Pietas Austriaca? The Imperial Legacy in Interwar and Postwar Austria

Abstract

This paper aims to outline the specific Habsburg character of Austrian Catholicism through a study of Pietas Austriaca, the supposed Habsburg tradition of Catholic piety, and its role in the First and Second Austrian Republics. It analyzes the narrative of Austrian history presented by the Heldendenkmal, or Heroes’ Monument, which was erected in Vienna in 1934. Further, it argues that Pietas Austriaca was linked in the postwar period to a notion of Heimat (Home, Homeland) and served the needs of Austrian political Catholicism, which was seeking to recruit former National Socialists.

Keywords

• Habsburg
• Austria
• empire
• Catholicism
• Pietas Austriaca
• Christian Social Party
• Austrian People’s Party
• Heimat
• Heldendenkmal