This chapter examines how Austrian patriotic culture came to pervade the city’s streets. It demonstrates that an Austrian mobilization did take place in the Bohemian lands and addresses the larger question of the wartime relationship between state and civil society in the Habsburg Empire. The patriotic discourse was not just imposed from above, it was also abundantly relayed by private associations and among the public through denunciations and public collections. The wartime patriotic culture became part of the urban landscape through the display of flags, processions in the streets, and the ban on pan-Slavic colors. Prague’s inhabitants contributed to collections for soldiers or widows and orphans, and were constantly expected to join in the common sacrifice. Volunteers raising money as well as ubiquitous posters urging them to give more for war victims were constant reminders of a conflict that became inescapable in everyday life.

The discovery of the forbidden relationships often revealed much about the local communities, be it a factory or a village. Denunciations were common, although they were not always motivated by the fact that a foreign POW was seen with a local woman. Numerous denunciations resulted from outrage at indecent behavior, adultery, or excessive noise. Guards were perhaps the most frequent discoverers of forbidden relations (it was their duty to prevent them and to periodically search the prisoners' possessions), but a number of guards warned the couples or tacitly tolerated the relations.