Under the Surface
After decades of war throughout Europe, a period of stability began in 1815. But at what price?
Repression, surveillance, and censorship silenced the liberal and democratic ideas that had developed in the decades since the French Revolution. Vienna’s middle classes retreated into the privacy of their homes, and a particular culture and lifestyle emerged as a result: the Biedermeier. Its artists depicted everyday life, but not its harsh realities.
What can Biedermeier images tell us about Vienna? What do the images hide? The first half of the 19th century was an era of rapid technological change, but industrialization is missing from the idealized images of Biedermeier life. Also concealed are the deep social and political tensions that simmered below the surface until ultimately boiling over during the revolution of 1848.