Tuzkereszt History

 

Tűzkereszt Archive Story • Original Photographic Series

Emperor Charles I and the Second Hungarian Restoration Attempt, 1921

Period: October 1921 • Locations: Sopron · Győr · Budaörs • Photographer: Studio of Ármin Schäffer • Source: 22 Original Photographs

In October 1921, Emperor Charles I of Austria—King Charles IV of Hungary— returned to Hungary for the second time in an attempt to restore royal authority. Charles had never formally abdicated his Hungarian rights and continued to regard himself as the country’s lawful sovereign.

After arriving by aeroplane from Switzerland and landing near Dénesfa, Charles and Empress Zita travelled to Sopron. There, legitimist politicians, officers and soldiers gathered around the royal couple. The detachment of Colonel Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek formed the military core of the undertaking, and its officers and men swore allegiance before the advance towards Budapest began.

The royal party proceeded eastwards by train, receiving military and civilian welcomes along the route. The deliberate progress, however, allowed Regent Miklós Horthy’s government to organise resistance. Royalist and government forces eventually confronted one another outside Budapest in the Battle of Budaörs on 23–24 October. Once blood had been shed and the danger of a wider civil conflict became clear, Charles agreed to end further armed resistance.

This photographic series follows the events from Sopron and the oath of allegiance, through the royal train and the reception at Győr, to the negotiations following Budaörs and the final appearance of the imperial couple beside the train. The last photographs provide a quiet epilogue inside the carriages that had carried the restoration attempt across western Hungary.

The photographer and the original booklets

The complete series was produced by the photographic studio of Ármin Schäffer, whose high-quality work became widely known in interwar Hungary. The studio’s original photographer’s label is reproduced in the upper-left corner of the title image.

The cap badge reproduced at the lower right of the title image bears the name Ostenburg. Badges of this type were worn by officers and soldiers of Colonel Ostenburg’s detachment.

The circular holes visible in several original prints are not later damage. They were punched by the studio so that groups of photographs could be assembled and sold as cord-bound booklets. The booklets provided the studio with income while satisfying the intense public interest in the events of October 1921.

Click any photograph or enlarged detail to view the image at full size.

Empress Zita in Sopron

The sequence opens in Sopron, where the arrival of the royal couple was accompanied by carefully arranged public and military ceremonies.

Photograph 1. Empress Zita—Queen Zita of Hungary—stands among a group of women in Sopron. Two soldiers in the doorway behind the group salute during the formal reception.

The Oath of Allegiance

At Sopron, Colonel Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek’s detachment formally declared its loyalty to King Charles IV. Schäffer photographed the ceremony from several positions, preserving both the overall formation and the individual officers surrounding the standard.

Photograph 2. Troops drawn up in the courtyard before the oath-taking ceremony. The open space between the formations has been prepared for the officers, standard and ceremonial party.

Photograph 3. At left, Colonel Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek leads the oath. The assembled officers repeat the words with their right hands raised, while the standard and its guard occupy the centre of the ceremony.

Enlarged details from photograph 3

3a. Officers repeating the oath with their right hands raised.

3b. Colonel Ostenburg, the standard-bearer and the nearest officers during the oath.

Photograph 4. A second view of the oath, showing the wider formation of officers and soldiers assembled around the standard.

Photograph 5. Officers and military musicians stand along the side of the courtyard during the ceremony.

Photograph 6. Officers of the detachment after the oath-taking ceremony. At far left, wearing the dark headdress, decorations and a sabre, stands Colonel Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek.

Enlarged detail from photograph 6

6b. Colonel Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek at far left, with decorations and sabre.

The Royal Train

The train became the moving headquarters of the restoration attempt. Officers, soldiers and members of the royal party travelled in a mixture of passenger, staff and service carriages as the column moved eastwards.

Photograph 7. Soldiers and officers beside the train. One carriage carries the Hungarian inscription Helyettes Parancsnok, indicating the deputy commander’s carriage.

Photograph 8. Soldiers and officers converse between two lines of railway carriages during a halt.

