Anna Luca Krassnigg and Franz Schuh read from “Die letzten Tage der Menschheit” based on a text version by Franz Schuh, which presents the war not only from the perspective of Karl Kraus. Accordionist Stefan Sterzinger will be joining them on stage.
The title is a quote from the drama “Die letzten Tage der Menschheit” by Karl Kraus. The play is so extensive that Kraus intended it for a “Martian theatre”. Paradoxically, one could argue that “Die Letzten Tage” is better suited to be a reading theatre, but certainly at least just as suitable as for a staging.
For Kraus, it is the First World War, which brought a brutalization that was still unknown at the time and simultaneously a prerequisite for war in itself.
Franz Schuh interprets, analyzes and comments on the work and its author for our times: knowledgeable, amusing and unsparing.
With: Franz Schuh and Anna Luca Krassnigg
Music: Stefan Sterzinger
Text: Karl Kraus, Franz Schuh
Concept & set-up: Franz Schuh
Franz Schuh
The Viennese writer, critic and university lecturer Franz Schuh works for the Hamburg weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT and the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, among others. Teaching assignments have taken him to the universities of Vienna, Klagenfurt and Graz, among others. Honorary doctorate from the University of Klagenfurt. Since 1998 he has been a lecturer at the University of Applied Arts in the class for “Cross-Media Design” (today: “TransArts”). Schuh has received numerous prizes, including the State Prize for Cultural Journalism (1985), the Jean Améry Prize for Essay Writing (2000), the Essay Writing Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair 2006 and the Heinrich Johann Merck Prize 2021. His most recent book was “Steckt den Sand nicht in den Kopf” (2025).
Stefan Sterzinger
The Viennese accordion player, singer, lyricist and composer studied social sciences and economics followed by adventures with music in Switzerland, southern France, Spain and Africa. Since then, the self-taught musician has been transforming experiences, ideas and research into words, sound and entertainment. Sterzinger is considered a “musical border crosser” (M. Brandstetter, Wiener), a “secret genius” (W. Kralicek, Falter), an “icon of Austrian music” and a “grand seigneur of the Viennese scene” (A. Bovelino, Kurier).
Karl Kraus
The Austrian writer, publicist, satirist, lyricist, aphorist and playwright Karl Kraus (1874-1936) founded his magazine “Die Fackel” in 1899, which he edited until his death. Initially, other writers collaborated with him, but from 1911 he wrote most of it alone. Kraus criticized the press and the double standards and language of his time. His famous drama “The Last Days of Mankind” was written between 1915 and 1922 and bears witness to his radical pacifism, his criticism of nationalism and the anti-militarist stance from which he fiercely criticized Austria and its war policy. The play is so comprehensive that it can hardly be staged in its entirety and breaks with many theatrical conventions of its time. It earned him strong criticism, including being labeled a “Nestbeschmutzer” and a “traitor to the fatherland”.
© Andrea Klem
