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Karl Kraus (28 April 1874 – 12 June 1936) was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist,
aphorist An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
, playwright and poet. He directed his satire at the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics. He was nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
three times.


Biography


Early life

Kraus was born into the wealthy Jewish family of Jacob Kraus, a papermaker, and his wife Ernestine, née Kantor, in
Jičín Jičín (; german: Jitschin or ''Gitschin'') is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republi ...
,
Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...
,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(now the Czech Republic). The family moved to
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
in 1877. His mother died in 1891. Kraus enrolled as a law student at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
in 1892. Beginning in April of the same year, he began contributing to the paper , starting with a critique of
Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He recei ...
's ''
The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fro ...
''. Around that time, he unsuccessfully tried to perform as an actor in a small theater. In 1894, he changed his field of studies to philosophy and
German literature German literature () comprises those literature, literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy a ...
. He discontinued his studies in 1896. His friendship with
Peter Altenberg Peter Altenberg (9 March 1859 – 8 January 1919) was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He played a key role in the genesis of early modernism in the city. Biography He was born Richard Engländer on 9 March 1859 in Vienna. The nom de p ...
began about this time.


Career


Before 1900

In 1896, Kraus left university without a diploma to begin work as an actor, stage director and performer, joining the
Young Vienna Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...
group, which included
Peter Altenberg Peter Altenberg (9 March 1859 – 8 January 1919) was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He played a key role in the genesis of early modernism in the city. Biography He was born Richard Engländer on 9 March 1859 in Vienna. The nom de p ...
,
Leopold Andrian Leopold Andrian, actually Leopold Freiherr Ferdinand von Andrian zu Werburg (May 9, 1875 in Berlin − November 19, 1951 in Fribourg) was an Austrians, Austrian Austrian literature, author, dramatist and diplomat. Life and career Andrian came f ...
,
Hermann Bahr Hermann Anastas Bahr (; 19 July 1863 – 15 January 1934) was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic. Biography Born and raised in Linz, Bahr studied in Vienna, Graz, Czernowitz and Berlin, devoting special attention to philosophy, ...
,
Richard Beer-Hofmann Richard Beer-Hofmann (11 July 1866 in Vienna – 26 September 1945 in New York City) was an Austrian dramatist and poet. Beer-Hofmann was born to Jewish parents. His mother died within a week of his birth and after her death, he was adopted a ...
,
Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...
,
Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...
, and
Felix Salten Felix Salten (; 6 September 1869 – 8 October 1945) was an Austro-Hungarian author and literary critic in Vienna. Life and death Salten was born Siegmund Salzmann on 6 September 1869 in Pest, Austria-Hungary. His father was Fülöp Salzmann, ...
. In 1897, Kraus broke from this group with a biting satire, (''Demolished Literature''), and was named Vienna correspondent for the newspaper ''Breslauer Zeitung''. One year later, as an uncompromising advocate of Jewish assimilation, he attacked the founder of modern Zionism,
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
, with his polemic (''A Crown for Zion''). The title is a play on words, in that ''Krone'' means both "crown" and the currency of Austria-Hungary from 1892 to 1918; one ''Krone'' was the minimum donation required to participate in the
Zionist Congress The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני העו ...
in
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, and Herzl was often mocked as the "king of Zion" (''König von Zion'') by Viennese anti-Zionists. On 1 April 1899, Kraus renounced Judaism, and in the same year he founded his own newspaper, ' (''The Torch''), which he continued to direct, publish, and write until his death, and from which he launched his attacks on
hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...
,
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
, corruption of the
Habsburg empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
,
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
of the
pan-German Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...
movement,
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
economic policies, and numerous other subjects.


