Izvleček
Življenje in delo cesarja Franca Jožefa je bilo polno vzponov in padcev. Iz mnogih biografij o njem lahko razberemo ključne poteze njegovega življenja in vzroke za nekatere njegove odločitve. Toda širši krog ljudi bolj kot cesarjeve politične in vojaške odločitve zanima njegovo zasebno življenje. Temu se pogosto priključujejo vprašanja, kaj bi se zgodilo, če bi … itd. Seveda takšna vprašanja ne morejo biti temelj znanstvenih raziskav, lahko pa na njih poskušamo na znanstveni način, torej z upoštevanjem referenčne literature in virov, odgovoriti. Tako se pogosto pojavlja vprašanje ovrednotenja cesarja kot pozitivne ali negativne zgodovinske osebnosti. Glede na vse vidike njegovega življenja, predvsem pa glede na dojemanje ljudi bi ga lahko bolj kot med negativne šteli k pozitivnim zgodovinskim osebnostim. K temu je pripomogla predvsem njegova zgodovinska podoba, ki se je vtisnila v kolektivni spomin ljudi. Tako se verjetno večini ljudi ob besedah Franc Jožef v spomin prikliče podoba osivelega starca z globokimi modrimi očmi, ki marsikoga spominja na prijaznega dedka. Če k temu dodamo še njegovo soprogo Sisi, dobimo do neke mere kultni cesarski par, ki nas ob obiskih Dunaja obkroža z vseh strani.
Abstract
Franz Joseph – from Tradition to Modernity
The life and work of Emperor Franz Joseph was full of ups and downs. The key features of his life and the reasons behind some of his decisions can be gathered from the many biographies on the emperor. Yet the interest among the broader population is not so much an interest in the emperor’s political and military decisions, but in his private life. This is often accompanied by questions like: »What would have happened if?«, etc. Of course such questions cannot serve as a foundation for scientific research, but one can attempt to answer them in a scientific way, namely by considering the reference literature and sources. Thus the question often arises as to how to evaluate the emperor – as a positive or negative historical figure? Considering all the aspects of his life, especially how people perceived him, the emperor could be considered more of a positive than negative historical figure. This is mostly the result of the emperor’s historical image, which has been imprinted on the collective memory of the people. Hence when most people hear the name Franz Joseph they recall the image of a grey old man with deep blue eyes, who reminds many people of a kind grandfather. If we add his wife Sisi to this, we get a sort of cult imperial couple, who surrounds us on all sides when visiting Vienna.