Egon Friedell

Egon Friedell (1878–1938) was an Austrian cultural historian, essayist, journalist, actor, and cabaret performer, best known for his sweeping History of Modern Culture.

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History of Modern Culture: Egon Friedell’s three-volume history traces European culture from the late Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. This is Friedell’s best-known work and the fullest expression of his historical approach.
Max Reinhardt: Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater director and producer who became a leading figure in modern European theater. Friedell acted under Reinhardt’s direction, including at Berlin’s Deutsches Theater.
History of Ancient Culture: Egon Friedell’s unfinished historical project examined ancient civilizations through his interpretive cultural-history approach. It extends the historical project that made Friedell famous beyond the modern period.
Anschluss: The Anschluss was Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938. The annexation transformed Friedell’s circumstances in the final months of his life.
Cultural history: Cultural history studies how societies’ ideas, practices, arts, and institutions change over time. Friedell treated history as a connected account of culture rather than a chronicle of political events.
Karl Kraus: Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer and satirist who attacked journalistic language and political hypocrisy. Kraus’s polemical critique of journalism contrasts with Friedell’s expansive historical synthesis.
Journalism: Journalism is the reporting and interpretation of current events for public communication. Friedell used journalism to address contemporary culture alongside his longer historical works.
Nazi persecution of Jews: Nazi persecution of Jews was the systematic exclusion, dispossession, and violence directed at Jewish people by the Nazi regime and its allies. Friedell was Jewish, and Nazi rule made his life in Austria increasingly dangerous.
Vienna: Vienna is Austria’s capital and a major center of European music, art, and intellectual life. The city’s cultural life shaped Friedell’s writing and stage career.
Hermann Bahr: Hermann Bahr was an Austrian writer and critic associated with the cultural movements of fin de siècle Vienna. Bahr belonged to the Viennese literary milieu in which Friedell developed as a writer.