1900–1909

In 1901 Kraus was sued by
Hermann Bahr Hermann Anastas Bahr (; 19 July 1863 – 15 January 1934) was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic. Biography Born and raised in Linz, Bahr studied in Vienna, Graz, Czernowitz and Berlin, devoting special attention to philosophy, ...
and Emmerich Bukovics, who felt they had been attacked in ''Die Fackel''. Many lawsuits by various offended parties followed in later years. Also in 1901, Kraus found out that his publisher, Moriz Frisch, had taken over his magazine while he was absent on a months-long journey. Frisch had registered the magazine's front cover as a trademark and published the ''Neue Fackel'' (''New Torch''). Kraus sued and won. From that time, ''Die Fackel'' was published (without a cover page) by the printer Jahoda & Siegel. While ''Die Fackel'' at first resembled journals like ''
Die Weltbühne ''Die Weltbühne'' (‘The World Stage’) was a German weekly magazine for politics, art and the economy. It was founded in Berlin in 1905 as (‘The Theater’) by Siegfried Jacobsohn and was originally a theater magazine only. In 1913 it beg ...
'', it increasingly became a magazine that was privileged in its editorial independence, thanks to Kraus's financial independence. ''Die Fackel'' printed what Kraus wanted to be printed. In its first decade, contributors included such well-known writers and artists as
Peter Altenberg Peter Altenberg (9 March 1859 – 8 January 1919) was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He played a key role in the genesis of early modernism in the city. Biography He was born Richard Engländer on 9 March 1859 in Vienna. The nom de p ...
,
Richard Dehmel Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (18 November 1863 – 8 February 1920) was a German poet and writer. Life A forester's son, Richard Dehmel was born in Hermsdorf near Wendisch Buchholz (now a part of Münchehofe) in the Brandenburg Province, Ki ...
,
Egon Friedell Egon Friedell (born ''Egon Friedmann''; 21 January 1878, in Vienna – 16 March 1938, in Vienna) was a prominent Austrian cultural historian, playwright, actor and Kabarett performer, journalist and theatre critic. Friedell has been described as ...
,
Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense Expressionism, expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the ...
,
Else Lasker-Schüler Else Lasker-Schüler (née Elisabeth Schüler) (; 11 February 1869 – 22 January 1945) was a German-Jewish poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and her poetry. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressi ...
,
Adolf Loos Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to modernism and a widely-k ...
,
Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; 27 March 1871 – 11 March 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German author known for his Social criticism, socio-political novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the ...
,
Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
,
August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...
,
Georg Trakl Georg Trakl (3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which he wr ...
,
Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the de ...
,
Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and Poetry, poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''Th ...
,
Houston Stewart Chamberlain Houston Stewart Chamberlain (; 9 September 1855 – 9 January 1927) was a British-German philosopher who wrote works about political philosophy and natural science. His writing promoted German ethnonationalism, antisemitism, and scientific ra ...
and
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
. After 1911, however, Kraus was usually the sole author. Kraus's work was published nearly exclusively in ''Die Fackel'', of which 922 irregularly issued numbers appeared in total. Authors who were supported by Kraus include Peter Altenberg, Else Lasker-Schüler, and Georg Trakl. ''Die Fackel'' targeted corruption, journalists and brutish behaviour. Notable enemies were
Maximilian Harden __NOTOC__ Maximilian Harden (born Felix Ernst Witkowski, 20 October 1861 – 30 October 1927) was an influential German journalist and editor. Biography Born the son of a Jewish merchant in Berlin he attended the '' Französisches Gymnasium'' u ...
(in the mud of the
Harden–Eulenburg affair The Eulenburg affair, described as "the biggest homosexual scandal ever", was the public controversy surrounding a series of courts-martial and five civil trials regarding accusations of homosexual conduct, and accompanying libel trials, among pro ...
),
