The toothache god
Der Zahnweh-Herrgott is a novella by the Austrian writer Franz Karl Ginzkey (1871–1963), which first appeared in 1922.
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On the back of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna there is a well-known figure of the Man of Sorrows , popularly referred to as " Toothache Lord God ". In the author's youth, this one happily passed by. He also had the following experience with the figure:
When he still had some time to meet in downtown Vienna, he went for a walk in the rain, waiting. A married couple caught his attention, which he followed. He watched the woman seem impatient for something. When her husband got on the tram, he heard the woman's name: Magda. She went on alone and got into an officer's carriage on Stephansplatz in front of the figure of the Toothache Lord. In a spontaneous movement, the author quickly approached the carriage and shouted through an opening in the interior of the car: "You shouldn't commit adultery, Magda!"
Years later the author met a university professor in Styria whom he only knew through correspondence, but not personally. To his surprise, it was that Magda's husband. During dinner in his house, the couple made a very harmonious and loving impression. He learned that this had not been the case before; It was only since they moved from Vienna five years ago that their relationship to one another had noticeably improved. Since that time, Mrs. Magda, who had previously been rather free-spirited, was very religious and always carried a picture of the toothache Lord with her. Uncomfortably touched and mindful of his youthful prank, the author wondered whether he should tell the woman the truth, who had obviously taken his words at the time for a divine warning. But then he left again and "it seemed to him the best that everything stayed as the toothache god had arranged."
expenditure
- From strange ways . Seven stories. L. Staackmann, Leipzig 1922.
- Brigitte and Regine and other seals . With an afterword by Stefan Zweig . Reclam, Leipzig 1924.
- Brigitte and Regine . Novellas. With an afterword by Karl Hans Strobl . New edition. Reclam, Leipzig 1934.
- Master tales . Paul Zsolnay, Vienna 1950.
- Selected works in four volumes . Vol. 2 novellas. Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1960.
- The Toothache Lord God and other short stories . Book club Donauland, Vienna 1982.