Vienna, the capital of the Hapsburg Empire
- a thriving commercial, banking and cultural centre -
constituted the most attracting Austrian centre
for the orthodox merchants of the Ottoman Empire,
particularly from the 17th century onward.
The economic policy and the aim of the Hapsburg monarchy
to penetrate in the eastern markets, as well as the acheivement
of various Austrian-Turkish treaties in the beginning of the
18th century led to the creation of the optimum
conditions for the commercial activation of the Balkan orthodox
merchants in Vienna.
The Austrian government granted privileges and prizes to
the best merchants to attract the Greek merchants.
The presence of the Greeks in Vienna is witnessed
since approximately 1600 while the number of Greeks increased
systematically and their presence became more dynamic
during the 18th century.
The communities
Privileges - Community Organization - Church
In 1690 the Emperor Leopold I conferred to the
orthodox Serbs that came to settle in Vienna the privilege
to practice their religion and consented to the operation of an orthodox church.
Thus, the Serbs were the first orthodox people of the Hapsburg
monarchy to have been given privileges
from which the Greeks tried to benefit.
A little later, in 1717, the emperor Charles VI issued a patent,
that is a "provision on trade in the benefit of the dealers",
which concerned the orthodox Ottoman subjects that traded in Vienna.
This patent established the development of trade
by determining the conditions of commercial transactions.
This decree was renewed by the empress Maria Teresa in 1763
who also founded a tribunal that dealt with commercial and financial
matters of the orthodox merchants.
The privilege of Maria Teresa was acknowledged
and ratified by her successors, Joseph II (1783),
Leopold II (1791) and Francis II (1794).
These privileges referred to the Greek dealers and
Ottoman subjects of the Greek and anti-unionist dogma
and to "the Greeks and Vlachs of the eastern religion
living in Vienna ...". Therefore, it is evident that
the term Greeks implies that the privileges are also meant for
the Vlachs, the orthodox Albanians and the Serbs.
These are peoples that lived in Macedonia or northern Epirus,
they were orthodox and they spoke the Greek language
as well as their own dialects. They had come to the Hapsburg Empire
as merchants and performed their profession
coexisting with the rest of the Greek Ottoman subjects.
As a result, the associations of the orthodox merchants of Vienna
include not only Greeks but also Vlach merchants.
The privileges granted by the emperors
offered the Greeks and Vlachs the possibility to associate
by creating commercial unions, the so-called Companies,
which constituted the base for their later political associations
that were developed into Communities.
The fact that two Greek Communities were formed in Vienna
is noteworthy. The first was the Community of Saint Georgios
which gathered the Greek Ottoman subjects, while the second,
the Community of the Holy Trinity,
was the community of the Greeks and Vlachs that had
obtained the Austrian citizenship.
This differentiation is due to the fact that many Greeks and Vlachs
which had settled in Vienna obtained the Austrian citizenship
so that they could marry Austrian women or to expand their commercial
activities while others remained Ottoman subjects
enjoying reduced taxes but obliged to trade only eastern products
in wholesale.
Community organization
The fundamental principles for the organization of the
two communities of Vienna, as defined by the imperial privileges,
consisted in the subjection of the Communities
to the Austrian government, the right of autonomy and
self-administration of their internal affaires and the
practice of their religious duties.
Nevertheless, the imperial privileges did not acknowledge
the right to render justice to their members.
The two Communities of Vienna were independent
from one another. The general assembly of their members
was the electoral body of each Community. It held
meetings on an annual basis and elected the administration
organs of the Community.
The Community as a body was the supreme authority
while a representative bouleuterion was the basic
administration organ. Initially, the representative bouleuterion
was composed of 18 members and later (from 1777) it was 12 membered;
it was elected by the assembly of the members of an annual term
and administrative competencies.
This bouleuterion constituted the representative authority
of the Community. It was responsible for all matters
and it was also the legal person of the Community for the
Austrian authorities.
Nevertheless, despite their right of arbitration intervention
in trivial disputes, the Communities of Vienna did not have
juridicial jurisdiction over their members.
