Zprávy památkové péče 2016, 76(1):18-27

Austro-Hungarian warships in photographs by Rudolf Bruner-Dvořák in the archives of the National Technical Museum in Prague. Article for identifying individual pictures.

Jan Hozák

The set of photographs, whose overall identification and utmost accurate and complete identification of each image this article deals with, was taken by the Czech photographer Rudolf Bruner-Dvořák in the years 1906-1914 in the environment of the Austro-Hungarian navy in the Adriatic Sea. This was a period of multilateral arms activities of the maritime powers, especially Great Britain, Germany, and France, with Italy and Austria-Hungary lagging somewhat behind. One of the prominent figures of the naval armament efforts in the Danube monarchy was the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand d'Este, the chief inspector of the Navy holding the rank of admiral. For Bruner-Dvořák, it was important that Franz Ferdinand honored him with his confidence from the 1890's and commissioned him with a number of work orders, from photographing military maneuvers to private photographs from the family residence at the Konopiště castle. The set of 144 photographs (134 negatives and 10 positives), which is stored in the archives of the National Technical Museum in Prague and whose identification we focused on, relates in its entirety to the Austro-Hungarian naval military fleet. The set contains not only images of ships in ports as well as during festive parades and exercises, but it also gives us a closer look at situations during on-board training, armaments, and groups of sailors on duty and during rest times. There are also, however, various genre subjects, such as sailboats on the sea, sunsets and sunrises, boats sailing in storms, movement in port cities, and the Roman Colosseum in Pula. The entire set of these photographs had been registered in the NTM archives as a single unit under a very general name: images of the royal and imperial navy from before the First World War. With the help of period press, especially the magazine Český Svět (Czech World) to whom Bruner-Dvořák was a key contributor, and by comparing images from various collections, especially in the Konopiště castle, period and contemporary literature, and utilizing insight into the challenges involved in photographing naval warships, most of the images have been identified. From a material standpoint, the type of ship, location, and event were identified, and in terms of time the year and sometimes even the day was determined. In most cases, the photos make up particular thematic units that document important events, enabling even a reconstruction of the order in which they were taken. For example: the parade of ships on 15 September 1906 at the end of maneuvers in Dalmatia; the visit of Austrian parliamentary delegations to the Navy in the Adriatic in January 1908; the visit of a British squadron to the Austrian port of Trieste on 6 July of the same year; and the photographic collection documenting naval maneuvers in Zadar on 21-25 August 1911. During this exercise, the photographer was aboard the command ship and photographed the situations at sea as well as events on board. For each of these events, every photograph was successfully and precisely identified. For pictures that defied positive and clear identification, we strived for at least a plausible hypothetical description that would serve as a basis for further research. The article does relate to the distinctive theme of the Navy, however it provides an insight into methods of identifying historical photographs which can be used in other areas, including the preservation of heritage properties.

Keywords: Bruner-Dvořák, Rudolf (photographer); photography (history); Ferdinand d'Este, Franz (archduke, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne); Adriatic (sea and coastline); warships, battleships; Austro-Hungarian warships; ports (Pula, Trieste)

Published: March 1, 2016  Show citation