Otto von Habsburg Collection
HOAL I–5
Photographic and audiovisual collection
Photo collection
The photographic archive of around 30,000 images accounts for a significant part of Otto von Habsburg’s bequest. The collection contains a broad spectrum of 20th-century photographic techniques, from glass negatives and visit cards, through diapositives, black and white negatives and Polaroids to digitally captured images printed on paper. Over 100 years of photographic technology.
The earliest datable pictures are from the turn of the century of various members of the Habsburg family, and there is a remarkable collection from the First World War related to Charles IV. The grandest part of the assemblage comprises family and official pictures showing Otto von Habsburg’s colourful and hard-working day-to-day life from his childhood and the years in exile up to the mid-2000s. It is primarily a photographic documentation of his travels, lectures, visits and meetings worldwide. They include press photographs and professional portraits taken during his two decades in the European Parliament, as well as images sent to Otto through the post over the years. The information displayed through family albums, sequences and group photographs can contribute to understanding the 20th-century history of the Habsburg-Lorraine house and related families.
The collection of photographs features a mixture of photo albums of different sizes, photo pouches, individual visiting cards, images in postal envelopes, monochrome or coloured negatives and positives.
Currently, the material is being organised into a coherent collection of photographs through the ongoing exploration of the holdings and the development of a thematic and chronological classification system.
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Videos
Péter Bokor and Gábor Hanák have filmed a series of historical interviews with Otto von Habsburg in various locations over decades. The former heir to the throne talks about his childhood, his years in exile, and the everyday life of the Habsburg family. And as a Member of the European Parliament, he provides analysis of current affairs and foreign policy.
Here you can watch a selection from these videos
