This book examines the promotion and reception of the image of Franz Joseph (Habsburg emperor from 1848 to 1916) as a symbol of common identity in the Austrian half of the Habsburg Monarchy (Cisleithania). In the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century the promotion of the cult of the emperor encouraged a Cisleithania-wide culture of imperial celebration. On Franz Joseph's birthdays and jubilees, cities produced special theater productions, torchlight parades, and ethnic/historical processions. Thousands of voluntary associations sponsored local...