The foundation of a church in the Greek communities of Vienna
As soon as the orthodox Ottoman subjects
of Vienna gained economic strength their first concern was
the foundation of an orthodox temple.
The first to obtain the right to build a church were the
Greek Ottoman subjects who managed in 1723 to obtain
the permission to erect an orthodox church in the name of
Saint Georgios via an imperial document that resulted from the
favourable intervention of the prince Eugene of Savoy
toward the emperor Charles VI.
In the beginning this church was lodged in the residence of
Alexandros Maurokordatos, the privy counsellor,
whereas the first orthodox liturgy took place in 1726.
The Community of the Greek Ottoman subjects was named
after Saint Georgios.
Nevertheless, the foundation of an othodox church
for the Greeks provoked the anger of the Serb metropolite
Karlowitz, who claimed the religious and administrative
surveillance of the temple for himself.
From 1723 up to 1776 the Serb metropolites, particularly
after Leopold I had granted different privileges to them in 1690,
claimed the ownership of the Greek church Saint Georgios
while in 1761 they succeded in obtaining a document from
Maria Teresa which brought the temple and its possessions under the
ownership of the Serb metropolite Karlowitz.
As a result of this event the Greeks of the Saint Georgios Community
closed the temple from 1761 to 1776.
This matter was definitevely solved with the conferment of the
high imperial privilege of Maria Teresa in March 2, 1776
which adjudicated the ownership of the temple and brought it under the
Greek Community while it also ordered the Serb metropolite to return to the
temple whatever the previous metropolites had taken from it.
This privilege was ratified by the successors of Maria Teresa.
The Community of Saint Georgios acquired a private owned temple
the construction of which began in 1803 and was completed in 1806.
In 1787 Joseph II granted the privilege
for the foundation of a temple
to the Greek and Vlach Austrian citizens.
After the rejection of their proposition to
erect one church for both Communities,
the Greek and Vlach Austrian citizens
advanced in the erection of their own temple, the Holy Trinity church
in the region Fleischmarkt of Vienna.
The construction expenses were covered by the wholesale merchant Sinas.
This church was also open to the orthodox Serbs
who had to bring their own priest to officiate the liturgy
and confess them.
As the Community of the Greek Ottoman subjects, the Community
of the Greeks of Austrian citizenship was named after
its church, that is Community of the Holy Trinity.
The administrative authority of each Community
was made up of two or three churchwardens,
who were elected by the bouleuterion and were responsible
for dispatching all matters involving the church
and were obliged to account to the Community for their
management.
The 12 membered bouleuterion elected, mainly the
priests and vicars of each church. These had to be Greek
orthodox priest-monks of a great monastery of the
Turkish ruled Greek region.
The duties of the vicars were exclusively religious and they
were obliged to account to the Community.
In addition, they had to respect
the Serb metropolite Karlowitz who may ratified their election
but could not be actively involved in the ecclesiastic matters
of both Greek Communities.
The verger and chanters of the churches, employees of the
community administration,
were under the supervision of the vicars.
The vicar and the sub-vicars obtained a salary
from the Community which also provided for their shelter.
Neophytos Doukas, Anthimos Gazis and Theoklitos Pharmakidis
were some of the vicars that served in the Saint Georgios temple.
Demographic trends
Vienna offered hospitality to Greeks
and other orthodox Ottoman subjects
(Vlachs, Serbs and others) that came mainly from
today's northern Greek regions, Epirus and mostly
western Macedonia. Specifically, the came mainly
from Kozani, Siatista, Serres, Selitsa, Vogatsiko,
Kastoria, Kleisoura, Vlasti, Serbia, Naoussa, Veroia, Melenoiko,
Moschopolis, Monastiri, etc. as well as towns of
Asia Minor, Thessaly, Thrace and the Aegean islands.
As for the number of the Greeks and Vlachs of Vienna
we know that in 1767, 79 Greek and Vlach Ottoman subjects
were registered in the Austrian capital.
If we add their women and children, in 1767
they must have been around 300 while in 1814,
the period of prosperity of the Greek colony, they were 4000
(see. Plφchl, Die Wiener Orthodoxen Griechen..., 24-25).
