Elemér Boreczky, PhD, Course description

CENTRAL EUROPE AND THE ARCHEOLOGY OF CULTURE

What do cultural monuments tell us about reclaiming the lost inheritance of European culture in the” less known” lands of the former , now integrated into the nation states of Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, , and Austria?

In an attempt to give a tentative answer to this question, the course reveals various layers of culture behind cultural monuments. It uses the frame of reference of cultural studies, especially that of regional studies, which have evolved as an independent field the former. Regional studies have also contributed to the emergence of recent interest in re-interpreting travelogues that have played a role in “re-inventing Eastern-Europe” by Western travelers 300 years after “Ungaria,” “Polonia,” Grecia,” and “Germania” had been demarcated as four of the nine political entities on the map of Europe made by Pope Pius II, the first person to think of the continent as a political-cultural entity by that name. However, by the time of the American and French Revolution, “Ungaria,” “Polonia,” and “Grecia” had been virtually erased from the map, and re-emerged as small nation states in the 19th century. Students have the opportunity to learn, and make use of, the skill of “reading the landscape” by identifying a cultural scene within a broader cultural field and find meaning in the various artifacts that capture the attention of the traveler, the reader of literature, the art movie fan, or the music lover, let alone politicians and business people with vested interests in the region. Likewise, ‘archeology of culture,’ applied to the analysis of the lived experience behind the visible signs as an intellectual tool, can help to reveal different layers of meaning behind the surface and understand the common inheritance and the complexity of Hungarian, as well as Slovak, Romanian, Serbian, Croat, Austrian, Slovene, Romany or even Polish and German culture. Culture is thus understood as the cultivation of customs and habits that are essential for the physical and mental well-being of a group of people. The cultivation of such habits, which has also led to the creation of representative cultural artifacts, have left their marks on the collective memory of various groups of people, and has remained effective in their contemporary way of life and their political orientation, too.

The course takes account of the fact that in an integrated European Union, the presidency of which will be held by Hungary from January to June, 2011, when the course is being delivered, regions might regain, or redevelop their identity they have lost as a result of the political necessity of the creation of nation states and the demarcation of their borders through a series of international treaties. Belonging to the traditional geographical entity of the Kingdom of Hungary, itself engulfed at different periods of history by the Habsburg or the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and acting as a secondary empire in the brief period of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire between 1867 and 1918, these regions have all had their “Golden Age” at various times in history.

The course consists of a series of classes, each presenting a scene, a piece of architecture, literature or music that has been preserved in the memory of the “World” at large, its outstanding features marked by UNESCO World Heritage, or its native writers or scientists rewarded by Nobel Prize. Students explore the multidimensional layers of meaning, overt and hidden discourses, behind such phenomena by means of cultural analysis. They contribute to each class by presentations on particular topics related to the main theme of the class.

Introduction: an ‘Atlas’ of Central Eastern Europe

Classes 2-3

Transdanubia and Northern Hungary

The region remained under the rule of Habsburg kings, also acting as German Emperors, even when the rest of Hungary was either occupied by Ottoman Turks, or controlled by the Principality of Transylvania. became prosperous because of its wheat production, which made Hungary one of the granaries of Europe in the late 18th and early 19th century, creating the material foundations for the patriotic reforming and modernizing policies of Hungarian aristocrats. Its northernmost town, Győr, has been integrated into the recently emerging economic triangle of Vienna, Bratislava, and Győr, whereas the region around Lake Balaton and Hévíz, the biggest lake of Central Europe and the biggest thermal water lake of Europe, with is spas and vineyards, its uniquely “cultured” landscape, has invited holiday makers and property owners from Austria and Germany, making the region prosper again.

The two classes on this region start from the touristy sight of the baroque summer palace, the replica of Versailles, of the Eszterházy family at Fertőd, where Joseph Haydn spent most of his active life, and the palace of the Festetics family at Keszthely, which also gave home to Georgikon, an 18th century agricultural school, respectively. Students look into the past and behind the walls of these palaces to explore the life and culture of their owners, and understand their lasting cultural impact. They show how enlightened Hungarian aristocrats loyal to the Habsburg kings, were integrated into the high imperial culture of Vienna, as well as into Hungarian culture.

