Pontlatz, court, literature

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Pontlatz, court, literature

Pontlatz.Gericht.Literatur is the title of a literary and journalistic volume of short stories by the Austrian writer and librarian Helmuth Schönauer . This includes the story of Pontlatz and the documentation of the court proceedings for the offense of publicly insulting the armed forces . The proceedings each ended with the author's acquittal.

Content of the story

The story of Pontlatz is based on the motto of a tombstone: The only thing left for the people to be executed is to embrace those who are to be executed later. In the almost twelve-page story, a so-called ant captain gets out of control. In a monological order, he humiliates an imaginary troop and demands that they complete orders as literally as possible. The obviously screaming protagonist sits on a military animal whose origin cannot be precisely determined. The characters mentioned, such as Dollfuss , come from a confused view of history that has nothing to do with historical facts. In general, the story is kept in an ironic tone that identifies it as satire.

The title of the story alludes to the narrow valley from Pontlatz south of Landeck . In 1703 and 1809 battles between Tyroleans and Bavarian troops took place at the Pontlatzer Bridge . The Pontlatz barracks in the town of Landeck is named after this.

The story was read out on the radio on September 12, 1986 and only existed as a cassette recording by a NCO at the upcoming court hearings. The printed version appeared in 1988 together with the court documentation.

Timeline for the process

  • 09/12/1986 Summer Night of Literature in the ORF Studio Tirol; Reading from Pontlatz
  • January 17th, 1987 Tyrolean authors introduce themselves; Radio Tirol ; Broadcast from Pontlatz
  • 30.03.1987 Authorization to prosecute by the Federal Minister for National Defense Robert Lichal
  • 08/10/1987 Main hearing before the single judge at the Innsbruck Regional Court; Acquittal of the author; Appeal by the public prosecutor
  • October 26, 1987 national holiday; Counter-statement on the prosecution's appeal
  • December 23, 1987 appeal hearing at the Innsbruck Higher Regional Court; Author's acquittal confirmed

Indictment

Immediately after the broadcast of the Pontlatz story in January 1987, preliminary inquiries were made and finally the indictment for offense §§ 111, paragraphs 1 and 2, public insult to the armed forces. In it, incriminated passages are listed like: "Anyone who got away alive in Absam, we will send to death in Pontlatz." [...] "You are also such a shitty Austrian who doesn't know what to defend." [...] "I'll be a fucking captain for a fucking country, so help me with the shit."

Grounds for the acquittal

“According to Section Paragraph 1 of the Copyright Act, every peculiar intellectual creation in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and the art of film is protected. [...] In the present case there is without a doubt a peculiar intellectual creation from the field of literature - whatever quality. "

Effects on the literature business

  • Even during the legal proceedings, a section in Tyrol was founded in accordance with the statutes of the IG authors' authors , in order to be able to react more quickly to future legal proceedings.
  • The case was discussed and documented in detail with sixteen others as part of the IG authors' censorship survey. (Ruiss / Vyoral, 1990)
  • The often asked question what literature is is increasingly being answered with the argument: literature is what the court has determined to be literature.

Original edition

  • Helmuth Schönauer: Pontlatz. Dish. Literature . 57 pages. Hand-Presse, Innsbruck 1988. ISBN 3-900862-07-9 .

literature

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