ABSTRACT
Following the age of world descriptions, travel writing, and state geographies, in the Age of Dualism geography became an instrument of nineteenth-century rallying nationalism and the related nation-building process. In similarity to other dynastic European state entities, the cultivators of nation-building in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy endeavored to satisfy the demand for this through the geographical representation of royal power and the demonstration of the dimensions of the Empire. The new state format created with the Compromise between Austria and Hungary received special significance from the point of view of the Monarchy, as the royal family participated explicitly in the “cultural creation” of the Empire. The series of volumes discussed below, entitled The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in words and pictures, was published in both Hungarian and German. It is also referred to as Kronprinzenwerk, i.e., crown prince work, in the Austrian literature since it came into being as a result of the powerful influence and collaboration of the ill-fated Crown Prince Rudolf. 1 The physical geography and ethnic variety of the Empire made it almost an obvious step to fill the work with graphical geographical content. In this way the Monarchy could be presented as a state of contrasts, even if this ethnic diversity appeared as an obstacle in the age of nation building, and as the primary cause when the Monarchy fell apart. 2
