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Fin de sicle Vienna

Vienna in 1900 was a shimmering fabric composed of contradictions such as Dream and Reality and Death and !ros and some of the most prominent names in the history of !uropean culture" #he creati$e literary% artistic% architectural and musical talent concentrated in the city at the turn of the &0th century was unmatched"

'rban (rowth and De$elopment By 1900 Vienna had evolved into the cultural focus of Central Europe, not least thanks to its rapid urban development compared to other great European cities ondon, !aris and Berlin" #ith the arrival of ne$ immigrants and t$o ma%or development pro%ects, Vienna had gro$n enormously in the 19th century" Bet$een 1&'0 and 1910 the population more than doubled from 900,000 to more than t$o million" ( ma%or development in the middle of the 19th century sa$ the construction of the magnificent )ing Boulevard and the monumental buildings along it" Bet$een 1&*0 and 1&90 an area of around 1"* s+uare kilometers $as filled $ith cultural monuments ,-tate .pera, Burgtheater, museums/, huge apartment buildings and political, commercial and academic edifices ,City 0all, !arliament, -tock E1change, 2niversity, -chool of (pplied (rts/" (t the same time old buildings $ere renovated, e1tended or replaced" (s a result of this process Viennese architecture gained an international reputation and the construction industry prospered, faltering only for a short time as a result of the stock market crash of 1&'3" 4he )ingstrasse architects completed the ma%or public buildings, $hile their successors turned more to private commissions" .ne ma%or public and essential infrastructural pro%ect, the urban rail transit system ,5-tadtbahn6/, $as nevertheless put off for so long that it $as left to .tto #agner in 1&97 to start building the 78 km of track and over 30 stations"

'neasy )ohabitation Vienna $as the capital of the (ustro90ungarian Empire, $hich consisted of 18 nations and $ell over 80 million inhabitants" :t $as held together by Emperor ;ran< =oseph :, a symbolic figurehead $hose long reign lasted from 1&7& to 191*, and by a highly efficient administrative apparatus" -ub%ects streamed to the capital from all over the Empire, bringing together the most diverse ethnic and religious groups" 4heir social circumstances also differed considerably and gave rise to conflict, $ith the immigrants suffering in particular from e1ploitative laisse<9faire $orking conditions" 4his all created a fertile breeding ground for $orkers> organi<ations, trade unions and social democratic movements" 4he term 5V?lkerkerker6 ,prison of nations/ illustrates the nationality problem from the point of vie$ of the -lavs, $ho made up almost 80 per cent of the population" #hereas the 0ungarians had become a second nation state follo$ing the compromise of 1&*', the -lavs ,C<echs, !oles, -erbs, Croats, 2krainians, etc"/ did not en%oy the same status" 4he tensions of this epoch and the fertile interaction bet$een the different nationalities have had a large number of conse+uences going far beyond the famous Viennese Cuisine $ith its 0ungarian spice and Bohemian versatility"

*rchitecture+ ,tto -agner% .osef /offmann% *dolf 0oos .tto #agner ,1&719191&/ $as Viennese, but almost half of the graduates of the 5#agner -chool6 at the (cademy of ;ine (rts came from the eastern and southern parts of the Empire" (mong them $ere =osef 0offmann ,1&'09198*/ from @oravia ,today part of the C<ech )epublic/, and =osef !leAnik ,1&'B9198'/ and @a1 ;abiani ,1&*8919*B/ from -lovenia" .ther students from @oravia, $ith its mi1ed linguistic population, included =oseph @aria .lbrich ,1&*'9190&/ and (dolf oos ,1&'091933/" 4hese figures $ere responsible for much of the building activity around the turn of the centuryC the stations, railings and bridges of the -tadtbahn ,urban rail$ay/, the @a%olica 0ouse and @usenhaus on the #ien<eile, -t" eopold am -teinhof, the first modern church in Europe, and the !ost .ffice -avings Bank $ere all designed by .tto #agner bet$een 1&97 and 1910" 4hen there $ere the villas by =osef 0offmann, $ho founded the #iener #erkstDtte in 1903 together $ith Eolo @oser" .ne of the 0offmann villas at 0ohe #arte is the semi9detached house for his artist colleagues Eolo @oser and Carl @oll" 4$o houses on, in Villa (st, (lma @ahler9#erfel, femme fatale of the B0th century and heroine of !aulus @anker>s theatrical spectacle 5(lma6, had a prominent salon in the 1930s" 4he -ecession, designed to give the young artist rebels an e1hibition venue, $as built by

#agner>s colleague =oseph @aria .lbrich" #agner>s students !leAnik and ;abiani designed the Facherl90aus and Church of the 0oly -pirit, and the (rtaria90aus and 2rania, respectively" (dolf oos $as a contentious supporter of classical ornamentation, believing that the invention of ne$ ornaments $as a time9$asting and degenerate manifestation" 0is criticism $as directed in particular at the (rt Gouveau ,=ugendstil/ ornamentation of #agner>s students and colleagues and practically everything that came from the #iener #erkstDtte" 4he apartment and office building on @ichaelerplat< designed by oos for the tailors Holdman I -alatsch makes sparing use of classical ornamentation, but most of his contemporaries, accustomed to elaborate neo9Baro+ue decoration, found it more difficult to accept than the 5ne$6 (rt9Gouveau dJcor and openly denigrated it, sarcastically referring to the building as the 5house $ithout eyebro$s6"