Moriz Benedikt Moriz Benedikt (sometimes spelled Moritz) (27 May 1849 – 18 March 1920), was a long-time editor of Neue Freie Presse and a powerful figure in Austrian politics and society. Raised in a Jewish family in Krasice, he was the magazine's subeditor ...
(owner of the newspaper ''
Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ex ...
''),
Alfred Kerr Alfred Kerr (''né'' Kempner; 25 December 1867 – 12 October 1948, surname: ) was an influential German theatre critic and essayist of Jewish descent, nicknamed the ''Kulturpapst'' ("Culture Pope"). Biography Youth Kerr was born in Breslau, ...
,
Hermann Bahr Hermann Anastas Bahr (; 19 July 1863 – 15 January 1934) was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic. Biography Born and raised in Linz, Bahr studied in Vienna, Graz, Czernowitz and Berlin, devoting special attention to philosophy, ...
, and
Johann Schober Johannes "Johann" Schober (born 14 November 1874 in Perg; died 19 August 1932 in Baden bei Wien) was an Austrian jurist, law enforcement official, and politician. Schober was appointed Vienna Chief of Police in 1918 and became the founding preside ...
. In 1902, Kraus published ''Sittlichkeit und Kriminalität'' (''Morality and Criminal Justice''), for the first time commenting on what was to become one of his main preoccupations: he attacked the general opinion of the time that it was necessary to defend sexual morality by means of criminal justice (''Der Skandal fängt an, wenn die Polizei ihm ein Ende macht'', ''The Scandal Starts When the Police Ends It''). Starting in 1906, Kraus published the first of his
aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
s in ''Die Fackel''; they were collected in 1909 in the book ''Sprüche und Widersprüche'' (''Sayings and Gainsayings''). In addition to his writings, Kraus gave numerous highly influential public readings during his career, put on approximately 700 one-man performances between 1892 and 1936 in which he read from the dramas of
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
,
Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He recei ...
,
Johann Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions an ...
,
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
, and
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, and also performed Offenbach's operettas, accompanied by piano and singing all the roles himself.
Elias Canetti Elias Canetti (; bg, Елиас Канети; 25 July 1905 – 14 August 1994) was a German-language writer, born in Ruse, Bulgaria to a Sephardic family. They moved to Manchester, England, but his father died in 1912, and his mother took her t ...
, who regularly attended Kraus's lectures, titled the second volume of his autobiography ''"Die Fackel" im Ohr'' (''"The Torch" in the Ear'') in reference to the magazine and its author. At the peak of his popularity, Kraus's lectures attracted four thousand people, and his magazine sold forty thousand copies. In 1904, Kraus supported
Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the de ...
to make possible the staging in Vienna of his controversial play ''
Pandora's Box Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phys ...
''; the play told the story of a sexually enticing young dancer who rises in German society through her relationships with wealthy men but later falls into poverty and prostitution.Carl R. Mueller, Introduction to ''Frank Wedekind: Four Major Plays'', Vol 1, Lyme, NH: Smith and Krauss, 2000 These plays' frank depiction of sexuality and violence, including lesbianism and an encounter with
Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...
, pushed against the boundaries of what was considered acceptable on the stage at the time. Wedekind's works are considered among the precursors of expressionism, but in 1914, when expressionist poets like
Richard Dehmel Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (18 November 1863 – 8 February 1920) was a German poet and writer. Life A forester's son, Richard Dehmel was born in Hermsdorf near Wendisch Buchholz (now a part of Münchehofe) in the Brandenburg Province, Ki ...
began producing war propaganda, Kraus became a fierce critic of them.Siegfried Mattl (2009
"The Ambivalence of Modernism From the Weimar Republic to National Socialism and Red Vienna"
''Modern Intellectual History'', Volume 6, Issue 01, April 2009, pp. 223–234
Sascha Bru, Gunther Martens (2006) ''The invention of politics in the European avant-garde (1906–1940)'' pp. 52–5 In 1907, Kraus attacked his erstwhile benefactor Maximilian Harden because of his role in the Eulenburg trial in the first of his spectacular ''Erledigungen'' (''Dispatches'').


