Introduction

Abstract

Karl Kraus was born in Jičín, Bohemia in 1874. His father, a well-to-do Jewish manufacturer, moved with his large family to Vienna when Karl was two years old. Because he was delicate and affected with curvature of the spine, the boy’s pleasures were largely intellectual and artistic. Deviating from the family pattern of entering business, he compromised and studied law at the University of Vienna but soon changed over to literature, being especially interested in drama and performing in several plays. Before receiving a degree, he left the University and dedicated himself to free-lance writing for various publications, the most important of which were the Neue Freie Presse,Simplicissimus, Die Wage, and Breslauer Zeitung

All German quotations in this book have been brought into conformity with contemporary orthography as exemplified in Der Grosse Duden,Rechtschreibung, XII, Leipzig, 1942.