"Erinnerung an den einen Tag in Mühlau": Karl Kraus und Ludwig von Ficker Briefe, Dokumente 1910–1936 ed. by Markus Ender, Ingrid Fürhapter, and Friedrich Pfäfflin (review)

Kraus scholar and editor of the series in which this volume appears, Friedrich Pfäffl in, and Brenner Archive scholars Markus Ender and Ingrid Fürhapter provide a weighty document of the relationship between Karl Kraus and Ludwig von Ficker. Die Fackel, edited by Kraus, and Der Brenner, edited by Ficker, were the main venues and sources of cultural connection for many important writers, artists, and philosophers of the early twentieth century. Kraus's well-known praise for Der Brenner, written in 1913 for Die Fackel, indicates the extent to which both journals reached beyond the borders of Austria: "Daß die einzige ehrliche Revue Österreichs in Innsbruck erscheint, sollte man, wenn schon nicht in Österreich, so doch in Deutschland wissen, dessen einzige ehrliche Revue gleichfalls in Innsbruck erscheint" (52). At this point, Kraus had just completed his third public reading in Innsbruck, organized by Ludwig von Ficker, solidifying a personal and professional relationship that spanned more than thirty years.

Each chapter is devoted to a year of correspondences and documentation of the relationship between Ficker and Kraus, beginning in 1910 and ending in 1936 when Kraus died at the age of sixty-two. An afterword by the editors provides guidance pertaining to their editorial principles as well as an overview of the relationship between the two men. What becomes evident as one reads through the letters and the documentation is the developing relationship based on mutual admiration as it matures and shifts in response to cultural and social changes. Ficker's early admiration for Kraus leads to the well-known Rundfrage über Kraus with contributions from thirty different authors, artists, and philosophers (which appeared for the first time in the Brenner in three continuous editions in July 1913 and was reprinted several times as a single brochure), essentially a defense of the controversial satirist and social critic. Ficker's support for Kraus—it becomes clear while reading the letters from this period—is also a reflection of his desire to protect Kraus from the often blatantly anti-Semitic nature of the attacks on Kraus.

During the years of World War I, their relationship undergoes a significant shift, as the tables are turned. Kraus is exempted from military service for health reasons, but Ficker serves from 1915 until the end of the war in some of the harshest conditions at the southern front in the Italian Alps. As Ficker's ability to continue his work as editor of Der Brenner, indeed his ability to write, is interrupted by his war service, Kraus's connections to the literary world becomes a lifeline for Ficker. Kraus's concern for Ficker's well-being is expressed in repeated short notes asking for news and attempts to use his connections to provide special support for Ficker. Although Ficker's letters are sporadic, his responses to Kraus's concern and care are clearly deeply felt. His usual flowery style is replaced by more emotional, personal expressions of gratitude. Ficker's wife, Cissi, forwarding excerpts from her husband's letters to Kraus, provided Ficker's friend with a small window into the terrible conditions Ficker suffered during the war, for example, this letter from October 1916: "Ach, meine Liebe, was haben wir durchmachen müssen! Wie sehr hat unsere Komp. gelitten! Die Armen! Noch ist mein Mantel mit Blut bespritzt […] An einem schmalen Felsband eng an einander gekeilt, längs eines schwindelnden Abgrunds krampfhaft angeklammert an ein Drahtseil haben wir stehend das fürchterliche Trommelfeuer über uns ergehen lassen müssen […]. Ich lebe noch, ich lebe noch, bin unverwundet dieser Hölle entkommen!" (134–35). Ficker's ability to capture the war experience in words made a deep impression on Kraus, who incorporated Ficker's experiences into Die letzten Tage der Menschheit, including a letter, almost...