the women of its capital, Grätz, and the neighbouring villages, such as maid-servants and daughters of inferior tradesmen or small farmers, generally consists of a cap of heavy gold lace, in the shape of a helmet, not unlike that worn by women of the same class in Vienna. In their forms these caps vary a little, the sides being frequently very broad, and opening wide backward almo

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CHAPTER VII. BOHEMIA.

COSTUMES OF THE BOHEMIANS. The name of Bohemia is derived from that of the Boji, a Celtic nation which inhabited this country at the period to which the earliest historical records of it relate. Notwithstanding the numerous resources possessed by the inhabitants in the fertility of the soil, in the mines, the forests and the different manufactures established in the course of the last century, the country is not very flourishing. The peasantry being reduced to the state of serfs, the apathy and

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CHAPTER VIII. MORAVIA.

COSTUMES OF THE INHABITANTS—ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNACKS—PEASANTS OF THE FRONTIERS. The costume of the inhabitants of Moravia resembles more or less that of the people of the contiguous countries. In the centre of the province the men generally wear jacket, waistcoat, and pantaloons of one colour, hussar boots, and a hat, the broad brim of which is cocked behind and slouched before. The women dress nearly in the style of the Austrian peasants, but in winter they wear over the laced corset and gown a

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CHAPTER IX. THE TYROL.

MIGRATIONS OF THE TYROLESE—THEIR FRANKNESS—THEIR ATTACHMENT TO THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA—ANECDOTE OF THE ARCHDUCHESS ELIZABETH—LITERARY TURN OF THE TYROLESE—THEIR EXTRAORDINARY HONESTY—FONDNESS FOR PUGILISTIC EXERCISES AND THE CHASE—ANCIENT PRACTICE—MORAL CHARACTER—SUPERSTITION—MECHANICAL GENIUS—PERSONS AND COSTUMES—NATIONAL SONGS—CUSTOM OF VISITING THE GRAVES OF RELATIONS—MARRIAGE CEREMONIES OF THE TYROLESE. The most striking feature in the character of the Tyrolese is their love of independence and

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PEASANT OF THE COUNTY OF WESZPRIM.

The figure in the annexed engraving represents the costume of the son of a wealthy Hungarian peasant of the county of Weszprim in his Sunday apparel. He has just filled his pipe, but is supposed to have been too deeply engaged in conversation to light it. The nosegay in his hat was probably snatched from the bosom of some pretty girl in coming from church, and this is the usual prelude to a more intimate acquaintance. The leathern tunic of a light colour hanging loosely from his shoulders, adorn

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FEMALE PEASANT OF THE COUNTY OF WESZPRIM.

To the dress of the unmarried daughter of an opulent peasant of the county of Weszprim, when decked out in her holiday finery, the flowered corset and numerous necklaces essentially belong. Her red shoes, which have frequently white heels, are rendered still more conspicuous by the work in front, and the blue stockings are adorned with red and white clocks. Her head is uncovered, and merely encircled with a bandeau of black velvet. The matrons are less studious of ornament: their corset, shoes,

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A CZIKOS.

In the Hungarian language, the term Czikos or Tsikos , signifies a keeper or tender of horses. [Pg 65] [Pg 66] Mezöhegyes is an imperial domain in the county of Csanader, where, during the reign of the emperor Joseph II. in 1785, a stud of horses was established. This institution is unrivalled in Europe both for its magnitude and value. The establishment, when complete, consists of nearly 17,000 horses and upwards of 700 men, of whom 238 are Csikoses. They are a handsome, not very tall, but robu

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PEASANT OF BOCSKO, IN THE COUNTY OF MARMAROS.

The county of Marmaros forms a strong contrast with the rest of Hungary. In regard to situation it might justly be denominated the eastern Highlands, the principal valley alone being conveniently habitable. The rest of the country consists of bare mountains and forests: hence the population bears no proportion to the extent of this country. It is chiefly remarkable for its rich salt-works, which furnish 30,000 tons of salt annually, and its numerous mineral springs. The woodcutter of Bocsko in t

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UNMARRIED FEMALE PEASANT OF BOCSKO, IN THE COUNTY OF MARMAROS.

The unmarried female appears in all her finery. Her head is encircled with a metal hoop adorned with beads and flowers. Round her neck she wears several necklaces of coral, and a black and red silk handkerchief covers her bosom. Over this she sometimes throws another of larger dimensions, which, from the variety of its colours and forms, resembles a piece of patchwork. The red boots are worn only on extraordinary occasions, and the owners generally carry them in their hands to church, to protect

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MARRIED FEMALE PEASANT OF BOCSKO, IN THE COUNTY OF MARMAROS.

The married woman is more simply clad: yet the embroidery on her loose jacket without sleeves, trimmed with fur, and on the short sleeves of her chemise, drawn tight round the arm below the elbow, show that the cares of a family have not rendered the matron wholly negligent of personal decoration. Her head-dress consists of a handkerchief tied under her chin, and she goes according to the custom of the country on ordinary occasions, without shoes or stockings. The women of this part of Hungary a

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UNMARRIED FEMALE OF THOROCZKO.

