Karl Kraus - The Last Days of Mankind

Conrad v. Hötzendorf. A major. Skolik, a photographer.

Scene 25 (p. 132)

(Vienna, on the Ring.)

Profiteer. Landlord. Sergeant Wagenknecht. Sergeant Sedlatschek. Hans Müller.

Voice of a cabby. Voice of a prostitute. Mendel Singer (passing by). Sieghart (passing by). A man picking up a cigar end. Female newspaper vendor.

Scene 26 (p. 139)

(South-west Front. Military post at a height of over 2,500 metres)

A lookout. Alice Schalek. Soldier. Officer. Orderly.

Scene 27 (p. 141)

(The Vatican.)

The voice of Benedict praying.

Scene 28 (p. 142)

(Newspaper office.)

The voice of Benedikt dictating.

Scene 29 (p. 142)

The Optimist and the Grumbler.

Scene 30 (p. 167)

(On the Graben at night.)

Two commercial middlemen with their lady companions. Newspaper vendor.

Act I Extras:

Promenaders, passersby, beggars, black-marketeers, prostitutes, officers, soldiers, demonstrators, customers, coffeehouse staff, ministers, passengers, German nationalist students, Galician refugees, entourage of Wilhelm II.

Act II

Scene 1 (p. 168)

(Vienna. At the corner where the Kärntnerstrasse meets the Ring and people take their evening stroll.)

Newspaper vendor. Jewish Refugee. Viennese loan shark. Sales rep. A badly wounded casualty on crutches. Bermann. A well-dressed lady. Weiss. Four officers. A soldier on crutches. An intellectual. Poldi Fesch. His companion. Enlisted soldiers singing. Three black-marketeers. Three German grenadiers. Three Viennese municipal officials. Two reporters. Berlin black-marketeer. Porter. Cries from the crowd.

Scene 2 (p. 174)

The Optimist and the Grumbler.

Scene 3 (p. 175)

The Subscriber and the Patriot.

Scene 4 (p. 177)

(Military Headquarters. A street.)

A journalist and an old general. Another journalist and another old general.

Scene 5 (p. 178)

(South-west Front.)

Two voices from the background. An old general and a Sicilian soldier. Member of the War Press Bureau.

Scene 6 (p. 179)

(An infantry regiment 300 paces from the enemy.)

Infantry officer. Padre Anton Allmer.

Scene 7 (p. 179)

(Beside the battery.)

Artillery officer. Padre Anton Allmer. Alice Schalek.

Scene 8 (p. 180)

(The Prater amusement park.)

Impresario responsible for the trench in the Prater. Representative of the Wilhelm press agency. His colleague. The voice of Archduke Karl Franz Josef. Hofrätin Schwarz-Gelber. Lieutenant who wants to remain incognito. Professor Kunze. The Patriot. The Subscriber.

Scene 9 (p. 182)

(Semmering. Terrace of the Southern Railway Hotel.)

Youngsters and oldies. Fatties and shorties. Lady who has just recited Heine. Dangl. Babble of voices. Semmering regular. Chairman of the board.

Scene 10 (p. 183)

The Optimist and the Grumbler. A file of grey-bearded recruits. Young men singing.

Scene 11 (p. 194)

(A suburban street.)

Two policemen. Women and men queuing. Grocer. A well-dressed woman.

Scene 12 (p. 195)

(Kärntnerstrasse.)

A big eater. A normal eater. A starving man.

Scene 13 (p. 196)

(Florianigasse.)

Hofrat Dlauhobetzky v. Dlauhobetz (rtd). Hofrat Tibetanzl (rtd).

Scene 14 (p. 198)

(A hunting party.)

v. Dreckwitz. The hunting party.

Scene 15 (p. 200)

(Office at a command post.)

Hirsch. Roda Roda.

Scene 16 (p. 203)

(Another office.)

A General Staff officer on the phone.

Scene 17 (p. 204)

(Restaurant Anton Grüsser.)

Anton Grüsser, restaurateur. Four waiters. Two young waiters. The headwaiter. A gentleman and a lady. A midget newspaper vendor. Two girls with picture postcards. Two women with picture postcards. Man selling flowers. Woman selling flowers. Woman hawking newspapers. Three customers. A regular. Bambula von Feldsturm. The Grumbler.

Scene 18 (p. 209)

(Vienna. Schottenring.)

Frau Pollatschek of the IAAH. Frau Rosenberg of the IAAH. Frau Bachstelz of the CACKV. Frau Funk-Feigl of the CACKV. A disabled veteran on crutches. Beggar woman. A boy. An infant. A pregnant woman. The Grumbler.

Scene 19 (p. 214)

(Belgrade.)

Alice Schalek. Serbian women laughing. An interpreter.

Scene 20 (p. 215)

(A suburban street.)

An old woman. A lieutenant. The crowd.

Scene 21 (p. 215)

(A suburban apartment.)

The Liebal family: father, mother, boy. Frau Sikora, a neighbour.

Scene 22 (p. 216)

(Headquarters garrison. A street.)

A captain from the War Press Bureau. A journalist. A corpulent, elderly gentleman with side-whiskers and pince-nez, a marshal’s baton in each hand.

Scene 23 (p. 218)

(City centre.)

A disabled veteran with a blind soldier. A hack from the gutter press. A sales rep.

Scene 24 (p. 218)

(During a performance in a theatre in the suburbs.)

Hansi Niese. Her partner. The audience.

Scene 25 (p. 219)

(The restaurant Wolf in Gersthof.)

Wolf in Gersthof. The inspector general of the Red Cross, Archduke Franz Salvator, his chamberlain, two aristocrats, and little Putzi. A customer. Folksingers.

Scene 26 (p. 220)

The Subscriber and the Patriot.

Scene 27 (p. 221)

(Position near the Uzsock Pass.)

An Austrian general. A Prussian second-lieutenant.

Scene 28 (p. 222)

(Military headquarters. Cinema.)

The commander in chief of the army, Archduke Friedrich. King Ferdinand of Bulgaria. A voice calling “Ka-boom!”

Scene 29 (p. 222)

The Optimist and the Grumbler.

Scene 30 (p. 227)

(Somewhere on the shores of the Adriatic. In the hangar of a seaplane squadron.)

Alice Schalek. The sub-lieutenant of a frigate.

Scene 31 (p. 228)

(In a U-boat that has just surfaced.)

A mate. U-boat officer. Members of the War Press Bureau. Alice Schalek.

Scene 32 (p. 229)

(A factory requisitioned under the emergency regulations of the War Powers Act.)

Military supervisor of the factory. Factory owner.

Scene 33 (p. 232)

(A room in Hofrat Schwarz-Gelber’s house.)

Hofrat and Hofrätin Schwarz-Gelber.

Act II Extras:

Galician refugees, black-marketeers, promenaders, beggars, regular officers, hospital commandants, those in reserved occupations, civilians who have “wangled it”, the wounded, soldiers, provincial actors, audience, visitors to Semmering, army suppliers, officers, prostitutes, journalists, customers.

Act III

Scene 1 (p. 240)

(Vienna. At the corner where the Kärntnerstrasse meets the Ring and people take their evening stroll.)

Newspaper vendors. Two army profiteers. Four officers. A young girl. A girl. A woman. Two devotees of the Reichspost . Regular subscriber to the Neue Freie Presse . The oldest subscriber. A cripple. Poldi Fesch. His companion. Two disabled veterans. The singing of conscripts. Voice of a cabby.

Scene 2 (p. 242)

(In front of our artillery positions.)

Alice Schalek. The gunner.

Scene 3 (p. 243)