The relations between the members of the colony
but also those with the native habitants present great interest.
The administrative and ecclesiastic division of the
Greeks in two communities according to their citizenship
resulted in the independent action of the two communities
and the psychological divergence
between the members of the communities.
The action and the life of each community was independent
but the property in the Greek part of
the Saint Marx graveyard in Vienna,
where the orthodox were buried belonged to both communities.
Moreover, it is true that the Greeks managed to prevail
very soon in the local society and stand out by contributing
considerably in the economy of Vienna and by offering
significant social work. Noble titles and important offices
were attributed to many Greeks.
Education
Until the early 19th century there was
no official organized school in Vienna.
Therefore, education was offered
by hired teachers who gave private lessons to the offsprings
of the most wealthy Greek families in their homes.
But as the demand for the foundation of a Greek school
became more intense and the need more pressing,
the Hapsburg court issued a decree in 1804 that allowed
the Community of the Greek Austrian citizens of the Holy Trinity
to found a Greek school that would be lodged in the
second floor of the Holy Trinity church building.
The school was brought under the public Austrian control
while the Community of the Holy Trinity supervised the
financial matters and suggested the teachers and school books.
The school would had four classes and the students
- boys and girls in separate classes -
were taught Religion, Reading, Writing,
Arithmetic, literary extracts and Greek Grammar.
The fact that the Saint Georgios Community was
excluded from the school direction provoked disputes
between the two communities and the refusal
of the Greek Ottoman subjects
to support the school financially.
At the same time they demanded the privilege to
found their own school but this demand was never satisfied.
Offering Greek education to the Vlachs of the Greek communities
of Vienna was also a reason of conflict.
Consequently, the Greek school of Vienna confronted
financial and operational difficulties due to the lack of
students - especially after the unsuccesful
attempt of Carl Elmauer in 1807
to add to his private educational institute "a special class
for the Greek, those that come from Walachia and Moldavia
and, in general, students that come from western Europe" -
but started from 1815 to operate more regularly for the children of
both Greek communities by attracting many
Greek Austrian citizens.
The school had two classes which were divided in four groups each,
and had two teachers.
The studies in each class would last three years
and included lessons of modern and ancient Greek language,
arithmetic, geography but also German.
This education aimed at providing Greek,
orthodox and mercantile education according to
the model of most schools in the Greek colonies.
Apart from the concern for the creation of a
school and the provision of organized education for their
children, the Greeks of Vienna have significant and
extensive intellectual activities to present, particularly
in typography and the publication of Greek books,
newspapers and periodicals.
The printing offices related to the publishing activity of
the Greeks of Vienna are separated in the ones that
belonged to the Viennese who published Greek books too
and in those that were founded by Greek typographers of that
period.
The main Viennese that published Greek books and periodicals were:
a) Thomas Tratner who started printing Greek books
from the mid 18th century and cooperated with
personalities such as Iosipos Moisiodakas who published in this
printing office the Apologia in 1780 and the Theoria tis
Geographias in 1781 and Rigas Pheraios
who published the Physikis Apanthisma in 1790 and
b) Joseph Vaumaister, with whom the later great Greek typographers,
Georgios Ventotis and the brothers Markides Pouliou worked.
The main Greek typographers are:
a) Georgios Ventotis, who founded his printing house
in 1785 and made magnificent new Greek Enlightenment publications
in cooperation with the publisher Polyzois Lampaniziotis
while he also cooperated with Rigas Pheraios and
b) the brothers Georgios and Poublios Markides Pouliou from Siatista,
who took over the printing office of Joseph Vaumaister when the
latter was invited as a teacher for the Austrian princes.
The Pouliou brothers proceeded in the printing of the
"Ephimerida", a significant Greek newspaper
the distribution of which began in 1790 and stopped
suddenly in 1797 when the printing office closed after the
arrest of Rigas Pheraios, as the two brothers were the main cooperators of Rigas.
In addition, in 1784 Georgios Ventotis published in Greek
another "Ephimerida" which had a very
short life and limited distribution.
