Czech, German, and Noble: Status and National Identity in Habsburg Bohemia (review)

This monograph is an impressively researched consideration of the Bohemian nobility and their contribution to nationalism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The study addresses a perceived gap in the scholarship by examining how aristocratic intellectuals complemented the activities of bourgeois nationalists in the development of Czech identity. The author is interested in “how and why some nobles began to see their social position through a nationalized lens, and used their social position to endow institutions to prove and promote national excellence” (5).

Krueger shows in chapter 1 that the eighteenth-century Bohemian aristocracy, which was cosmopolitan and German-speaking, identified with an educated Europe rather than with a single nation. In the main body of the book, she discusses the influences that led some of them to develop a sense of national identity: European-wide events such as the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and the French Revolution; the Hapsburg centralizing reforms of the later eighteenth century; and the intellectual activities of individual aristocrats. Krueger argues that intellectual endeavors led to a growing sense that the cultural and geographical treasures of Bohemia were comparable to those of other countries. Such pride in national resources contributed to a developing nationalism even among natural scientists.

Further, the pursuit of scientific or learned interests helped form a nascent public sphere. Masonic lodges, salons, and other forms of learned social interaction emerged, allowing people to converse regardless of social rank. Public building projects, too, contributed to the emerging national identity. Gardens—“publicly accessible private spaces” (152)—were viewed as a way in which one could educate public taste and celebrate local flora. Art works, previously used by aristocratic families to display their own wealth, came to represent the nation’s riches. The founding of the National Museum in 1818–1822 was a culminating point in such attempts to educate the public, initiating “a dialogue with the public about the identity of the national community” (163).

The author draws on sources in English, Czech, and German, and demonstrates a remarkable knowledge of archival material. She makes the book come alive through short sketches of individual noblemen such as Kaspar Sternberg, the principal founder of the National Museum. The narrative moves seamlessly between these “close-ups” and the broader historical themes that they illustrate.

The final chapter of Czech, German, and Noble loses some of this specificity, unfortunately, by turning to a broader analysis. Here Krueger argues that the aristocrats’ cultural work was partly responsible for the debates surrounding the unrest of 1848, even though the 1840s saw a shift toward exclusion of the nobility from nationalist discourse. Clearly, this topic is crucial to the book’s theme, yet the more general nature of the argument here sacrifices the fine-grained approach of the earlier chapters.

Furthermore, the book raises a number of questions that go unanswered. For example, how did the Nostitz Theater (founded in 1781) compare to the National Museum in creating a national community? What did women do to contribute to the new forms of intellectual sociability around 1800? Could Krueger have provided an extended analysis for her claim that aristocratic intellectuals found science more interesting than Czech literary treasures? How does the legacy of twentieth-century communism affect the historiography of the Czech nobility?

Since any good scholarly exploration opens up new avenues of inquiry, these questions actually demonstrate the richness of Krueger’s research. Overall, the study is an excellent depiction of the complexity of aristocratic identities, convincingly showing how some nobles used their resources in the service of the nation. Czech, German, and Noble certainly challenges the notion that aristocrats were not involved in the formation of a Czech national identity, and should be read by anyone interested in Czech history.