Carl Techet

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Carl Techet (born February 27, 1877 in Vienna ; † January 19, 1920 ) was an Austrian satirical writer in the period before and during the First World War .

Life

His father gave him a solid high school education, which led to an academic education. From 1902 he worked as a scientific assistant at the kk zoological station in Trieste . In 1907 Techet was transferred to the kk Staatsrealschule Kufstein , where he taught natural history and chemistry. As a teacher, he was highly valued by his students and colleagues, but because of his socio-critical attitude he found little connection in Kufstein society.

The painful experiences in Kufstein and the ineffectiveness of his efforts to return to his old place of work in Trieste made him decide to write a mockery of the Tyroleans that would explain to the readers the excesses of the traditionally conservative value system and the double standards of their behavior should show. To this end, he pulled into the light of day everything that he had experienced and had to witness in what he believed to be an ultra-conservative and anti-progressive country of hypocrisy and Phariseeism: the obsession with which the Church condemned all sexual activity before marriage that led to it A stark contrast to reality, expressed in an extremely high number of children born out of wedlock, cuckoo children and abortions, inbreeding , drunkenness, the lack of hygiene awareness in the country, the blind patriotism of the Tyroleans, the aversion to everything foreign, the hatred of Jews, the excesses tourism and many other undesirable developments that were shamefully concealed in a society that understood any deviation from social norms to be a sin . Techet packaged his criticism of social conditions in short, robust stories and poems, some of which are written in dialect .

The publication of the work, which appeared in 1909 under the title " Far from Europe - Tyrol without a mask" and was intended by Techet as a satirical review of his stay in Tyrol, triggered a first-rate literary scandal. Although the brochure was published under the pseudonym “Sepp Schluiferer” and went to press in Munich, the true identity of the author was quickly revealed. The hatred that Techet met after his discovery was unprecedented: In Kufstein, the citizens' committee believed it had to distance itself from the content of the book with a resolution and publicly announced how much it regretted that the author was once one of the city's residents would have. The daily press excitedly reported the unfair intentions that Techet was pursuing with this "Book of Hate". Rudolf Jenny, the editor of the satirical weekly newspaper Tiroler Wastl , who was otherwise no friend of the clerical-conservative party, even let himself be carried away to say that in this particular case he did not consider the use of lynching to be inappropriate.

Because of this hostility, Techet, who had to fear for his life, fled to Munich, where he could feel reasonably safe. The disciplinary proceedings initiated by the school authorities ended with the transfer to Proßnitz in Moravia ; the discharge from school service could just be averted. After teaching at the grammar school there for four years, he retired at the age of 38 due to illness. Techet spent the last years up to his death in Vienna, where he continued to work as a writer.

The effect that emanated from his main work "Far from Europe" could no longer be achieved with his later writings. In his last book “Wie Sie sind”, which appeared shortly before his death in 1919, Techet dealt with his relationship to women, which was quite complicated: His criticism of the weaker sex mostly only concerned a certain category of women, but not the woman herself; sometimes he even went into the opposite and became an enthusiastic eulogy of women. This inner turmoil was probably also the reason that Techet did not enter into a permanent relationship in his life and died childless.

Works

  • From my little world. Of plants, animals, people . Feuer-Verlag, Leipzig 1924.
  • Far from Europe. Short stories in dark latitudes; Depiction of the country and people of a not everyday satirical kind . Edition Löwenzahn, Innsbruck 1992, ISBN 3-900521-20-4 (repr. Of the Munich edition 1909)
  • The secret of the Szipar ruins . Verlag Joachim, Munich 1918.
  • People without laughter. A Philistine story from quiet days . Verlag Joachim, Munich 1919.
  • Strange yet true. Short stories . Verlag Joachim, Munich 1918.
  • Unhappy love. Novel . Verlag Joachim, Leipzig 1922.
  • Peoples, fatherlands and princes. A contribution to the development of Europe . Verlag Joachim Verlag, Munich 1913.
  • From dead Austria. Satires . Verlag Joachim, Leipzig 1922.
  • As they are. A women's book for men . Verlag Joachim, Munich 1919.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Innsbrucker Nachrichten December 16, 1909, p. 4
  2. ^ Salzburger Volksblatt December 6, 1909, p. 7
  3. ↑ Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung, May 10, 1919, p. 424


personal data
SURNAME Techet, Carl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian satirical writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1920