In Vienna, apart from the two above-mentioned attempts for
a journalistic medium in Greek, there were other important
newspapers, such as the "Eidiseis dia ta Anatolika meri"
of the publishers Joseph
Frangisco Hull and Eufronio Rafael Popowitz.
The distribution of this newspaper began in 1811 and had a limited
duration and distribution while in 1812 it was replaced by
the "Ellinikos Tilegraphos" which was published by Dimitrios Alexandridis,
a nephew of Anthimos Gazis.
The Ellinikos Tilegraphos was proved to be the newspaper which lasted the most
since it was distributed until 1836 informing
its readers on economic and political issues, while in 1817 the
"Philologikos Tilegraphos" was the complement of the main
newspaper with literary and cultural issues.
At the same time there were more Greek literary periodicals
distributed in the Austrian capital. The most important were the following.
a) "Hermis o Logios" was the literary periodical which was
first published in 1811 by Anthimos Gazis
and stopped being published on the outbreak
of the War of Greek Independence in 1821.
However, its distribution was not unhindered during all this
time; "Hermis o Logios" confronted financial problems.
Thus, in 1814 and 1815
the number of issues distributed decreases while from 1812
until 1815 the publishers of the periodical often change in an
attempt to find financial ressources in order to preserve the
periodical which reached its best moment during the five-year
period 1816-1821.
The material of "Hermis o Logios" always combined
Greek and European literary and cultural news
which contributed to the
dissemination of the ideas of the western thought
and education to the Greek world,
while the language of the periodical propagandized
the use of the common modern Greek language.
b) The literary periodical "Kalliope" was published as a competitor of the
"Hermis o Logios" from Athanasios Stageiriti and was distributed
from 1819 to 1821 with the objective of becoming the medium of the
partisans of the linguistic archaism of that time.
Moreover, Vienna was selected by many Greek scholars
as the place of publication of their books in an attempt
to contribute to the spiritual awakening of
the subjected Greeks. Iosipos Moisiodakas, Rigas Pheraios,
Polyzois Kontos, Anthimos Gazis, Neophytos Doukas were some
of the scholars that came to the Austrian capital to publish
their books or to translate into Greek significant works.
Thus, the printing offices of Vienna published religious,
school-books, textbooks, calendars, translated works, ancient writers,
theatrical plays - original text or translations - and poetic collections.
This publishing activity made Vienna the most important
intellectual centre of the Hellenism of that time.
According to Adamantios Korais, Vienna was the
"workshop of the new literature of the Greeks".
Charity
The Greeks of Vienna developed notable charity action.
As fabulously rich, many of them devoted a large part of their
property and possessions for the foundation of hospitals,
poor-houses and hospices to lodge the poor Greeks that came to
Vienna to study in the Austrian universities.
Many of them left considerable legacies for the maintenance
of these institutes or for dowereies of poor girls.
They also cared greatly for the foundation of charitable institutes,
schools and churches
in the unredeemed country, particurarly in their cities of origin.
At the same time, families of economic and social power,
as the family Sina, finance the construction of public works
in Vienna (e.g. the water reservoir) and support financially the
maintenance of university buildings
(e.g. the Technical University ).
Apart from the charitable activities of remote cases
of Greeks, the Greek Communities of Vienna were also involved in charitable
activities; they offered money to relieve the poor of the city
and both Greek churches created a fund for the relief of
widows, orphans and for all those in need, Greek or Austrian.
Economy
Trade and Merchants
Vienna proved to be a remarkable commercial centre,
particularly during the 18th and 19th century, as
Vienna gained considerable advantage from
its strategic position between central Europe and the Ottoman
Empire and on the Danube.
The merchandise that came from the Ottoman Empire were stored in
Vienna and were dispatched to the rest of Austria,
Germany, northern Italy and France.
What is more, two trade fairs took place in Vienna each year.
These trade fairs attracted a great number of merchants and
lend a live commercial atmosphere to the city.
In addition, Vienna had a Stock Market and a bank already from the
early years of the 18th century, which facilitated the merchants in
their transactions.
These advantages of Vienna in combination with
the privileges that the Hapsburg government conferred to
the Balkan merchants, led a great number of Greek merchants to
Vienna from the late 17th century.