0iterature 1 )offeehouses 5(dolf oos and :, he literally and : linguistically, have done nothing else than to sho$ that there is a difference bet$een an urn and a chamber pot""",6 $rote Earl Eraus ,1&'79193*/ another prominent personality born in Bohemia regarding the intellectual similarities bet$een himself and his friend oos" !ainters, musicians, architects, poets, %ournalists and other intellectuals met in CafJ Hriensteidl, CafJ Central or CafJ @useum" 4he Hriensteidl $as situated on the site of the neo9Baro+ue !alais 0erberstein on @ichaelerplat< built in 1&99" :ts rich ornamentation is in stark contrast to the Holdman I -alatsch building, kno$n today as the oos 0ouse that $as erected %ust ten years later" :n the 1&90s CafJ Hriensteidl $as the meeting place of the 5Koung Vienna6 literary circle headed by 0ermann Bahr" Earl Eraus, also a regular at the Hriensteidl, $as a vociferous opponent of the anti9naturalistic literary modernists $ith their penchant for 5decadence6 and $as particularly critical of 0ermann Bahr" :n the 5;ackel6, a maga<ine $ritten for the most part by Eraus himself and published from 1&99 to 193*, he satiri<ed %ust about everything that displeased him" ;or decades, 0ermann Bahr $as a regular target of Eraus> vituperative tongue" (fter Eraus s$itched to CafJ Central, he pilloried the literati of the 5Koung Vienna poets> gallery6 he found there in a satire entitled 5Lie demolirte iteratur6" 4he title $as inspired by the closure and demolition of the first CafJ Hriensteidl in 1&9'" ,( ne$ cafJ by the name of Hriensteidl $as opened in !alais 0erberstein in 1990"/ :n spite of this, Earl Eraus $as a friend and supporter of !eter (ltenberg ,1&8991919/, coffeehouse habituJ and pleasure9seeker par e1cellence" (ltenberg in turn $as a friend of (lban Berg, a representative of modern music $ho composed orchestral songs based on lyrics by (ltenberg"

2usical 2odernism+ *tonality and *nti34emitism 4he term 5atonality6 aptly describes the irritation e1perienced by audiences accustomed to late )omantic music $hen they $ere confronted by the $orks of -choenberg and his students ,including Berg, #ebern and #elles</, the 5-econd Vienna -chool6" -choenberg, $ho $as later to develop his t$elve9tone composition method, conducted a concert in the Holden 0all of the @usikverein on @arch 31, 1913, $hich caused a scandal and $as to go do$n in history as the 5#atschenkon<ert6 ,ear9bo1ing concert/" 4he program included $orks by #ebern, -ch?nberg, Femlinksy, Berg and @ahler" (fter the interval, $hen Berg>s lieder based on the te1ts of picture postcards by !eter (ltenberg $ere due to be performed, members of the audience attempted to clamber on the stage and bo1 the conductor>s ears, putting an end to the concert and giving rise to legal action" Hustav @ahler ,1&*091911/, also born in Bohemia, $as director of the Vienna -tate .pera from 1&9' to 190' and as such $as the cro$n prince of the European music scene of the time, so to speak" Lisputes about his fre+uent engagements in other cities and anti9-emitic attacks ultimately caused @ahler to resign from this prestigious office" 0is $ife (lma is kno$n $ell beyond the confines of the music scene on account of her numerous love affairs and marriages" 4he couple met in Bertha Fuckerkandl>s salon, one of the most prominent meeting places of the Viennese grand bourgeoisie" @ahler>s difficult relationship $ith (lma may have been one of the reasons for his attempt to consult -igmund ;reud" 2ntil the year before @ahler>s death, ho$ever, all the appointments $ere cancelled" :n 1910 the t$o finally met in eiden ,Getherlands/ and for an afternoon ;reud analy<ed @ahler>s relationship $ith $omen"

4e5uality% 2orality and 4ociety+ Freud and 4chnit6ler (nalyses normally took place on ;reud>s famous couch in Berggasse and lasted much longer than a single afternoon" ;reud $as born in @oravia in 1&8* and his family moved to Vienna in 1&*0" 0e studied medicine in his ne$ home and used the term 5psychoanalysis6 for the first time in 1&9*" :n 1&99 ,postdated to 1900/ he published 54he :nterpretation of Lreams6" 4he fact that ;reud sa$ se1uality as the driving force behind many actions and $ishes disturbed and troubled a lot of people both then and no$" 0is contemporaries at the turn of the century $ere all the more uneasy on account of the blatant double standards that prevailed in marital relations and the fact that se1uality $as a taboo sub%ect that aroused both trepidation and curiosity" (s $ith @ahler, ;reud became ac+uainted $ith (rthur -chnit<ler ,1&*B91931/ very late in his life, although they lived in the same city, belonged to the same circles and dealt $ith similar themes" :t $as not until 19BB that they met in person, and ;reud $rote in a letter to -chnit<ler that he had

