Reconciling national and imperial identity : royal masses and commemorative masses in Kunszentmárton

A celebration brings the past into the present. And the attitude towards the past shapes the identity awareness of the commemorating group. Collective identity is often expressed by celebratory, ceremonial communication. The celebration can mean acceptance of the existing world order. Through the analysis of a previously unknown and unexplored source group, the article examines from this point of view the commemorative church ceremonies held between 1867 and 1914 in a single settlement, including the invitations to so-called royal masses. A church ceremony held within denominational frames was the accepted form of celebration in that period. Through its analysis of these ceremonies the study shows how the judgement of Habsburg ruler Francis Joseph (King of Hungary) who had crushed the 1848/49 Hungarian war of independence, and of the historical events changed over the decades. In the course of this process, Habsburg fam-ily events and commemorative days of the war of independence became part of a festive order expressing a dynastic and imperial sense of identity