1910–1919

After 1911, Kraus was the sole author of most issues of ''Die Fackel''. One of Kraus's most influential satirical-literary techniques was his clever
wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...
with quotations. One controversy arose with the text ''Die Orgie'', which exposed how the newspaper ''
Neue Freie Presse ''Neue Freie Presse'' ("New Free Press") was a Viennese newspaper founded by Adolf Werthner together with the journalists Max Friedländer and Michael Etienne on 1 September 1864 after the staff had split from the newspaper ''Die Presse''. It ex ...
'' was blatantly supporting Austria's Liberal Party's election campaign; the text was conceived as a guerrilla prank and sent as a fake letter to the newspaper (''Die Fackel'' would publish it later in 1911); the enraged editor, who fell for the trick, responded by suing Kraus for "disturbing the serious business of politicians and editors". After an obituary for
Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. F ...
, who had been assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, ''Die Fackel'' was not published for many months. In December 1914, it appeared again with an essay "In dieser großen Zeit" ("In this grand time"): "In dieser großen Zeit, die ich noch gekannt habe, wie sie so klein war; die wieder klein werden wird, wenn ihr dazu noch Zeit bleibt; … in dieser lauten Zeit, die da dröhnt von der schauerlichen Symphonie der Taten, die Berichte hervorbringen, und der Berichte, welche Taten verschulden: in dieser da mögen Sie von mir kein eigenes Wort erwarten." ("In this grand time, which I used to know when it was this small; which will become small again if there is time; … in this loud time that resounds from the ghastly symphony of deeds that spawn reports, and of reports that cause deeds: in this one, you may not expect a word of my own.") In the subsequent time, Kraus wrote against the World War, and censors repeatedly confiscated or obstructed editions of ''Die Fackel''. Kraus's masterpiece is generally considered to be the massive satirical play about the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, ''Die letzten Tage der Menschheit'' (''
The Last Days of Mankind ''The Last Days of Mankind'' (german: Die letzten Tage der Menschheit) is a satirical play by Karl Kraus. It is considered one of the most important of Kraus's works. One third of the play is drawn from documentary sources and is highly realist ...
''), which combines dialogue from contemporary documents with apocalyptic fantasy and commentary by two characters called "the Grumbler" and "the Optimist". Kraus began to write the play in 1915 and first published it as a series of special ''Fackel'' issues in 1919. Its epilogue, "Die letzte Nacht" ("The last night") had already been published in 1918 as a special issue.
Edward Timms Edward Timms (1937 in Windlesham, England – 21 November 2018 in Brighton, England) OBE, FBA was Research Professor and a former director of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies (which he founded in 1994) at University of Sussex. His work mainly ...
has called the work a "faulted masterpiece" and a "fissured text" because the evolution of Kraus's attitude during the time of its composition (from
aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word's ...
conservative to democratic
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
) gave the text structural inconsistencies resembling a
geological fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
. Also in 1919, Kraus published his collected war texts under the title ''Weltgericht'' (''World Court of Justice''). In 1920, he published the satire ''Literatur oder man wird doch da sehn'' (''Literature, or You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet'') as a reply to
Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and Poetry, poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''Th ...
's ''Spiegelmensch'' (''Mirror Man''), an attack against Kraus.