avoided him precisely because of their similarities, since he sa$ in -chnit<ler>s $orks the same assumptions, interests and results as his o$n" -chnit<ler>s family on his father>s side came from 0ungary" (rthur -chnit<ler $as initially a doctor of medicine like his father, speciali<ing in hysteria and hypnosis" (s a $riter he dealt $ith se1uality, seduction, adultery and the associated double standards, but also $ith the gro$ing anti9-emitism of Viennese society" @any of his short stories and plays, 5 ieutenant Hustl6, 5!rofessor Bernhardi6 or 5 a )onde6 have become classics of Herman literature" 0is 5Lream Govella6, incidentally, $as the inspiration for -tanley Eubrick>s final movie 5Eyes #ide -hut6 ,1999/"

,edipus% (eneration )onflicts and #radition 4he story of .edipus, $ho killed his father, has been a literary sub%ect since (nti+uity" ;reud identified the .edipus comple1 as an important stage in development" -implified and referring to cultural processes, it is also an e1pression of the need felt by artists to +uestion the $orks of previous generations" (t the turn of the B0th century this process took on a much clearer form than it had in previous centuries, possibly because at the end of the 5historic6 19th century people recogni<ed more than ever that there $ere other styles than those imposed by earlier generations, $hich had been fre+uently studied and categori<ed" 4he ne$ generation rebelled against the established institutions such as the #iener EMnstlerhaus ,(ssociation of (ustrian ;ine (rt/ and in 1&9' formed the Vienna -ecessionists" (mong the most prominent members of the -ecession $ere Hustav Elimt ,1&*B9191&/, Eolo @oser ,1&*&9191&/, =osef 0offmann ,1&'09198*/ and =oseph @aria .lbrich ,1&*'9190&/" 4o the dismay of many, .tto #agner, by this time almost *0 years old and since 1&*7 .rdinary !rofessor of (rchitecture at the prestigious Vienna (cademy of (rt, aligned himself $ith the young -ecessionists" @any of them had been his students and colleagues" .lbrich, architect of the -ecession e1hibition building constructed in 1&9&, collaborated $ith #agner in the design of the -tadtbahn buildings" Eolo @oser designed the golden ornamentations on #agner>s house at #ien<eile 3& and the glass $indo$s for the 5Eirche am -teinhof ,church/" 0offmann studied under #agner and others" :n fact, #agner>s students $ere firmly rooted in the old traditions, a fact that $as often overlooked in the protest against their 5historicist6 predecessors" Even the name of the -ecessionist association, Ver -acrum ,-acred -pring/, is a traditional one, referring as it does to the ancient rite of rene$al" Hustav Elimt ,1&*B191&/, $ho $as completely familiar $ith the -acred -pring of the turn of the century, discovered the gilding and ornamental richness of early Christian and medieval mosaics $hile in )avenna and Venice" 0is reaction to these impressions can be seen in his 5golden period6,

including one of his most famous $orks 54he Eiss6 ,190'N0&/" 4he sensuousness in many of his portraits of $omen, nudity, pregnant bodies and daring poses illustrates the themes of death and Eros, the cycle of life that $as such a popular notion at the time, dealt $ith by ;reud and -chnit<ler in their respective 5media6" :n the years before the ;irst #orld #ar other ne$ young artists attacked conventional perceptions" !rominent among these artists $ere Egon -chiele ,1&909191&/ and .skar Eokoschka ,1&&*9 19&0/, the most $ell kno$n e1ponents of (ustrian E1pressionism" Both of them e1hibited $orks in 190& and 1909 under Elimt>s patronage at the Vienna (rt -ho$" Earlier, in 190', !icasso had painted the 5Lemoiselles d>(vignon6 in !aris, the first painting in the Cubist style one of the fe$ modern movements not to have been born in turn9of9the9century Vienna"

#wilight and /absburg 7ostalgia 4he -acred -pring of the -ecessionists $as follo$ed not by a summer but by the ;irst #orld #ar ,191791&/" Luring this time all of the ornamental richness of the turn of the century, be it nouveau or classical, disappeared together $ith the culture from $hich it had been born" 4o the survivors and follo$ing generations 5Vienna in 19006 may therefore be seen as the glo$ing t$ilight of European high culture" =oseph )oth ,1&9791939/ $as also born in one of the outposts of the Empire, Halicia ,no$ 2kraine/, shortly before the end of the 0absburg monarchy" ike many of the artists discussed here, )oth $as of =e$ish ancestry" 0e $rote 54he )adet<ky @arch6 ,193B/ at a time $hen anti9-emitism $as rampant" 4his novel $as and is regarded as a transfiguring nostalgic representation of the decline of the 5:mperial and )oyal @onarchy6, although subtler interpretations are also present" 4his e1iled (ustrian, Catholic =e$ and social democratic monarchist $as in the best possible position to distinguish bet$een operetta and reality" (nd he of all people must have e1perienced the reality of the 1930s as a step back$ards for humanity that put even the most blatant shortcomings of the monarchy in a softer light"