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In the course of the Josephinian reforms, monasteries were dissolved and church property was fundamentally transformed. At that time, Bukovina was still a young province of the Habsburg Empire. The Orthodox Church dominated denominationally. As early as 1783, a Greek-Oriental religious fund was created based on the church property. This institution was fundamentally different from Catholic funds, since it was regionally anchored from the start. As the largest landowner of Bukovina, this institution developed into a factor that shaped the region and society significantly until it was dissolved in 1949. The analysis of the Bukovinian Religious Fund in its importance for the design, development and nationalization of the region as part of the Habsburg monarchy as well as Greater Romania is the subject of the monograph. It offers a surprisingly new insight into a neglected research field, far beyond the region.

A comprehensive secularisation process in the course of the Josephinian reforms led to a complete restructuring of church assets. As early as 1783 a Greek-Oriental Religious Fund attributed to the Bukovina was established. Its growing economic and political role made this institution a major factor in the development of the region. It kept this important position until its eventual dissolution in the course of socialist restructuring of Romania in 1949.