1920–1936

During January 1924, Kraus started a fight against Imre Békessy, publisher of the tabloid ''Die Stunde'' (''The Hour''), accusing him of extorting money from restaurant owners by threatening them with bad reviews unless they paid him. Békessy retaliated with a libel campaign against Kraus, who in turn launched an ''Erledigung'' with the catchphrase "Hinaus aus Wien mit dem Schuft!" ("Throw the scoundrel out of Vienna!"). In 1926, Békessy indeed fled Vienna to avoid arrest. Békessy achieved some later success when his novel ''Barabbas'' was the monthly selection of an American book club. A peak in Kraus's political commitment was his sensational attack in 1927 on the powerful Vienna police chief
Johann Schober Johannes "Johann" Schober (born 14 November 1874 in Perg; died 19 August 1932 in Baden bei Wien) was an Austrian jurist, law enforcement official, and politician. Schober was appointed Vienna Chief of Police in 1918 and became the founding preside ...
, also a former two-term chancellor, after 89 rioters were shot dead by the police during the 1927 July Revolt. Kraus produced a poster that in a single sentence requested Schober's resignation; the poster was published all over Vienna and is considered an icon of 20th-century Austrian history. In 1928, the play ''Die Unüberwindlichen'' (''The Insurmountables'') was published. It included allusions to the fights against Békessy and Schober. During that same year, Kraus also published the records of a lawsuit Kerr had filed against him after Kraus had published Kerr's war poems in ''Die Fackel'' (Kerr, having become a pacifist, did not want his earlier enthusiasm for the war exposed). In 1932, Kraus translated
Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
sonnets. Kraus supported the
Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
from at least the early 1920s, and in 1934, hoping
Engelbert Dollfuss Engelbert Dollfuß (alternatively: ''Dolfuss'', ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he a ...
could prevent Nazism from engulfing Austria, he supported Dollfuss's coup d'état, which established the Austrian fascist regime. This support estranged Kraus from some of his followers. In 1933 Kraus wrote ''Die Dritte Walpurgisnacht'' (''The Third
Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve), is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in ...
''), of which the first fragments appeared in ''Die Fackel''. Kraus withheld full publication in part to protect his friends and followers hostile to Hitler who still lived in the Third Reich from Nazi reprisals, and in part because "violence is no subject for polemic." This satire on Nazi ideology begins with the now-famous sentence, "" ("Hitler brings nothing to my mind"). Lengthy extracts appear in Kraus's apologia for his silence at Hitler's coming to power, "" ("Why ''Die Fackel'' is not published"), a 315-page edition of the periodical. The last issue of ''Die Fackel'' appeared in February 1936. Shortly after, he fell in a collision with a bicyclist and suffered intense headaches and loss of memory. He gave his last lecture in April, and had a severe heart attack in the Café Imperial on 10 June. He died in his apartment in Vienna on 12 June 1936, and was buried in the
Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...
cemetery in Vienna. Kraus never married, but from 1913 until his death he had a conflict-prone but close relationship with the Baroness
Sidonie Nádherná von Borutín Sidonia or Sidonie is a feminine given name which may refer to: People * Sidonie of Bavaria (1488–1505), eldest daughter of Duke Albert IV of Bavaria-Munich, wife of the Elector Palatine Louis V * Sidonie of Poděbrady (1449–1510), daughte ...
(1885–1950). Many of his works were written in Janowitz castle, Nádherný family property. Sidonie Nádherná became an important pen pal to Kraus and addressee of his books and poems. In 1911 Kraus was
baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
as a
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, but in 1923, disillusioned by the Church's support for the war, he left the Catholic Church, claiming sarcastically that he was motivated "primarily by antisemitism", i.e. indignation at
Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...
's use of the Kollegienkirche in Salzburg as the venue for a theatrical performance. Kraus was the subject of two books by
Thomas Szasz Thomas Stephen Szasz ( ; hu, Szász Tamás István ; 15 April 1920 – 8 September 2012) was a Hungarian-American academic and psychiatrist. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate M ...
, ''Karl Kraus and the Soul Doctors'' and ''Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry'', which portray Kraus as a harsh critic of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
and of
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
in general. Other commentators, such as
Edward Timms Edward Timms (1937 in Windlesham, England – 21 November 2018 in Brighton, England) OBE, FBA was Research Professor and a former director of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies (which he founded in 1994) at University of Sussex. His work mainly ...
, have argued that Kraus respected Freud, though with reservations about the application of some of his theories, and that his views were far less black-and-white than Szasz suggests.


