Until the Train Has Stopped. The History of the Habsburg Space in Honor of Milan Hlavačka’s Jubilee

Author: Vojtěch Kessler, Jan Květina, Magdalena Pokorná (edd.)
Year of publication: 2025
Publisher: Masarykův ostav a Archiv / Historický ústav
ISBN: 978-80-88611-28-8

The book combines two fundamental layers of its purpose: a celebration of the life anniversary of a prominent Czech historian, and an effort to map current scholarly developments within the research dimensions to which Professor Hlavačka dedicated his scientific career. The chosen title of the publication reflects this dual aim—it alludes both to the honoree’s lifelong passion for trains, and to the significance of the railway for the context of the Habsburg realm, which serves as the defining framework of the entire monograph. Last but not least, the title also evokes a metaphor for the complicated life journey of the archetypal Central European historian. The structure of the book mirrors its dual intent, offering innovative insights into four distinct research areas connected with the modern evolution of the so-called Habsburg space, namely: 1) the issue of institutional transformation of the Austrian monarchy, 2) questions of municipal and urban life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, 3) modes of communication and commemoration of Central European “Habsburg” history, and 4) modernizing changes in the economic and technological spheres of the (post-)Habsburg space.