Central European Cities c.1500-1914

In this paper we will survey the urban development of the cities and review the effects of urban growth, of emigration and immigration, or invasion and expansion, and of modernization and nationalism, impacted on various aspects of the three cities’ cultures. We will examine the process of physical change, as population growth, royal and imperial residence, religious persecution, and toleration, of cultural experimentation and vibrancy, and of industrialization and the rising middle class, came to usher in a new age of tenements, suburbs, and town planning. We will explore the mentality of nobles and elites, of Christians, Jews, and Muslims, of residents and newcomers, through a study of primary and secondary sources. By critically examining such subjects as the mentality of the nobility, the views of Ottoman soldiers outside the walls of Vienna, of city authorities’ attitudes toward Roma, Jews, and other ‘Strangers’ in the city, of art, music, and cultural musical life, we will reveal the striking relationship between historical memory and creation, social marginality, and cultural creativity.
We examine the growth of urbanism in terms of the social, economic, political and cultural conditions of the time and in the context of the changing spatial and temporal dimensions of political power and culture.
Themes explored include the process and causes of urbanization, the changing populations of the cities (including religious and ethnic minorities, migrant, and worker communities); analysis of the physical city (its urban form and spatial topography, landmarks and architectural monuments); the distinctive identities of capital cities; policing the city; and debates on urban planning and historical preservation.
Class meetings will consist of seminars, class discussions, student presentations, analysis of readings, sound and film presentations. While some classes will focus on one city, class discussion will lead into a critical examination of other cities.

CLASS TITLES

1. Foundations of Urban History & Theory. Defining and approaching the city. Where is Central Europe?
2. Urban Theory – Classic Texts and Approaches & Key. Ideas for the Course.
3. The Residence City. Rulers and ruled.
4. The Multi-Ethnic City. Migration and Urban growth.
5. Learning, Knowledge and Magic in the City.
6. ‘Strangers in the City’. Jewish and Roma communities in Central European urban life.
7. Time and Space in the Age of the Baroque.
8. Religion, Art, and Music.
9. Migration and Residential Patterns.
10. Art and Architecture in Fin-de-siécle Central Europe.
11. Nationalisms and Empire – Public spaces, architecture, and monuments.
12. Architecture, Representation, World Fairs and the making of Public Space.
13. Cosmopolitanism and Urbanism.
14. Urban Betterment? Municipal Policy and Policing at the fin-de-siècle.
15. Culture in the City and Urban Culture: Everyday Life.