Edmund Spencer, Sketches of Germany and the ; With a Glance At Poland, Hungary in 1834, 1835 and 1836. 2003 reprint. (Extracts.)

Richard Bright, Travels from Vienna Through Lower Hungary: With Some Remarks on the State of Vienna during the Congress in the Year 1814, Edinburgh, 1818. (Extracts.)

Class 4

The Spisšký region (Szepesség in Hungarian, Zips in German)

This was a prosperous region of Saxon towns in the Kingdom of Hungary, when Hungary, ‘Ungaria,’ was still considered to be one of the nine major political-cultural entities of Europe. Many of these towns and villages were pawed to the King of Poland by King and Emperor Sigismund in 1412, but remained virtually self-governing until the 18th century. Situated between the gold, silver and copper mines that supplied Europe with half of its silver and gold in the late middle ages, and along the route of the wine trade from Hungary to Northern Europe, they constituted an integrated cultural entity with Cracow in Poland, until they were repossessed by the Habsburgs on behalf of the Kingdom of Hungary, when Poland was virtually deleted from the map of Europe, not unlike Hungary before. The population of the region, though its culture was dominated by the Germans, consisted also of , Gurals, , Jews and Gypsies.

The class on the region focuses on St Jacob’s Church in the town of Levoče (Lőcse in Hungarian, or Leutschau in German), which is part of the World Heritage. It preserves the spirit of a culture that has ceased to exist. The class starts with the presentation of the impressive wooden altars of Master Pavol(?), Pál(?), or, most probably, Paul (?), one of the highest of its kind in the world. In the church the members of the community merged with the characters of the Gospel stories, carved to their image, in a sacred space and time. From the doorway of the church students take a virtual tour of the main square of the town and the region and discover how time and space have changed and broken the spell. The class allows students to explore and discuss how ethnic variety has contributed to the rich heritage, as well as to the plight of some of the inhabitants, of the region in history in various political and cultural climates. http://www.chramsvjakuba.sk Dr Thomas Reiner, Carpathian German History, http: carpathiangerman.com

Classes 5-7

Transylvania

Transylvania lies in the center of the 21st century Republic of Romania, yet it preserves much of what has remained of the historical heritage of Hungary in terms of landscape, customs and architecture. In Transylvania, Hungarians, Hungarian speaking Székelys and Saxons, the three nations, enjoyed privileges and a considerable degree of self-government even after the larger part of Hungary was occupied by Ottoman Turks in 1541. It prospered as a semi-independent vassal state of the with considerable leeway for its own policies in the 16th- 17th centuries, at times, being a major player in European religious wars on the Protestant side. When it was ‘liberated’ by an all-European army led by Catholic Austrians, it fell under Habsburg government, and its unprivileged Romanian population grew excessively. By the time it was reunited with Hungary in the war of independence of 1848-49 fought by Hungarians against the Habsburg Germans, and politically in 1867, after a compromise with the Habsburg Empire, which changed its name into Austrian-Hungarian Empire, were the majority of the population. Transylvania became a part of the Kingdom of Romania in 1920. It still has the largest national and ethnic minority of Hungarians in the European Union, but its Saxon population virtually all left Romania before and immediately after 1989.

The first class places the fortified church of Székelyderzs at the focus. The old church is part of the World Heritage. It is the center of in the region. The village around the church has preserved its archaic way of life documented by the photo-reports of English photographer, Paul Glendell. Built by Saxons, reoccupied by Catholic Székelys and later becoming a Unitarian church of Hungarians, this cultural monument has preserved the memory of major events in the history of Transylvania and their “nations”. As a cultural field that has captured time and refuses to change, it offers the opportunity to analyze spiritual forces that have played a role in shaping and preserving the people and the landscape. http:// szekelyderzs.com/kepek Stephen Spinder, Ten Years in Transylvania (Picture book)

The second class focuses on Sibiu ( Herrmanstadt in German, Nagyszeben in Hungarian), which was the cultural capital of Europe in 2007. The Habsburg kings of Hungary governed Transylvania from this German town after they liberated the principality from its Turkish overlords, and separated it from the rest of Hungary. A tour of the major sights of the town gives an insight into the essential values cultivated by the Saxon inhabitants of the “seven towns,” (Siebenbürgen), as Germans called Transylvania. They considered themselves as part of the German nation in the “easternmost frontier” of Western civilization, with a mission to keep the country within Europe.

