Trained Austrian

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Learned Austrian is a (self) ironic term for people with insider knowledge about the country, people and customs, for those familiar with Austrian social and political conditions. Mostly it refers to born Austrians. Sometimes it is also used for newcomers, then it is an award.

About the concept and its history

The expression has been traceable since the beginning of the 20th century and is still popular in Austria today.

Daniel Spitzer (1835–1893) was surprised that the congratulations on Franz Grillparzer's (1791–1872) eightieth birthday in 1871 mainly contained the term “good Austrian”. He confessed that he could not imagine anything about it, that information about it would change every quarter of the moon even in authorized circles and that he had seen the judgment change in both directions with people who had always remained the same. "In order to be a good Austrian at all times, one must above all be a very practiced Austrian." Friedrich Torberg (1908–1979) sees the synonymous term "practiced Austrian" as a preliminary stage of the "now more popular fixed term" learned ›Austrians“.

The out Postelberg native Eduard Bacher (1846-1908), member of the German minority in Bohemia and friends with Theodor Herzl , was from 1879 editor of the Neue Freie Presse and championed in his editorials, a German liberal line, campaigned for maintaining the centralizing tendencies , fought especially against Czech politics in Bohemia and warned of the accelerated Slavicization of Austria. Thus he stood in stark contrast to the national and federalist Prime Minister of Cisleithanien , Count Eduard Taaffe (1833–1895), whose last term of office lasted from 1879 to 1893 (see also the Citizens' Ministry ). During this time he is said to have called Bacher a "learned German bohemian ", only then could one understand certain views (probably about the language). The term was then used in connection with other people or generally for this group of people.

Karl Kraus used the term “learned German bohemian” against Bacher in the “ Fackel ” three times from 1899 to 1902. Some also attribute the coining of the term “learned Austrian” to him. However, at least in the torch, he never used the term. Others ascribe the expression to Ferdinand Kürnberger (1821–1879), but without a specific source. It would fit in with his experiences and with what he has dealt with thematically.

In the corpus of Google books , the term first appeared in 1910 in the theater magazine Die Schaubühne , and this twice in its very own sense, especially for the then civil service state. Previous uses, especially in the daily or weekly press, cannot be ruled out.

  • Hermann Bahr (1863–1934) had already used the term “learned German Bohemian” in the 1909 novel Drut . In his farewell letter from 1910 for the Burgtheater director Paul Schlenther (1854–1916), who was in office from 1898 to 1910 , he explains why he was against Schlenther when he was appointed: his “Prussian skull” would never be treated appropriately, and treated appropriately learn higher authority. (In contrast to Heinrich Laube, who was also non-Viennese .) He would endeavor to be a loyal servant, to adhere to the guidelines, to be loyal to the authority and not suspect “that his authority expects of him, against their expressed will on their own Danger to act in order to reveal him if things go wrong, which one can never know in advance, but if things go well, to brag about him. ”Compared to a country theater, a Burgtheater director would be presented with good plays and actors, everything would go well Of course, he only had to use cunning and perseverance to sneak, blackmail or defy the authority's permission to run the theater properly. “After all, we have to be fair and we mustn't deny that the authorities mean well with the Burgtheater, which is why they cannot respect a director who does what they want, because they know each other! Schlenther will be amazed how she will let him down! Because an Austrian authority never forgives that if you obey it. Rightly not. Because in the end it always turns out badly at the authority itself. ”Schlenther had retained all the good qualities, only he had served the authority faithfully and took all its stupidities on his shoulders, which made him collapse. “The authorities themselves then gave him the final push. Is he wondering? I don't And nobody here. We expected that. It's the usual thank you. " We don't need to worry about the next director Alfred von Berger (1853–1912), because he is a trained Austrian."
  • Paul Stefan (1879–1943) reports on a possible new director of the Volksoper (who ultimately did not come) and offers a look back at the history of the house. This was built in the context of the Christian Social Party in order to "wrest the theater away from the Jews and to prepare a place of pure moral and artistic leisure for the Christian German people of Vienna." The Christian press rejoiced, the Jewish unchecked the disgrace and often kept silent: “In short, this theater became a political issue , like the Trautenau district court [Bohemia], the Leitomischler night watchman [Bohemia], the University of Trieste [at that time commercial college] or the sculptor Metzner [professorship in Vienna or going to Germany]. A trained Austrian knows what that means. I can only disclose the factual information to all other readers. [...] "

The term is often used to explain why minor grievances and contradictions in politics and administration in Austria are considered acceptable and why the “trained Austrian” is inclined to be “lenient” towards them. At the same time, however, a certain self-confidence is signaled, which is based on an insight into historical contexts and established structures. This solitary attitude is often criticized not only abroad. Helmut Qualtinger writes in the foreword to the photo book The Good Old Times about this often backward-looking view: "The trained Austrian sees this world through a filter: young, radiant, colorful, intact, the lost paradise."