Character

Karl Kraus was a subject of controversy throughout his lifetime.
Marcel Reich-Ranicki Marcel Reich-Ranicki (; 2 June 1920 – 18 September 2013) was a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the informal literary association Gruppe 47. He was regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the fi ...
called him 'vain, self-righteous and self-important'. Kraus's followers saw in him an infallible authority who would do anything to help those he supported. Kraus considered posterity his ultimate audience, and reprinted ''Die Fackel'' in volume form years after it was first published.Knight, Charles A. (2004) ''Literature of Satire'
pp. 252–6
/ref> A concern with language was central to Kraus's outlook, and he viewed his contemporaries' careless use of language as symptomatic of their insouciant treatment of the world. Viennese composer
Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...
described meeting the writer in 1932: "At a time when people were generally decrying the Japanese bombardment of Shanghai, I met Karl Kraus struggling over one of his famous comma problems. He said something like: 'I know that everything is futile when the house is burning. But I have to do this, as long as it is at all possible; for if those who were supposed to look after commas had always made sure they were in the right place, Shanghai would not be burning'." The Austrian author
Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...
once called Kraus "the master of venomous ridicule" (''der Meister des giftigen Spotts''). Up to 1930, Kraus directed his satirical writings to figures of the center and the left of the political spectrum, as he considered the flaws of the right too self-evident to be worthy of his comment. Later, his responses to the Nazis included ''The Third Walpurgis Night''. To the numerous enemies he made with the inflexibility and intensity of his partisanship, however, he was a bitter
misanthrope Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...
and ''poor would-be'' (
Alfred Kerr Alfred Kerr (''né'' Kempner; 25 December 1867 – 12 October 1948, surname: ) was an influential German theatre critic and essayist of Jewish descent, nicknamed the ''Kulturpapst'' ("Culture Pope"). Biography Youth Kerr was born in Breslau, ...
). He was accused of wallowing in hateful denunciations and ''Erledigungen'' reakings-off Along with
Karl Valentin Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882 in Munich – 9 February 1948 in Planegg) was a Bavarian comedian. He had significant influence on German Weimar culture. Valentin starred in many silent films in the 1920s, and was sometimes c ...
, he is considered a master of
gallows humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
.
Giorgio Agamben Giorgio Agamben ( , ; born 22 April 1942) is an Italian philosopher best known for his work investigating the concepts of the state of exception, form-of-life (borrowed from Ludwig Wittgenstein) and '' homo sacer''. The concept of biopolitics ( ...
compared
Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationis ...
and Kraus for their criticism of journalists and
media culture In cultural studies, media culture refers to the current Western capitalist society that emerged and developed from the 20th century, under the influence of mass media. The term alludes to the overall impact and intellectual guidance exerted by t ...
.
Gregor von Rezzori Gregor von Rezzori (; May 13, 1914 – April 23, 1998), born Gregor Arnulph Herbert Hilarius von Rezzori d’Arezzo, was an Austrian-born, Romanian, German-language novelist, memoirist, screenwriter and author of radio plays, as well as an actor, ...
wrote of Kraus, " islife stands as an example of moral uprightness and courage which should be put before anyone who writes, in no matter what language... I had the privilege of listening to his conversation and watching his face, lit up by the pale fire of his fanatic love for the miracle of the German language and by his holy hatred for those who used it badly." Kraus's work has been described as the culmination of a literary outlook. Critic Frank Field quoted the words
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
wrote of Kraus, on hearing of his death: "As the epoch raised its hand to end its own life, he was the hand."Frank Field, ''The Last Days of Mankind: Karl Kraus and his Vienna'', Macmillan, 1967, p. 242


