Bücher von Maximilian Hartmuth

After the failed Siege of Vienna of 1683, the Ottoman Empire gradually withdrew from Europe. Even so, monumental reminders of its former presence survived across the continent. The contributors to this volume show that the various successor states adopted substantially different approaches towards their Ottoman architectural inheritance. Even within the same countries, different policies appear to have been pursued in different periods, in keeping with differing circumstances. Case studies inquire from diverse vantage points how this heritage has been coped with discursively and materially. Importantly, readers will find that it is almost impossible to disentangle these two levels of action.

The architecture of some public buildings exhibits a commitment to economic restraint and a subordination to an international aesthetic of dutifulness. Other public buildings exhibit a heightened sensitivity to place - to topography, architectural setting, and select cultural inheritances. The decision-making processes that led up to the implementation of such projects are often insufficiently appreciated. The 20 contributions to this volume, focused on Central Europe, address the problem of defining and locating public buildings as architectural expressions in a protracted period of transition between feudal and modern constitutional social orders.