Author
Hugo Bettauer
1872-1925
Hugo Bettauer (1872-1925) is a public-domain author available on Rivro. Read free books, explore subjects, and discover related classics.
Books by Hugo Bettauer
Die Stadt ohne Juden: Ein Roman von übermorgen
"Die Stadt ohne Juden: Ein Roman von übermorgen" by Hugo Bettauer is a novel published in 1922. This satirical work imagines a fictional Austrian politician ordering the expulsion of all Jews from Vienna. As the city initially celebrates, the economy soon crumbles—theaters go bankrupt, businesses suffer, and without Jews to blame, the ruling party collapses. Bettauer's darkly prophetic entertainment became his most commercially successful work, selling 250,000 copies in its first year while earning him both devoted admirers and dangerous enemies.
The city without Jews : $b A novel of our time
"The city without Jews : A novel of our time" by Hugo Bettauer is a novel written in the early 20th century. It imagines Vienna expelling all Jews and people of Jewish origin, and follows the political, economic, and cultural upheaval that ensues. Central figures include the hard-line Chancellor Dr. Karl Schwertfeger and ordinary Viennese such as Lotte Spineder and her lover Leo Strakosch, whose lives are torn by the new regime. The opening of the novel depicts Parliament ramming through an anti-Jewish expulsion law under Schwertfeger’s incendiary speech, its swift passage, and the city’s raucous celebrations after the last trains depart. Short vignettes show immediate fallout: a politician discovers his son‑in‑law’s Jewish origins, artists despair (one commits suicide), sex workers fear losing their clientele, and some Christians convert in solidarity. Schwertfeger’s later briefing reveals grim realities—financial shortfalls, foreign takeovers, social dislocation, and families split by lineage rules—despite public euphoria. Part Two shifts to letters and episodes that chart Vienna’s decline: Lotte writes Leo in Paris of initial cheer turning to unemployment, cultural stagnation, and a collapsing currency; department stores struggle, cafés empty, banks retreat; and finally Leo returns incognito, rents a studio, and secretly reunites with Lotte in her family’s garden.