Lecture: Austrian Traces in the Levant

On 22 January 2026, Levant expert Dr. Elmar Samsinger will give a lecture at the Vienna Naval Association (Marineverband Wien) on the traces of the Habsburg Monarchy in the Levant.

“Austria once lay by the sea” is the title of a well-known book and immediately brings to mind the imperial seaside resorts of Grado or Abbazia, Trieste as the monarchy’s gateway to the world with its significant shipbuilding industry, or the fact that Venice was Austrian for almost 60 years.

What has largely been forgotten, however, is that until 1918 the Habsburg Monarchy was also clearly present in the eastern Mediterranean and in the cities of the Levant: locals wore fezzes from Bohemia, restaurants served Dreher beer, baklava tasted so sweet because the sugar came from the Bohemian–Moravian sugar basin, men bought their suits from Jewish textile outfitters from Vienna, and Austrian manufacturers were also successful in products such as matches and cigarette paper. Orders were placed at one of the many Levant post offices, where piaster and para stamps bore the portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph.

🎟️ Admission is free – no registration required!

🕕 Lectures take place on the fair evenings of the Vienna Naval Association, starting at 6:00 p.m., following the jour fixe of the Imperial and Royal Naval Archive.

📍 Schwarzspanierstraße 15 / Staircase II / Door 24 1090 Vienna

🍲 Refreshments will be provided by the galley.

👥 Guests are welcome! 📢 This invitation may be freely forwarded to anyone interested.