In the Austrian literature of the 20th century, this expression plays a role as a metaphor for the self-image of Austrians, which has been taken up several times by literary studies. Franz Werfel and Heimito von Doderer often used this term in their literary works and writings.

At the end of the 20th century, the similarly used phrase developed by trained GDR citizens for people whose socialization had taken place in the GDR.

Examples of usage

"Well, all of that prompted Editha back then to the caretaker-police situation that we (as trained Austrians) anticipated."

- Heimito von Doderer in his novel Die Strudlhofstiege .

"We want to face this eyrie as trained Austrians, it's really about honor '- [...]"

- Heimito von Doderer exchanged letters with Albert Paris Gütersloh in Vienna. Doderer to Gütersloh, November 11, 1954.

"The trained Austrian has basically not come to terms with the fall of the monarchy to this day, yes, the renaissance of Old Austria (William M. Johnston) is a phenomenon that can be perceived today beyond the borders - [...]"

- Hannes Androsch , In Search of Identity.

"Being Austrian is a state of affairs, a golden cut between distances and forces, from which you can fall if you make a raw and clumsy movement."

- Heimito von Doderer quoted in: Hannes Androsch, In search of identity .

"As a trained Austrian, I had prepared a few variants in order to be prepared in every situation."

- Ernst Haeussermann in his book Herbert von Karajan .

"Anyone who is an old" learned "Austrian knows, however, that secret laws of Austrian blood and the mysterious favor of benevolent stars for the people of Austria the grace of awe, [...]"

- Joseph Roth in Works: Novels and Stories 1916–1929.

"As a" born and trained "Austrian I knew that there was one or more" back doors "with every ban."

- Kurt Pahlen in his autobiography.

literature

  • Michel Reffet: The trained Austrian. Franz Werfel and the Austrian self-image . In: literature and criticism . No. 21 , 1986, pp. 353-361 .
  • Norbert Mappes-Niediek : Austria for Germans: Insights into a foreign country . 4th edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-454-9 , p. 49 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  • Peter Stiegnitz , "[...] studied sociologist and trained Austrian [...]": Austria up close. A land between pleasure and suffering (=  an analysis ). Edition Va Bene, Klosterneuburg / Wien 2006, ISBN 3-85167-191-0 ( vabene.at [accessed on January 1, 2010] Book Description on the publisher's website).
  • Alfred Goubran : The trained Austrian. Idioticon . 2nd Edition. Willhelm Braumüller, Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-99100-095-2 .