Thoroczko, pronounced Torotzko, is a village in the county of Thorda, with an iron mine which is not wrought by means of regular shafts, but by passages cut in the side of the mountain. The inhabitants are Germans from Styria, who have settled here to work in the mine, but have ceased to speak their native language; and Hungarians belonging to the Unitarian church. The females of this place are distinguished from their neighbours by their head-dress, by the singular and tasteful embroidery on th

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UNMARRIED FEMALE OF OBERASCHA.

The head-dress of the young female of Oberascha, or more correctly Obrasa, is composed of variegated ribbons, which are fastened round the head, and the ends of which hang loose over the bosom and shoulders. Above each ear are generally fixed a couple of peacock’s feathers. Round the neck she wears a fine sort of net-work to which are hung pieces of silver coin. The gown is adorned with embroidery on the shoulders. To the red sash which holds the black apron are attached several rings, probably

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A PEASANT OF OBERASCHA.

The inhabitants of Oberascha and the environs, are distinguished from other Walachians by the custom of wearing their hair tied in a club on the right side, and also by their tight pantaloons, and half-boots turned down at the top. The shirt, which the Walachians wear over the pantaloons, is fastened on holidays round the waist by a variegated scarf and a leathern belt, decorated with a profusion of metal studs, from which are suspended the tobacco-pouch, flint and steel....

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AN ARMED PLAJASH, OR GUARD OF THE FRONTIERS.

In Transylvania, as well as throughout all Hungary, proper precautions are taken for the security of travellers against the attacks of banditti. The guards employed to patrole the roads for this purpose are called by different names in different parts of the kingdom. In Transylvania they are styled Plajashes, from the Walachian word Plaja , a foot-path, or road. The duty of these Plajashes is to escort travellers and goods over the mountains, which are frequently very unsafe: hence they always a

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A BOYAR, or GENTLEMAN OF THE BUKOWINA.

In the Bukowina every gentleman or proprietor of land is called Boyar. The usual dress of this class is faithfully represented in the opposite plate. A long blue pelisse, with short sleeves, covers the under-garments, which consist of wide red trowsers, a blue striped shirt, and a broad belt, in which a knife is stuck, and from which hangs a handkerchief. The head is covered with a red Servian cloth cap. The Boyar here represented, is an inhabitant of the town of Szered; he is supposed to have j

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A PEASANT OF THE BUKOWINA.

The usual costume of the peasants of the Bukowina, consists of white or red trowsers, a shirt, the wide, open sleeves of which are embroidered at the wrist, and over that an open waistcoat bordered with fur. With a pouch slung over his shoulder, and a long handled hatchet, which supplies the place of a stick, in his hand, he usually proceeds to his work in the fields and woods. BOYAR of SERET. According to the regulations of Gregory Gyka, prince of Moldavia, the holders of land are bound to labo

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WOMAN OF SZUCSAWICZA.

Szucsawicza, pronounced Szutzawitza, is celebrated as the ancient residence of the princes of Moldavia. On a hill near the place are still to be seen the ruins of a strong castle which they inhabited. It seems to have been destroyed by violence, probably in one of the frequent incursions of the Turks and Poles into this province. Whether the destruction of this castle, or as some assert, the commands of the Porte, caused the princes of Moldavia to change their place of abode, we shall not preten

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UNMARRIED FEMALE OF JAKOBENY.

Jakobeny is a place situated in the mountains and inhabited by miners. The females of the lower class here as every where else, are fond of finery. To the decorations of their persons belong indispensably numerous necklaces and other ornaments made of beads, coins, crosses, rich embroidery, and in summer fresh flowers and sprigs of plants for their hair. The gown is coloured and striped, and a red sash encircles the waist. The engraving represents an unmarried female; the dress of the married wo

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FEMALE PEASANTS OF PHILIPPOWAN.

We have already observed that the Lipowanians, or Philippowanians, form a particular class of the inhabitants of Bukowina. They belong to the Russian Raskolniks, and to the not united Greek church. They removed about the year 1785, from the Black Sea into the Bukowina, and obtained of the emperor Joseph II. the free exercise of their religion. They are a peaceable, industrious and active people, addicted to agriculture, and partly subsist by the sale of fresh and dried fruit, fish, and cordage o

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CARLSTADT FRONTIER. THE VICE-HARAM-BASSA OF THE SZERESSANS.

Besides the frontier cordon there is in the Carlstadt and Banal frontier a chosen band of clever, trusty, and tried guards called by the ancient appellation of Szeressans. They go according to circumstances either singly or in companies, on foot or on horseback to discover the most secret plans and stratagems of their rapacious Turkish neighbours, which they seldom fail to counteract and frustrate, and are particularly ingenious in the discovery of concealed plunder. The chief of these Szeressan

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UNMARRIED FEMALE OF THE DRAGATHAL.