The third class uses the method of cultural analysis and archeology in the close reading of the centre of Alba Iulia, (Gyulafehérvár in Hungarian, Karlsburg or Weissenburg in German). It is a dense cultural field jammed with monuments built within the ancient Roman walls, offering different readings to different visitors with its Roman, medieval Hungarian, Transylvanian, Habsburg and modern Romanian architecture. It was the capital of semi- independent Transylvania in the 16-17th century, with one of the most famous protestant colleges, the fame of which spread to Milton’s England. Also, it was the scene of some of the major events in Romanian historical memory, and the place, where the Romanian nation declared the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Rumania. The center is on the waiting list of UNESCO World Heritage. http://www.apulum.ro

Class 8

The Puszta. Hortobágy and the Hungarian Plain.

The puszta has been the trademark of Hungary, known for its horsemen, outlaws and vast stretches of plain land. Hortobágy has been protected by UNESCO World Heritage since 1999. In its buffer region, the university town of Debrecen today attracts tens of thousands of students. It was once the centre of in Hungary, while the region has been the scene of the most traditional lifestyle of ancient pagan Hungarians. The class takes students to the invisible presence of once famous settlements, people, battles and outlaws of this region, which is the westernmost stretch of the Central Asian plains.

A film by Hungarian film director Miklós Jancsó: Round-Up

Class 9

Timisoara (Temesvár in Hungarian, Temeschwar or Temeschburg in German, Темишвар in Serbian)

Part of the Hungarian Plain, the Banat region was a kind of a frontier in the 18th century after its ‘liberation’ from Ottoman Turkish rule, settled by Swabian, Hungarian, Romanian and Serbian farmers. Timisoara, the most industrious and technologically advanced town in the south eastern part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, formerly the scene of the first Hungarian National Assembly in 1397, was where the Romanian revolution against the communist regime of Nicolai Ceusescu started in December 1989, ignited by the stern resistance of Hungarian Calvinist minister László Tőkés to attempts to be removed from his church by Securitate. Its multicultural history is discussed on the basis of stories and best- selling novels of Herta Müller, the winner of Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009, and by Caludio Magris’s .

Herta Müller, Tha Land of Green Plums. New York: Metropolitan Books, 1996. ISBN 978-0- 8101-1597-2 Claudio Magris, Danube (Danubio, 1986, Milan), first English translation, 1989, Colins Harvil. References from the 2001 puiblication by The Harvil Press. (Extracts.) ISBN 9781860468230

Classes 10-11

Pécs, the cultural capital of Europe, 2010, and County.

Pécs is the “most Mediterranian” town in Hungary with a rich cultural tradition. It was the historical centre of the Baranya region, which is now divided between Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. Vukovar, the multi-cultural town that was demolished by the Yugoslav army and its irregular troops in 1991 lies only 50 miles from it. In addition to Hungarians, Southern Slavs, Germans and Jews have all contributed to its growth which made it the political and economic center of an almost self-sustained region. It is full of historic monuments. Its ancient Christian burial chambers from the 4th c. have been preserved in a beautiful condition. Its Catholic cathedral, though rebuilt several times, is nearly ten hundred years old. The Turks built mosques there, two of which is still visible. Such 20th century artist of international reputation as Victor Vasarely or Marcel Breuer were born in this town. However, the town struggles with its past and present. The class contrasts visitors’ Pécs with its sluggish economy, and slow decline.

