Thanks to the collaboration between the Sopron Archives of the Győr-Moson-Sopron County branch of the Hungarian National Archives and the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, a roll-up exhibition commemorating the 105th anniversary of the death of King Charles IV opened on April 1 at the County Hall in Sopron.
In his opening remarks, Mayor Ciprián Farkas spoke about the last Hungarian king’s connections to Sopron, which continue to make Charles a part of the city’s historical memory.
Róbert Fiziker, Director of the Sopron Archives, also highlighted aspects of Charles IV’s childhood linked to the city. Charles’s father, Archduke Otto Franz Joseph of Austria, served as commander of the 9th Nádasdy Hussar Regiment in Sopron between 1893 and 1896, and during these years the family lived in the Pejacsevich Palace on Petőfi Square. A defining figure of the future ruler’s early years was his tutor, János Tormássy, headmaster of the local Catholic elementary school.
Gergely Fejérdy, Deputy Scientific Director of the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, recalled Sopron and its surroundings as the setting of Charles IV’s second attempt to reclaim the Hungarian throne. On October 20, 1921, the former monarch and his wife arrived by plane at Dénesfa near Kapuvár, from where they proceeded to Sopron the following day. With the support of troops led by Major Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek, one of the leaders of the West Hungarian uprising, they set off from there by train toward Budapest.
At the opening ceremony, our Foundation’s Director, Gergely Prőhle, noted that the exhibition offers insight into the political and social landscape of the turn of the 20th century, while the artifacts and archival materials on display add nuance to our understanding of the relationship between the last Habsburg ruler and the “most loyal city.”
The exhibition can be viewed until August.