Routes
The main land routes that the Greek merchants used
from the Turkish ruled Greek territory to the Austrian
territories were the following:
a) the imperial route of Constantinople which started from
Constantinople, passed through the valley of Evros, reached
Sofia and continued to the southwest, passed from Pirot and Belgrade
and reached Semlin via the river Sava.
After Semlin, Vienna was the last trading stop.
Most merchants that came from western Macedonia followed
a road branch that started from Nis and continued southward by the
Morava vale.
b) The route of Macedonia or Bosnia which started from Thessaloniki and
connected Macedonia with Bosnia, with intermediate stops
in Scopje and Sarajevo, and Vienna as final destination.
c) The route that started from Thessaloniki and followed the Struma
valley forming the line Serres-Sidirokastro-Meleniko-Sofia-Nis-Belgrade-Semlin.
d) The route of Serres that started from Serres and followed the
Struma valley passing from Strumica and then Scopje
to finally reach the capital of the Hapsburg Empire.
Many times these routes were rough, they would close
because of bad weather conditions and were often overrun by
bandits and criminals.
In order to confront these bad conditions and dangers,
the Greek merchants travelled in groups.
These are the so-called caravans: many merchants
from different regions would meet in a large
commercial centre and start all together the transportation
of their goods with beasts of burden - mainly horses,
camels and mules.
These merchants were as a rule armed while
during their long trip which lasted months they would stop at
the caravansaries and khans (inns) that were on the road.
They would pass the night there, feed the animals, take supplies
of food and water; they also proceeded in
commercial transactions.
The Greek merchants also travelled on the river routes,
mainly the Danube on which big ships with cargo travelled from Vienna
southward. The Greek merchants received the merchandise
and transported the goods via land routes to the ports of the Adriatic.
Merchandise
The main eastern products that Greek dealers exported
from the Turkish ruled regions to Vienna were:
furs from Kastoria, red and white yarn, carpets from Moschopolis,
animal hides from Macedonia and Anatolia, cotton from Serres,
alaca fabric and saffron crocus from Kozani, wine from Siatista and
Naousa, knifes from Smyrna, tobacco, salt, pepper, and other spices,
silk yarn, rice, legumes, etc.
Returning to their countries they transported
manufactured products from central Europe: clothes, luxury products,
silk fabrics, crystal vases and porcelaine, women's jewlery, mirrors
with silver covered frames, etc.
Trading techniques
Initially the Greek merchants themselves travelled to transport
and sell their merchandise in the Austrian capital.
Gradually, most of them settled in Vienna and created commercial
companies. They associated with other merchants and in this way
some of them undertook the buying and others the
promotion of the goods while both parties contributed to the expenses and
shared profit.
Other merchants founded great commercial houses in Vienna
with branches in other European and Balkan cities (e.g. the family Sina).
The principle methods that the Greek merchants used to
facilitate trading transactions was insurance (sicurita),
that is the deposit of a certain amount to an insurance company
so that the merchant obtains the money from the company in
case of loss or damage, provision (commission), that is the
intervention of a merchant's friend so that a product
will be bought or sold, the bill of exchange (politza or cambiala),
which means that a merchant places his money in one place
so that his partner could take it from another place and the
bonds (obligazione), that is the letter that certifies that
the merchant has borrowed money from someone when he did not have
the needed capital.
Finally, the merchants maintained registers for
all their commercial activities for their own convenience.
At the same time, there were important merchant scholars
that took over the publishing of special commercial manuals
including instructions for carrying out commercial transactions
and proper training and mercantile behaviour
(e.g. Scrittura Doppia and Experienced Guide
for trading activities... by Thomas Dimitriou and a
commercial treatise by Athanasios Psalidas).
Apart from the commercial transactions, the Greeks
- in particular the eminent Sina family -
took action also in banking and Stock Exchange activities,
but also in typography
and publication activities aiming at the maximization of their profit.
In the period of the European Enlightenment
and spiritual awakening, Greek books were greatly demanded
and yielded big profit.
