The
German phrase
kaiserlich und königlich (,
Imperial and Royal), typically abbreviated as
k. u. k.,
k. und k.,
k. & k. in German (in all cases the "und" is always spoken unabbreviated),
cs. és k. (császári és királyi) in Hungarian,
c. a k. (císarský a královský) in Czech,
C. i K. (Cesarski i Królewski) in Polish,
c. in k. (cesarski in kraljevski) in Slovenian,
c. i kr. (carski i kraljevski) in Croatian, and
I.R. (
imperial regio) in Italian, refers to the Court of the Habsburgs in a broader historical perspective (see below). Some modern authors restrict its use to the Dual Monarchy of
Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. During that period, it indicated that the Habsburg monarch reigned simultaneously as the
Emperor of Austria and as the
King of Hungary, while the two territories were joined in a
real union (akin to a two-state federation in this instance). The acts of the common government, which only was responsible for the Imperial & Royal ("I&R") Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the I&R Ministry of War and the I&R Ministry of Finance (financing only the two other ministries), were carried out in the name of "His Imperial and Royal Majesty" and the central governmental bodies had their names prefixed with
k. u. k.
