Central Europe (Austro-Hungary +)

markjwyatt

markjwyatt

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We have a Prague thread (and I will post there), as well as an Eastern Europe thread, but much of my last trip (Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Sloveia, Austria) would be considered Central Europe by those who live there. What is Central Europe? Good question, some people include Germany and Italy for instance, but for this thread I am not proposing that. I am proposing the areas of main influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, plus stretched out a bit: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria (my visits) plus Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, and Bulgaria. I would not include former "western Europe" (including Germany and Italy, nor the Baltics, Ukraine, Moldava, etc. Turkey is the next. phase of Europe bridging into the middle east so I would not include it; though it does play a part in Austro-Hungary. Others are free to stretch the interpretation. I will start with a few from Croatia (Varazdin- a particulary charming north Croation village):


Varazdin Scene by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr


Curve_Varazdin by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr


Houses Varazdin by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr
 
markjwyatt said:
I am proposing the areas of main influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, plus stretched out a bit: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria (my visits) plus Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, and Bulgaria.
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I suppose that many photos made in the above countries have already been posted in the 'Eastern Europe' thread. Cheers, OtL
 
Tuna said:
View attachment 4828665
Prague
Leica Q2M
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Where the advertisement is for The Slivovice Museum (it says "zazrak zvany slivovice" - 'plums are miraculous') there was a large mural advertising Campari from maybe 1993 until - I think it disappeared around 2002, to be replaced by various advertisements for Lidl and then Albert supermarkets, until this Slivovice Museum advertisement arrived some time quite recently - I don't recall a slivovice museum, and that's the sort of thing I would have known about, so I guess maybe it wasn't there when I was also there. In the 1990s it was a good spot to arrange to meet people before we all had mobile phones and could just ask "where are you?". Another funny memory.

campa03.jpg
 
There was a conversation in "eastern" thread about this and it's just easier to set a divide on the Iron Curtain. I believe Central Europe was invented in the '90s to make us feel closer to the West.
 
Hmm 🤔 … „Austro-Hungary +“ excluding iron curtain would just be Austria. I think the thread title is ok. Poland eg was just in parts of its south part of the Austro-Hungarian empire (correct me if I’m wrong) so I wouldn’t mind pictures of the same country posted in the „eastern“ and in this thread.
 
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jbielikowski said:
There was a conversation in "eastern" thread about this and it's just easier to set a divide on the Iron Curtain. I believe Central Europe was invented in the '90s to make us feel closer to the West.
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Interesting hearing it from your perspective! I see calling these areas central Europe more of an unwriting of the Cold War Historians/geographers. When I was growing up, "those countries" were Eastern Europe, and "the ones that won the war" were western. But for much of Europe's history, especially since the fall of Rome, that was not really true. Certainly in the few centuries leading up to WWII, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, etc. were very significant regions within Europe, and central both geographically and in influence. When the wall started coming down in the 90s, that realization came to fore again, probably both in the region and internationally. When we travelled from Prague-Budapest-Vienna, it did not feel like travelling across the iron curtain, but rather it made some historical sense, and basing it on Austro-Hungary fits. The "+" part extends the idea of central vs. Eastern Europe a little, and is pretty open to interpretation.
 
Out to Lunch said:
en.wikipedia.org

Central Europe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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I kind of agree with that as a strictly geographical interpretation, but if we add Germany for instance, Germany pictures could dominate the thread, and we already have tons of those. If you search for Central Europe, there a re a lot of legitimate interpretations. I think mine is reasonable along recent-ish historical lines (Austro-Hungary pre-WWII, WWII, iron curtain).
 
Budapest, 2018. Olympus XA, FP4+

201809110_zpsr1cccjyb.jpg
 
santino said:
Mark, what was your favorite city during your visit to central Europe?
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Hard to say. Budapest was the most exotic and quite beautiful for sure. Prague was gorgeous, as was Venice. I notice in Prague and Budapest a lot of young families, children, strollers. Definitely different then what I see in Germany, France, and even Vienna. A lot of national life in the countries that were perhaps sheltered from some of the commercialism of Western Europe (but paid other prices under more authoritarianism). I really like Varazdin, Croatia. Still had a lot of old world charm. Might be hard to spend long periods of time there as it is pretty small, but I suspect there and surrounding areas would be interesting.
 
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