Selected works

* ''Die demolierte Literatur'' emolished Literature(1897) * ''Eine Krone für Zion'' Crown for Zion(1898) * ''Sittlichkeit und Kriminalität'' orality and Criminal Justice(1908) * ''Sprüche und Widersprüche'' ayings and Contradictions(1909) * ''Die chinesische Mauer'' he Wall of China(1910) * ''Pro domo et mundo'' or Home and for the World(1912) * ''
Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions an ...
und die Nachwelt'' estroy and Posterity(1913) * ''Worte in Versen'' (1916–30) * ''Die letzten Tage der Menschheit'' (
The Last Days of Mankind ''The Last Days of Mankind'' (german: Die letzten Tage der Menschheit) is a satirical play by Karl Kraus. It is considered one of the most important of Kraus's works. One third of the play is drawn from documentary sources and is highly realist ...
) (1918) * ''Weltgericht'' he Last Judgment(1919) * ''Nachts'' t Night(1919) * ''Untergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie'' he End of the World Through Black Magic(1922) * ''Literatur'' (Literature) (1921) * ''Traumstück'' ream Piece(1922) * ''Die letzten Tage der Menschheit: Tragödie in fünf Akten mit Vorspiel und Epilog'' he Last Days of Mankind: Tragedy in Five Acts with Preamble and Epilogue(1922) * ''Wolkenkuckucksheim'' loud Cuckoo Land(1923) * ''Traumtheater'' ream Theatre(1924) * ''Epigramme'' pigrams(1927) * ''Die Unüberwindlichen'' he Insurmountables(1928) * ''Literatur und Lüge'' iterature and Lies(1929) * ''Shakespeares Sonette'' (1933) * ''Die Sprache'' anguage(posthumous, 1937) * ''Die dritte Walpurgisnacht'' he Third Walpurgis Night(posthumous, 1952) Some works have been re-issued in recent years: * , 1992 Suhrkamp, * ''Die Sprache'', Suhrkamp, * ''Die chinesische Mauer'', mit acht Illustrationen von Oskar Kokoschka, 1999, Insel, * ''Aphorismen. Sprüche und Widersprüche''. Pro domo et mundo. Nachts, 1986, Suhrkamp, * ''Sittlichkeit und Krimininalität'', 1987, Suhrkamp, * ''Dramen. Literatur, Traumstück, Die unüberwindlichen u.a.'', 1989, Suhrkamp, * ''Literatur und Lüge'', 1999, Suhrkamp, * ''Shakespeares Sonette'', Nachdichtung, 1977, Diogenes, * ''Theater der Dichtung mit Bearbeitungen von Shakespeare-Dramen'', Suhrkamp 1994, * ''Hüben und Drüben'', 1993, Suhrkamp, * ''Die Stunde des Gerichts'', 1992, Suhrkamp, * ''Untergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie'', 1989, Suhrkamp, * ''Brot und Lüge'', 1991, Suhrkamp, * ''Die Katastrophe der Phrasen'', 1994, Suhrkamp,


Works in English translation

* * ''No Compromise: Selected Writings of Karl Kraus'' (1977, ed. Frederick Ungar, includes poetry, prose, and aphorisms from ''Die Fackel'' as well as correspondences and excerpts from ''The Last Days of Mankind.)'' * ''In These Great Times: A Karl Kraus Reader'' (1984), ed. Harry Zohn, contains translated excerpts from ''Die Fackel'', including poems with the original German text alongside, and a drastically abridged translation of ''The Last Days of Mankind''. * ''Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus' Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry'' (1990) by Thomas Szasz contains Szasz's translations of several of Kraus' articles and aphorisms on psychiatry and psychoanalysis. * ''Half Truths and One-and-a-Half Truths: selected aphorisms'' (1990) translated by Hary Zohn. Chicago . * ''Dicta and Contradicta'', tr. Jonathan McVity (2001), a collection of aphorisms. * ''The Last Days of Mankind'' (1999) a radio drama broadcast on BBC Three.
Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Awards, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award, Tony for his ...
plays The Voice of God. Adapted and directed by Giles Havergal. The 3 episodes were broadcast from 6 to 13 December 1999. * Work in progress. An incomplete and extensively annotated English translation by Michael Russell of ''The Last Days of Mankind'' is available at http://www.thelastdaysofmankind.org. It consists currently of Prologue, Act I, Act II and the Epilogue, slightly more than 50 percent of the original text. This is part of a project to translate a complete performable text with a focus on performable English that in some (modest) ways reflects Kraus's prose and verse in German, with an apparatus of footnotes explaining and illustrating Kraus's complex and dense references. The all-verse Epilogue is now published as a separate text, available from Amazon as a book and on Kindle. Also on this site will be a complete "working'" translation by Cordelia von Klot, provided as a tool for students and the only version of the whole play accessible online, translated into English with the useful perspective of a German speaker. * ''The Kraus Project: Essays by Karl Kraus'' (2013) translated by
Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...
, with commentary and additional footnotes by Paul Reitter and
Daniel Kehlmann Daniel Kehlmann (; born 13 January 1975) is a German-language novelist and playwright of both Austrian and German nationality.www.abitofpitch.com
is dedicated to publishing selected writings of Karl Kraus in English translation with new translations appearing in irregular intervals. * ''The Last Days of Mankind'' (2015), complete text translated by Fred Bridgham and
Edward Timms Edward Timms (1937 in Windlesham, England – 21 November 2018 in Brighton, England) OBE, FBA was Research Professor and a former director of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies (which he founded in 1994) at University of Sussex. His work mainly ...
. Yale University Press. * ''The Last Days of Mankind'' (2016), alternate translation by Patrick Healy, November Editions *''Third Walpurgis Night: the Complete Text'' (2020), translated by Fred Bridgham. Yale University Press.


