ContentsScope and Contents of the Collection
Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933 Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933 Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933 Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933 Aufruf zur Gründug einer Karl Kraus Gesellschaft circa 1938 "Karl Kraus und die Idee der Sprache" circa 1940s "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit" 1946 Articles on Karl Kraus circa 1960s Kraus: Karl: Kraus Hefte and Zirkular circa 1990 Lectures and playbills 1935-1936 Kraus, Karl: memorializations 1936 Kraus, Karl: Miscellaneous 1933-1958 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1914-1933 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1934-1935 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1936 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1937 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1938-1952 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1953-1954 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1955-1962 Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings undated Kraus, Karl: speech on his 50th birthday 1924 Photographs: Kraus, Karl circa 1880-1905 Photographs: Kraus, Karl circa 1906-1936 Photographs: Kraus, Karl, gravesite circa 1940 Photographs: Kraus, Karl, Viennese apartment circa 1930s Photographs: Kraus, Karl, Viennese apartment circa 1930s Photographs: Synagogue undated |
Karl Kraus CollectionFinding AidFinding aid prepared by Ryan Lafond.2008
Administrative InformationRelated MaterialThe following is a list of works by Karl Kraus collected by Gabriel Rosenrauch housed with the Rare Books in the Special Collections and University Archives. Processed by Ryan Lafond, March 2008. Preferred CitationCite as: Karl Kraus Collection (MS 470). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst. The collection is open for research. Return to the Table of Contents Historical NoteKarl KrausKarl Kraus was born on April 28, 1874 in Gitschin, Bohemia (modern Jičin, Czech Republic), then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The son of Jakob Kraus, a wealthy Jewish papermaker and businessman, and his wife Ernestine Kantor, Karl moved with his family to Vienna in 1877. He began to study law at the University of Vienna in 1892, but after changing his major to philosophy and German studies, he decided to leave the university in 1896 without a degree in hand. Still in his early twenties, Kraus launched himself into a career in literature, publishing the first issue of a new journal, Die Fackel ("The Torch"), in April 1899. Kraus attracted a number of well-known artists and writers to Die Fackel in its first decade, however, by 1911 Kraus had become virtually the sole contributor. Despite the dearth of other writers, Kraus continued to edit and publish Die Fackel until his death in 1936. Kraus is typically considered a key member of the fin de siècle literary and artistic culture in Vienna. This group included artists such as Gustav Klimt, a pioneer of the Art Nouveau movement, and a later the Expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka, who painted a portrait of Kraus. Typically, the writers and painters associated with Kraus were immersed in the twin ideas of both cultural decadence and imminent change. Die Fackel, in fact, was intended to hold a "torch" to the hypocrisy of German and Austrian society and the Austro-Hungarian government. In his writing, Kraus criticized everything from psychoanalysis to the corruption of the Habsburg Empire, laissez-faire economic policies, and the nationalism of the pan-German (Großdeutschland) movement, among many other topics. However, Kraus was not limited to biting essays on subjects of cultural concern, nor was he necessarily limited to these particular subjects in all of his writing. Kraus is known for using an array of literary vehicles to express himself, including essays, plays, poems, and aphorisms. His best-known work is the satirical play, Die letzten Tage der Menschheit ("The Last Days of Mankind"), a massive piece about World War I. Kraus also exhibited a lasting interest in language, about which he wrote regularly in Die Fackel as well as in books such as Die Sprache (Language). His linguistic interests also led him to re-translate Shakespeare's sonnets in 1932. The fact that newspaper articles discussing Kraus and his work could still be found in German-language newspapers nearly 30 years after his death speaks to his strong influence in German literature and cultural studies. His last writing, an issue of Die Fackel, appeared in February 1936. He died in Vienna four months later on June 12, 1936, from a stroke and heart failure. