Scandal at the Opening of the Budapest Opera House in 1884

What is it about?

The opening of the Opera House became remembered for an angry crowd that clashed with the police in its attempt to enter the auditorium, rather than for a visit of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph and his entourage. What was the meaning of the ensuing scandal? Using the press reports of the time as a source, this article analyses how the events of September 1884 highlighted the limits of what was permitted in public in Budapest at the turn of the century.

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Why is it important?

The opera house at the turn of the twentieth century was a microcosm of the local urban society that mirrored and accentuated its social, political and status divisions better than any other institution. Looking at the inauguration ceremony through the eyes of the local press enables one to glean important insights about the complexity of late Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Hungarian politics and municipal affairs in Budapest as well as the development of culture and music at the turn of the century.