See also

References and footnotes

  1. ^ A new classification of the Austrians. January 22, 1871, In: Daniel Spitzer: Viennese walks. New collection. 2nd Edition. L. Rosner, Vienna 1874, p. 133 ( online in the Google Book Search USA )
  2. ^ Friedrich Torberg: Self-judgment in literature: attempts from Grillparzer to Karl Kraus. In: Otto Schulmeister (Ed.): Spectrum Austriae. Austria past and present. Herder, 1957, p. 621.
  3. ^ Friedrich Torberg and the role of the Jews as bearers of the uniqueness of Austria. In: William M. Johnston: The Austrian man: cultural history of the peculiarity of Austria. Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2010, ISBN 3-205-78298-4 , p. 296 ( limited preview in the Google book search, volume 94 of studies on politics and administration. )
  4. ^ A b Emil Dovifat:  Bacher, Eduard. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 496 ( digitized version ).
  5. ^ Anton Bettelheim (Ed.): Biographisches Jahrbuch und Deutscher Nekrolog with the constant participation of Guido Adler, F. von Bezold, Alois Brandl. Volumes 12-13, G. Reimer, 1909.
  6. ^ Max Brod: The Prague Circle. Kohlhammer, 1966, p. 70.
  7. ↑ The torch. (No., page): 2.16 (1899, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ); 74.26 (1901); 124.12 (1902).
  8. ↑
    • Rudolf Henz (ed.): Word in the time. Volume 3, Stiasny, 1957, p. 55: "[...] but only to be understood as a" trained Austrian ", which expression of Karl Kraus Hannah Arendt applies to him."
    • Dietrich Weber: Heimito von Doderer. Hamburg 1963, p. 129: "[...] quite conciliatory, he is a" trained Austrian ", to use a word from Karl Kraus [...]."
    • Wolfgang Johannes Kayser: German literature in our time. 4th edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1966, p. 147: "[...] Austrian poetry is the poetry of the" learned Austrians "(the word comes from Karl Kraus) [...]."
    • Friedrich Heer : The King and the Empress: Friedrich and Maria Theresa, a German conflict. Paul List Verlag, 1983, ISBN 3-471-77829-2 , p. 94: "[...] a" learned Austrian "(Karl Kraus coined this word), complains: [...]" & p. 260: "An at the head of these "trained Austrians" (the word comes from Karl Kraus) is Friedrich Wilhelm Graf Haugwitz [...]. "
  9. ↑ Digital edition of the torch with full text search of the Austrian Academy of Sciences : Only in torch 168,31 (1921) does he describe Charles IV of Hungary as "more of a learned Hungarian [...] than a born one". In Fackel 876,145 (1932) he explains that a certain only suggestive idiom in a newspaper outside of Vienna would be difficult to understand, even for "learned Germans".
  10. ↑
    • Die Neue Zeit: weekly of the German social democracy. 35th year, 1916/1917, p 296 (with typos freestyle e nberger ) "Small mistakes, so on the constitutional structure of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, to talk to Kürenberger, only a skilled Austrians understands are excusable [...]. "
    • Peter Broucek (ed.): A general in the twilight: The memories of Edmund Glaises von Horstenau. Volume 1 or Volume 3 (Volume 67 of publications, Austria Commission for Modern History of Austria. ) Böhlau, 1980, ISBN 3-205-08740-2 , p. 464: “For every connoisseur of Old Austria, for every learned Austrian - expression of Kürnberger [...]. "
  11. ↑ Hermann Bahr: The witch Drut. , Chapter 2, Berlin 1929, p. 71, (online text: Hermann Bahr : The Drut Witch in the Gutenberg-DE project ) with “Klauer […] the» learned German Bohemian «, as Taaife called him”, apparently through a broken letter reaches the first “f” only in lower case; First appearance as Drut. S. Fischer 1909, p. 75 with "Klauer [...] the" learned German Bohemian ", as Taaffe called him".
  12. ↑ Hermann Bahr: Another farewell to Schlenther. In: The Schaubühne . Volume 6, Part 1, 1910, pp. 142-144.
  13. ^ Paul Stefan: Vienna Volksoper. In: The Schaubühne. Volume 6, Part 1, 1910, p. 613.
  14. ↑ Mirko Kovats: "Austria will slowly become poor". In: The press . September 11, 2009, quote: “Administrative reform has been an issue for years, but it never succeeded. As a trained Austrian, I ask: Why should it be successful now? "
  15. ^ Norbert Mappes-Niediek: Austria for Germans: Insights into a foreign country. 4th edition. Ch. Links Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-454-9 , p. 49 ( books.google.at ). Quote: "Only later did we understand that, as trained Austrians, they had behaved completely rationally."
  16. ↑ Peter Diem : Hymns and songs that moved Austria. ( Memento of January 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, p. 11). Quote: "As a trained Austrian, one is inclined to be lenient in such cases."
  17. ↑ Franz Hubmann: The good old days. Photographs from Vienna. Preface by Helmut Qualtinger. St. Peter Verlag, Salzburg 1967.
  18. ↑ Frank Joachim Eggers: "I am a Catholic with a Jewish brain" - criticism of modernity and religion by Joseph Roth and Franz Werfel. In: Contributions to literature and literary studies of the 20th century. Volume 13, Verlag P. Lang, 1996, ISBN 3-631-48649-9 , p. 171 ( books.google.at ). Quote: "The idea of ​​assimilation plays a role when Franz Werfel points out that the" true Austrian "can only be a" trained Austrian "."
  19. ↑ Su-Jin Lee: Heimito from Doderer's novel “The Slunj Waterfalls”. A linguistic study of Austrian German. Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt 2000, ISBN 3-631-36671-X , p. 220 ( books.google.at ). Quote: "A" trained Austrian "is someone who is fully trained in the knowledge of the Austrian mentality and culture [...]."
  20. ↑ Heimito von Doderer: The Strudlhofstiege. P. 595.
  21. ↑ Reinhold Treml (Ed.): Briefwechsel, 1928–1962. By Heimito von Doderer, Albert Paris Gütersloh. P. 224.
  22. ↑ Hannes Androsch: In search of identity . Austria past, present and future: a synthesis of contradictions. 1st edition. Christian Brandstätter Verlag & Edition, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-85447-292-7 , The Monarchy breaks, p. 37 , here p. 17 ( androsch.com [PDF]).
  23. ↑ Hannes Androsch: In search of identity . Vienna 1988, The Austrian Identity, p. 96 , p. 47 .
  24. ^ Ernst Haeussermann: Herbert von Karajan. Bertelsmann Verlag 1968, p. 168.
  25. ^ Joseph Roth, Fritz Hackert: Works: Novels and Stories 1916–1929. (Ed.): Klaus Westermann. Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1991, p. 445.
  26. ↑ Kurt Pahlen: Yes, time changes a lot: my century with music. 2nd edition. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-421-05462-2 , p. 276.