City history

Examples of celebrating local dates dedicated to events from Lviv's past, on one way or another, was either an imitation of what was already happening in the city during the emperor's visits and religious practices, or borrowing Western progressive models of modern political life. Therefore, when analyzing these events, the interpretation, arguments and explanations of "why this was being done" have more weight than anything else; more precisely, it is important to see how local history was woven into the national narrative and used in the political struggle.

post picture — "City history" and political mobilization in Lviv in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
During the period of autonomy, numerous patriotic events were regularly held in Lviv to mark various historical events. These were often all-Polish anniversaries or anniversaries of the January or November Uprisings, the 3rd May Constitution Day, etc. However, there were also examples of truly local dates dedicated to events from Lviv's past.

post picture — 350th anniversary of the Rifle Association in Lviv (1896)
On October 18, 1896, the 350th anniversary of the Rifle Association was celebrated in Lviv. It could be an ordinary anniversary of an ordinary organization but for the role of the Strzelnica in the city’s political life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

post picture — Feast of Lviv's tailors' "guild" (1900)
St. Anna's day, July 29, was considered a professional feast of Lviv's tailors' "guild." The restoration of this celebration practice at the city-wide level had a strong political basis. The initiators of the event referred to a tradition that existed before the 1772 partition of Poland in Lviv and, according to the organizers, was supposed to be restored in 1900.

post picture — Celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Regional Fire Association foundation
On August 4-7, 1900 the celebration of the 25th anniversary of foundation of the Voluntary Local Fire Society (Ochotnicza straż pożarna) was held in Lviv. Delegates from other territorial fire societies of the area as well as the ones from Bukovyna and Czechia participated in the celebration.

post picture — 250th Anniversary of the Siege of Lviv by Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s Army (1655-1905)
Two almost simultaneous events dedicated to one episode in history, the siege of Lviv in 1655, which demonstrate the confrontation between Ukrainian and Polish society in Lviv at that time.

post picture — The 550th anniversary of the shoemakers' guild (May 1907)
In May 1907, Lviv celebrated 550th anniversary of the shoemakers’ guild. In fact, any anniversary "older" than the period of Galicia being under the rule of the Habsburgs is an example of the use of history in national politics, when some relic from the times of, for example, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was interpreted as valuable heritage of previous generations and as an example to follow.

post picture — 40th anniversary of the Fire Association Sokół (May 30-31, 1909)
In 1909, Lviv celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Fire Association Sokół. The anniversary of this association was an opportunity to demonstrate success in city management and to show that a Polish association was capable of effective self-organization. Also, it was an opportunity to "play with one's muscles" as the event had a clearly paramilitary character.

post picture — The Corpus Christi feast, the Rifle Association and the "rifleman king" election
The Corpus Christi feast, celebrated on the 60th day after Easter, was the most significant annual Roman Catholic celebration in Lviv. It had a distinctly national character and was interpreted as "Polish."

post picture — Anniversary of Lviv Jan Kazimierz University (1912)
In 1912, Lviv decided to celebrate the "250th anniversary of the university", taking as a starting point the year 1661, when the Jesuit Academy was founded.