References


Citations


Sources

* ''Karl Kraus'' by L. Liegler (1921) * ''Karl Kraus'' by W. Benjamin (1931) * ''Karl Kraus'' by R. von Schaukal (1933) * ''Karl Kraus in Sebstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten'' by P. Schick (1965) * ''The Last Days of Mankind: Karl Kraus and His Vienna'' by Frank Field (1967) * ''Karl Kraus'' by W.A. Iggers (1967) * ''Karl Kraus'' by H. Zohn (1971) * ''Wittgenstein's Vienna'' by A. Janik and S. Toulmin (1973) * ''Karl Kraus and the Soul Doctors'' by T.S. Szasz (1976) * ''Masks of the Prophet: The Theatrical World of Karl Kraus'' by Kari Grimstad (1981) * ''McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama'', vol. 3, ed. by Stanley Hochman (1984)
''Karl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: Culture and Catastrophe in Habsburg Vienna''
by
Edward Timms Edward Timms (1937 in Windlesham, England – 21 November 2018 in Brighton, England) OBE, FBA was Research Professor and a former director of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies (which he founded in 1994) at University of Sussex. His work mainly ...
(1986) Yale University Press reviews

* ''Karl Kraus, Apocalyptic Satirist: The Post-War Crisis and the Rise of the Swastika'' by Edward Timms (2005) * ''Anti-Freud: Karl Kraus's Criticism of Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry'' by Thomas Szasz (1990) * ''The Paper Ghetto: Karl Kraus and Anti-Semitism'' by John Theobald (1996) * ''Karl Kraus and the Critics'' by Harry Zohn (1997) *
Otto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna
' by Chandak Sengoopta pp. 6, 23, 35–36, 39–41, 43–44, 137, 141–45 * Linden, Ari. "Beyond Repetition: Karl Kraus's 'Absolute Satire'." ''German Studies Review'' 36.3 (2013): 515–536. * Linden, Ari. "Quoting The Language Of Nature In Karl Kraus's Satires." ''Journal of Austrian Studies'' 46.1 (2013): 1–22. * *


External links




Truth and Beauty- a successor publication by his great-nephew, Eric Kraus

On Jonathan Franzen's Karl Kraus
by Joshua Cohen, at ''The London Review of Books''
Digitalized edition of ''Die Fackel''
(registration required) from the Austrian Academy of Science AAC (user interface in German and English)

– Online-Exhibition in German, including original film footage (2014) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, Karl 1874 births 1936 deaths 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian poets 20th-century Austrian male writers Anti-Zionist Jews Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Former Roman Catholics Aphorists Austrian essayists Jewish Austrian writers Austrian satirists Austrian male dramatists and playwrights Austrian male poets Austrian newspaper editors Austro-Hungarian Jews Austro-Hungarian writers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery German-language poets Jewish poets Male essayists Newspaper publishers (people) People from Jičín People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Young Vienna