From Presence to Oppression, Absolute Monarchies and Broach architectural design

August 3rd 2012

     Today, our class took traveled around Vienna on a bus tour guided by a delightful art historian named Dr. O. The doctor commented on many of the pieces of architecture that I commented on in my last blog post, and provided a great deal of historical context to the "cities sense of presence and personality" that I felt the Broach ear buildings and ancient towering churches gave to the city. It turns out that it's no mistake I was able to find helpful landmarks to guide my path. A centuries old law in Vienna states that not building can be make taller than the steeple on Saint Steven's cathedral, so it turns out that it was very intentional certain building and structures could be seen from all parts of town.
     Ad Dr. O's tour continued, I learned that the positive, welcoming attitude that developed toward these majestic  ever present, larger than life cityscapes may be entirely inappropriate. In my Modern age of science, democracy and personal freedoms mindset, I viewed my perception of the city's presence as a wonderful novelty, when it turns out the broach designs that create this presence are very much a deliberate invention of the absolute monarchs that reigned during their construction. This can partially be credited to the fact that these building projects requited massive amounts of money, and absolute monarchism definitely had  all the requited resources, but I am beginning to believe, due to the pain and effort required to design a city like Vienna, that the absolutist monarchies that build in the broach style did so as a means of social control. I imaging that the average citizen at the time of these powerful hereditary rulers would look at the same city I had and feel a sense of jubilant awe at its splendor. Instead, I believe such a man would view these buildings and cathedral and palaces and towers and view the Emperors that build them with an air of superstitious awe.
     I'm a man of the space age, with a world class science education and I was still dumbstruck by the countless statues and never ending displays of beautiful art pieces in the streets. What would a man you grew up in an era of religious theocracy, with perhaps traces of a medieval or early modern "magical world" world think when seeing these same splendors. I imagine it would leave little doubt at the claims of divine right made by absolutist monarchs. I believe the magnificent buildings were part of the Empires efforts to establish their right to rule. Investing in such grand public displays was likely an effort to prove that the Hapsbergs were  in fact chosen by God to rule over Austria and other lands. Baroach architexture could very well be an other ritual used by the Habsburgs to cement their power over Austria and the Holy Roman Empire.