Photograph 9. Officers and sentries stand beside the carriages during the journey.

Photograph 10. Members of the royalist force wait beside and in the doorways of the train.

Photograph 11. Officers and soldiers gathered around the train during a halt on the route towards Budapest.

Enlarged details from photograph 11

11b. Colonel Gyula Ostenburg-Moravek photographed beside the train.

11c. King Charles IV. looking from the carriage windows during the halt.

At Győr Station

Győr was one of the most important stops on the route. A military guard, musicians and a large civilian crowd assembled at the station to receive the royal train.

Photograph 12. A helmeted honour guard stands at attention on the platform at Győr railway station.

Enlarged detail from photograph 12

12b. The honour guard beneath the clearly visible Győr station sign.

Photograph 13. A military band, armed troops and a dense civilian crowd receive the royal train at Győr.

The Advance towards Budapest

As the train continued east, the force travelled in passenger coaches and open railway wagons. The photographs record both military readiness and the ceremonial character with which the undertaking was presented.

Photograph 14. Soldiers travelling in and around an open railway wagon during a halt on the advance towards Budapest.

Photograph 15. A large group of soldiers poses around and upon the steam locomotive, presenting the manpower and equipment accompanying the royal train.

Enlarged details from photograph 15

15b. Soldiers grouped beside the locomotive.

15c. Men seated high on the locomotive boiler and chimney eating a sausage.

15d. Armed soldiers and officers in front of the locomotive.

Photograph 16. An outdoor religious service is held beside the train, attended by the royal party, officers, soldiers and civilian supporters.

Enlarged detail from photograph 16

16b. Empress Zita and members of the royal party beside the train during the service.

After the Battle of Budaörs

The advance ended outside Budapest. Following the fighting at Budaörs, representatives of the opposing sides met while officers, soldiers, civilians and members of the royal party waited around the railway area. These photographs document the tense negotiations after the battle rather than the fighting itself.

Photograph 17. Delegates, officers and civilians gather during the negotiations that followed the Battle of Budaörs.

Photograph 18. The imperial couple, officers and civilian representatives stand among supporters and Hungarian flags as discussions continue.

Enlarged detail from photograph 18

18b. The imperial couple and delegates amid the crowd during the negotiations.

Photograph 19. A wide view of the railway area during the post-battle negotiations, with cavalry, railway carriages, military groups and civilian delegates spread across the grounds.

Enlarged detail from photograph 19

19b. Officers and delegates in discussion after the battle.

The End of the Restoration Attempt

Faced with military resistance, international pressure and the prospect of civil war, Charles agreed to abandon the attempt and end further armed resistance. He did not formally abdicate his claim to the Hungarian throne.

Photograph 20. Emperor Charles and Empress Zita stand before the train after Charles had agreed to abandon the restoration attempt and cease further armed resistance.

Enlarged detail from photograph 20

20b. Emperor Charles and Empress Zita at the close of the failed restoration attempt.

The royal couple were subsequently placed under guard and removed from Hungary. On 6 November 1921, the Hungarian National Assembly formally terminated the sovereign rights of Charles and the hereditary claim of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to the Hungarian throne.

Inside the Imperial Train

The final photographs turn away from the crowds and ceremonies. They show the modest private and working spaces inside the train that had served as transport, headquarters and temporary residence during the undertaking.

Photograph 21. A sleeping compartment inside the imperial train, with a narrow bed, heavy blankets, curtains and a small framed picture.

Photograph 22. A uniformed attendant carries refreshments through a carriage fitted with tables and upholstered seating. A railway map of Hungary hangs on the wall behind him.

Historical references

• 1914-1918 Online: Charles I, Emperor of Austria
• Otto von Habsburg Foundation: King’s Coup from a Child’s Point of View
• Rubicon: The Dethronement Act of 1921
• Charles IV of Hungary’s attempts to retake the throne

All photographs by the studio of Ármin Schäffer, October 1921.
Original photographic prints and enlarged details from the Tűzkereszt Collection.
© Tűzkereszt Archive. Reproduction or publication requires prior permission.