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the CollectionThe Kraus Collection consists primarily of materials written about Karl Kraus, with few items by him. In total only three items can be attributed definitively to Kraus, and one unsigned letter from 1910 may be by Kraus. Instead, the value of the collection is as a gauge for Kraus' cultural impact in Europe during his life and well after. Gabriel Rosenrauch, an avid Kraus fan and the individual responsible for compiling this collection, took care to preserve newspaper articles concerning Kraus from 1914-1962. This includes a large collection of articles and obituaries from 1936, which were clipped from newspapers printed in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, a copy of a British newspaper that includes a review of a book written about Kraus, and articles written in Hebrew and Yiddish. Not only did Rosenrauch save newspaper clippings, he saved flyers advertising plays and lectures by Kraus and pamphlets that include articles written about Kraus, many by Werner Kraft, a well-known German scholar of Kraus, author, and librarian. In addition, Rosenrauch collected two French-language items from La Société des Etudes Germanique (the Society of Germanic Studies). Rosenrauch also came into possession of a large collection of photographs of Kraus, depicting his life from adolescence to old age, up to and including his apartment in Vienna and gravesite. Among the photographs is a view of an unidentified synagogue, which may be where Kraus' funeral service was held. Also of importance are a set of extensive indexes compiled by Rosenrauch of articles in Die Fackel. While the script is difficult to read, it is clear that Rosenrauch took considerable care to document and catalog the subjects of the articles written by Kraus and other contributors to the journal. The care epitomized in these indexes extends throughout the collection. Several articles and essays are present as typed copies, presumably prepared by Rosenrauch, in particular the work by Hermann Hesse and several of the pieces by Werner Kraft. Finally, since this collection was created by Rosenrauch, it includes his some of his personal correspondence. These letters are mostly exchanged with Helene Kann, a Kraus archivist, whom he helped to escape from Vienna and then from Europe after the Anschluss of Austria in 1938. These letters do not necessarily provide insight into Kraus, but they do provide interesting details about the collector as he maneuvered around Europe during World War II, ultimately ending up in Israel until his death in the 1960s. Return to the Table of Contents Search TermsReturn to the Table of Contents "Ein Gespräch" undatedEnglish translation of article "A Conversation." Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933Fackel, Die: Indexes circa 1933"Oskar Kokoschka" circa 1961"Nachtgedanken" 1938Aufruf zur Gründug einer Karl Kraus Gesellschaft circa 1938An appeal for the formation of a Karl Kraus Society. "Das Leben" undatedEnglish translation of article "The Life." "Karl Kraus" circa 1944"Karl Kraus und die Idee der Sprache" circa 1940sEnglish translation of article "Karl Kraus and the Idea of Language." "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit" 1946English translation of article "The Last Day of Mankind." Articles on Karl Kraus circa 1960sArticles by 1910-1921Correspondence 1900-1929Kraus, Kark: handbills 1933Kraus: Karl: Kraus Hefte and Zirkular circa 1990Lectures 1934Lectures and playbills 1935-1936Manuscripts undatedKraus, Karl: memorializations 1936Kraus, Karl: Miscellaneous 1933-1958Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1914-1933Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1934-1935Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1936Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1937Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1938-1952Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1953-1954Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings 1955-1962Kraus, Karl: newspaper clippings undated"Rohübersetzung" undatedKraus, Karl: speech on his 50th birthday 1924Correspondence 1940Lasker-Schüler, Else 1952Letter: unidentified 1917In Memoriam Karl Kraus 1947Photographs: Kraus, Karl circa 1880-1905Photographs: Kraus, Karl circa 1906-1936Photographs: Kraus, Karl, gravesite circa 1940Photographs: Kraus, Karl, Viennese apartment circa 1930sPhotographs: Kraus, Karl, Viennese apartment circa 1930sPhotographs: Synagogue undatedCorrespondence and writing 1936-1940Correspondence 1934-1935Correspondence 1936Correspondence 1937-1938Correspondence 1939Correspondence 1940-1946Correspondence 1947-1948Correspondence undated"La Prose de Karl Kraus" 1935Correspondence 1936-1945Sign, Romanian undated"On Karl Kraus" circa 1949Trimester Review 1950Yiddish and Hebrew printed materials undated |
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