Thus, the Greek merchants invested considerable capital in
the foundation and equipment of printing offices, they financed
the translation of foreign books and the publication of Greek
books, newspapers and periodicals
and supported their distribution as subscribers.
Mentality
The Greek merchants of Vienna constituted the members of the
new bourgeois class which appeared and gained power
in this period in the European societies.
The Greek merchants accumulate riches and in this way
are promoted socially. They become eminent members of the local
society, obtain noble titles (e.g. Konstantinos Belios,
Stergios Doubas, Georgios Sinas and others obtain the baron title)
while many Greeks had ascended to the
administrative hierarchy of the
country (e.g. Theodoros Karagiannis and Nikolaos Doubas became
deputies of the imperial parliament) or occupied high offices
in universitary institutes of the city
(e.g. the philologist Th. Karagiannis
was appointed director of the Austrian Academy
of Vienna and the imperial Library).
These bourgeois adopted the new liberal
and revolutionary ideas of that time and observed
the political events in the world.
The literary, economic and political conversations
in the various cafes of Vienna, gathering in
houses and gambling games seemed to be the
most common forms of entertainment for these Greeks abroad.
But those who had obtained the Austrian citizenship or
had married Austrian women seemed to be gradually assimilated
in the native environment.
However many of these Greeks lived with
the dream to return to their country when it is liberated
and fought for this purpose by supporting financially the
erection of schools and churches and the dispatch of books
for the spiritual awakening and revolutionary preparation
of their co-patriotes.
In fact, many of them returned to their place of origin
and built beautiful aristocratic houses
based on the European model, which they equiped with furniture
and other decorative objects of western fashion and manufacture.
Many of these houses are still preserved until today in
cities mainly of western Macedonia.
Political activity
The colony in the international condition (15th-19th centuries)
The ideas of the French Revolution were easily diffused
among the Greeks of Vienna.
The Greek intellectuals of the Austrian capital adopted the
French declarations of equality, democracy and freedom,
they read and translated the works of the French representatives of the
Enlightenment - Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire - and published the
French declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen
in the Greek newspapers of Vienna.
At the same time the hope of a redeeming intervention from
Napoleon in the East made the revolutionary thinking of the
Greeks pass from the theoretical phase to the real phase
and incited patriots like Rigas Pheraios
pursue personal contact with Bonaparte.
Finally, the democratic newspapers with their programmatic
character and codification of the revolutionary principles
provided the model for the constitution
of the democratic regimes that some scholars of the diaspora
such as Rigas Pheraios dreamt of.
The Greeks of Vienna and the War of Greek Independence of 1821
The contribution of the Greeks of Vienna in the
War of Greek Independence was definitive, particularly
during the phase of the ideological and practical preparation.
The Greek books, newspapers, the foreign translations
that were published by the Greek printing houses of Vienna
were also distributed in the Turkished ruled Greek region.
All these contributed to the spiritual awakening and
the ideological familiarization of the unredeemed Greeks
with the revolutionary ideas of that period.
Moreover, Rigas Pheraios selected the Austrian capital
to publish his revolutionary material while planning the
uprising of the Greeks.
The printing house of the Markides Pouliou
printed the revolutionary manifest of Rigas Pheraios
in 3000 copies, his magnificent maps and the copperplate engraving of
Alexander the Great, which were all
bound for the unredeemed country.
In addition, Rigas Pheraios recruited his first
partners from the Greeks of Vienna, many of which had a
tormenting death along with him (Th. Touroutzias,
Panagiotis and Ioannis Emmanouil and others),
while very soon Greeks of other colonies became his partisans
for the continuation of his work.
Many Greeks of Vienna were initiated in the Philiki Etaireia
from the beginning of its constitution and many of them (e.g. Georgios Lassanis)
were enlisted in the Sacred Battalion of Alexander Ypsilantis
which was defeated in the battle of Dragasani.
Others went to the revolted Greece to fight there.
The Greek communities of Vienna supported financially
the War of Greek Independence by sending money and munitions,
but also by offering moral support as they received and
provided for the women and chidren of the revolted Greece
and fighters from other countries that used Vienna as an
intermediate station to reach the Greek revolted region.
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