A second class on the region takes the students to Drávaszög (in Croat Baranjska lesna zaravan) and shows the impacts of the Yugoslav war on its culture, which it has saved for nearly a thousand years. The Croat, Serb and Hungarian villagers of the ancient marshlands at the confluence of the River Danube and River , faithful to their traditions for hundreds of years were forced to chose between “Ustashas” or “Chetniks” and give up their culture in a landscape, which is dominated by the Villány-hegység in the Hungarian part of Baranya – a most peaceful and picturesque scene of Pannonia, as the province was called by ancient Romans, producing some of the best wines of Europe. Parts of it are natural reserve areas. A rich hunting ground for folklorists and big game hunters, the region is slowly moving into oblivion. The class also discusses episodes from the Yugoslav war.

A Drávaszög. A documentary film by Ágnes Orbán.

Classes 12-14

Budapest

Created in 1872 from the historic cities of Buda, Pest, and Óbuda, Budapest was the second fastest growing city in the world in the late 19th-early 20th century, earning itself the reputation of “the town where the twentieth century was made” (Nature, 2000).

The first class on Budapest focuses on the dynamic change of the three former German towns of Óbuda, Pest and Buda into Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Whereas Buda had existed in the memory of the Hungarian nation as its capital, made famous by King Sigismund and King Mathias in the 15th century, it had become predominantly German in the 18th century, after it was liberated from Ottoman Turkish rule. The oldest university of Hungary was the birthplace of Serb, Slovak and Romanian national revival, too. Hungarian became popular from the middle of the 19th century, and within one generation it became the language and culture of the Town’s Hungarian, German, Jewish and Slav population. The Compromise between Austria and Hungary in 1867 and the unification of the three towns of Óbuda, Buda and Pest created a favorable environment for growth. The fast growing town assumed an architectural appearance through fake historical buildings designed by architects trained in Berlin and Vienna to accommodate its growing population. The first class explores the motivation for the construction of a historic townscape and the forces that made the town grow so fast.

Berlinből Budapestre - Von Berlin nach Budapest. Aspects of historicism in Hungarian architecture. Text by Gábor György Papp. Potsdam: Deutsches Kulturforum östliches Europa, 2007. Exhibition catalogue. ISBN-10:3-936168-41-5

The second class: Budapest 1900 –“the town, where the 20th century was made.” The culture of Budapest in 1900. The quintessence of Central Europe.

John Lukacs, Budapest 1900. A Historical Portrait of a City and its Culture. New York: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988. ISBN number of Hungarian translation: ISBN 963 07 6598-6

The third class: the anatomy of a capital city of a country that has changed its size and culture several times in the 20th century. The problems of change form a regional center to a national capital through wars, destruction and revolutions. What do the spirit and culture of Budapest represent?

Michel de Certeau, ‘Walking in the City,’ in The Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. By Simon During. London/New York: Routledge, 1993. 126-133p. ISBN 0-415-13754-3 (Pbk)

Background reading:

Larry Wolf, Inventing Eastern Europe. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994. (Extracts.) ISBN 0-8047-2702-3 (pbk). Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffries, A History of Eastern Europe. Crisis and Change. London/New York: Routledge. 1998. ISBN 0-415-16111-8. Regions, State and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe, ed. By Judy Batt and Kataryna Wolczuk. London, Portland: Frank Cass, 2002. The Cass Series in Regional and Federal Studies. (Exctracts.) László Kontler, Millenium in Central Europe. A History of Hungary. Budapest: Atlantisz Publishing House, 1999. ISBN 963 9165 37 9 Ignác Romsics, The Dismantling of Historic Hungary: the Peace , 1920. Wayne: Center for Hungarian Studeis and Publications Inc, 2002. ISBN 0-88033-905-X Peter A. Toma, Dušan Kovač, Slovakia. From Samo to Dzurinda. 2001. (Extracts.) Anton Spiesz, Illustrated Slovak History. A Struggle for Sovereignity in Central Europe. An Afterword by Dusan Caplovic. Waucorda, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers Inc., 2002. (Extracts.) Stevan K. Pavlowitch, Serbia, The History behind the Name, London: Hurst & Company, 2002. (Extracts.) Lucian Boia, History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2001. ISBN 963-9116-96-3

Students are encouraged to use Internet sources with a critical attitude.