Ceremonial Hall
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Transcript
In 1751, Maria Theresa visited Gödöllő, an event that demonstrated just how high Grassalkovich had climbed within the Habsburg world. Hosting a sovereign was expensive theatre: rooms, food, servants, horses and protocol all had to perform status flawlessly.
Ceremonial halls were therefore instruments of politics. They allowed a magnate to show loyalty while also displaying his own resources. The palace’s grand spaces should not be imagined as permanently full of balls. Much of their value lay in being ready for exceptional moments when hierarchy had to be made visible.