午夜剧场

There was once a time in Japan when interest in late 19th to early 20th-century Viennese culture rose to the level of a "boom." Masterpieces such as Schorske's "Fin-de-Siècle Vienna" and Johnston's "The Austrian Mind" were translated one after another, and art exhibitions themed around fin-de-siècle Vienna were also held.

When hearing the term "Fin-de-Siècle Vienna," many people likely think of the sensual paintings of Klimt and Schiele, the non-ornamental architecture of Wagner and Loos, the new music of Mahler and Schoenberg, Freud's "discovery" of the unconscious, and the "Young Vienna" literary movement of Schnitzler and Hofmannsthal.

In Strauss's operetta "Die Fledermaus," it is sung that "Happy is he who forgets what cannot be changed," and perhaps the decadent, rich, and suggestive atmosphere of fin-de-siècle Vienna resonated with the atmosphere of Japan at the time as it moved from the peak of the bubble economy toward its collapse.

So, when did this mellow Viennese culture perish?

From a textbook perspective, one could say it was 1918, when the Habsburg Empire was defeated in World War I and collapsed. However, even in interwar Austria, which survived as a small nation, Freud continued his exploration of psychoanalysis with his daughter Anna, Mahler's widow Alma was busy with cultural activities alongside her second husband, the writer Werfel, Mahler's disciple Walter was active on the podium of the State Opera, and Hofmannsthal devoted himself to the founding of the Salzburg Festival. Even though the empire had perished, the culture lived on.

The definitive "end" of this culture that had existed since the late 19th century was the annexation of Austria (Anschluss) by Hitler and Nazi Germany in 1938. Despite being from Austria himself and growing up in the atmosphere of fin-de-siècle Viennese culture, Hitler hated his homeland and wished for its disappearance.

This book depicts the confrontation between Hitler and Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg over the annexation, while simultaneously illustrating the cultural situation before and after the annexation through the movements of various cultural figures such as writers, musicians, and philosophers. I hope that readers interested in this era from a wide range of perspectives, both political and cultural, will read it.

Yoshihiko Takahashi

午夜剧场 Press

296 pages, 2,970 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.