The features and dress of the unmarried female of the Dragathal belong to Italy; but the Croat and the Wende are here mingled with the Italian. Language, manners, and costume indicate the intermixture of nations between Trieste and Zeng, and exhibit in visible gradations the transition from one to another. The districts of the regiments of Licca and Ottochacz are intersected by bare, craggy mountains, which form a broken elevated tract not unlike in appearance to the deserts of South Africa. The

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UNMARRIED FEMALE OF OTTOCHACZ.

The annexed plate represents an unmarried female of Ottochacz. She wears a long open jacket without sleeves, neatly embroidered on the edges, and her hair, carefully plaited in tresses, is covered with a cap of red cloth. The apron universally exhibits a variety of gay colours. Married women are distinguished from virgins by wearing one of these aprons behind as well as before, and a large cloth resembling a mantle over the head and shoulders. In Upper Croatia, in the county of Warasdin, for exa

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BANAL FRONTIER.

The districts of the two Banal regiments are situated on the decline of the mountains into the plain. They present a great diversity of ground and scenery. Considerable forests, beautiful valleys, and extensive pastures succeed each other; and notwithstanding the change of country, the character of the inhabitants remains the same. The indigence and want of activity prevailing among the people of these districts has been ascribed, and not unjustly, to the excessive magnitude of the houses. The v

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UNMARRIED FEMALE OF GLINA.

In the annexed representation of a young female of Glina, we again observe the red cap, but of a different form from that shown in the last engraving. In this instance it merely covers the crown of the head, the hair of which is tressed on each side and turned up behind. The tresses are frequently adorned with shells, metal rings, and other trinkets, and the costume in general resembles in cut and fashion that of the upper frontiers. UNMARRIED FEMALE of GLINA....

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WOMAN OF DUBITZA.

False tresses, hanging down low and covered with a handkerchief, give a peculiar character to the head-dress of the women in the environs of Dubitza. The apron is fastened on by a belt decorated with coins; the wide, open sleeves of the chemise are neatly bordered with embroidery, and over it is worn a long open jacket. The river Unna here forms the boundary between the Turkish and Austrian empires. The decayed fortress of Dubitza itself, on the right bank of that river, belongs to the former. N

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SLAVONIA.

In many parts of the Banal frontier the country and its inhabitants strongly remind the spectator of the upper regimental districts, but the scene is totally changed on entering Slavonia. These frontiers are marked by great rivers and by sandy and muddy marsh-land. Here the husbandman does not dread the fury of tempests, but the inundation of waters. The genial warmth of a climate more than mild produces a profusion of the finest fruits. The soil supplies man with abundance of corn and wine, and

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CLEMENTINIAN WOMEN.

At the beginning of the last century emigrants from Bosnia, calling themselves Clementinians, settled in the villages of Hertkovze and Nikinze in the Peterwardein regiment. Their earlier history and the origin of their name are involved in obscurity: but so much is certain, that their ancestors migrated thither from Albania, and were there converted to the Catholic religion. They differ from their neighbours in language, customs, religious ceremonies, way of life and physiognomy. The frontispiec

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BANAT FRONTIER.

The sandy surface of that part of the Banat which lies between the Danube and the Lower Nera, is very little elevated above the level of those rivers, by which, when they are swollen, it is in a great measure inundated. In the south-east corner of the German Banat regiment, the loose sand is drifted into moving hills. It has not unfrequently buried fields and houses, and occasioned the gradual desertion of whole villages; but by judicious plantations it is now confined within narrower limits. On

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PEASANT OF THE BANAT FRONTIER.

The coat and pantaloons of the Walachian, the original native of the country, in his holiday dress, are of white cloth, the ornaments being neatly worked by the women in coloured worsted. In fashion this dress resembles the costume of his progenitors, the ancient Dacians, as delineated on Trajan’s pillar. The head is covered either with a round hat, or the still more ancient sheep-skin cap. The Walachian styles himself a Roman in his language, which is a medley of corrupt Latin and Illyrian; but

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WOMAN OF THE BANAT.

The Walachian women, like those of Croatia, being obliged to perform the operations of agriculture as well as to attend to the domestic concerns, lose at an early age all traces of beauty. Those of the pleasant valley of Saska, are distinguished by more polished manners, a more healthy look, and superior cleanliness and neatness in dress, from the inhabitants of the plains. In the mountains contiguous to this valley are coppermines wrought by German settlers, the example of whose industry and co

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CHAPTER XIV. GALICIA, OR AUSTRIAN POLAND.

EXTENT AND NATURE OF THE COUNTRY—BENEFITS RESULTING TO THE PEOPLE FROM THE PARTITION OF POLAND—CRUELTY AND INJUSTICE OF THE ANCIENT SYSTEM—SUPERIOR DEGREE OF SECURITY ENJOYED UNDER THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT—MODE OF BUILDING—APPEARANCE OF A POLISH VILLAGE—INNS-JEWS—UNCLEANLINESS OF THE POLES The kingdom of Galicia is that part of Poland which, on the partition of that monarchy among its more powerful neighbours, fell to the share of the house of Austria. It contains upwards of fifteen hundred Germa

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