Born: in Vienna, Austria, 7 December 1801. Education: Educated at Gymnasium, 1811-16; studied law at the University of Vienna, 1817-21 (did not take degree). Family: Married Wilhelmine von Nespiesni in 1823 (separated 1827, divorced 1845), one son; lived with the singer Marie Weiler from 1827, one son and one daughter. Career: Actor and singer with the German Theatre of Amsterdam, 1823-25, Nationaltheater in Brunn (now Brno, Czech Republic), 1825-26, and the theatres in Graz and Pressburg, 1826-28; returned to Vienna, 1829; guest singer at Theater in der Josephstadt and Kartnertortheater, 1829-31; with Marie Weiler, joined Karl Carl’s theatre company, based at the Theater an der Wien (from 1845 at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt, which was renamed the Carl-Theater, 1847), as comic actor and writer, 1831-54, director and manager, 1854-60: dominated Vienna’s commercial stage as its leading comic actor, appearing in his own plays; undertook guest seasons in various parts of Germany and Central Europe during the 1840s and 1850s. Died: 25 May 1862.
Publications
Collections
Gesammelte Werke, edited by Vincenz Chiavacci and Ludwig Ganghofer. 12 vols., 1890-91.
Samtliche Werke, edited by Fritz Brukner and Otto Rommel. 15 vols., 1924-30.
Gesammelte Werke, edited by Otto Rommel. 6 vols., 1948-49.
Komodien, edited by F.H. Mautner. 1970.
Samtliche Werke, edited by Jurgen Hein and Johann Huttner. 1977-.
Plays
Zwolf Madchen in Uniform (produced 1827). With Ein gebildeter Hausknecht, 1943.
Der Zetteltrager Papp, from a play by Hermann Herzenskron (produced 1927). In Samtliche Werke, 9, 1927.
Die Verbannung aus dem Zauberreiche; oder, Dreissig Jahre aus dem Leben eines Lumpen (produced 1828). In Samtliche Werke, 1, 1924.
Der Einsilbige; oder, Ein dummer Diener seines Herrn, from a play by Franz Grillparzer (produced 1829). Der Tod am Hochzeitstage; oder, Mann, Frau, Kind (produced 1829).
In Samtliche Werke, 1, 1924. Der unzusammenhangende Zusammenhang (produced 1830).
Magische Eilwagenreise durch die Komodienwelt (produced 1830). In Samtliche Werke, 9, 1927.
Zwei SchUsseln voll Faschingskrapfen (produced 1831).
Der gefUhlvolle Kerkermeister; oder, Adelheid, die verfolgte Wittib (produced 1832). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Nagerl und Handschuh; oder, Die Schicksale der Familie Maxenpfutsch, from a libretto by C.-G. Etienne (produced 1832). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Humoristische Eilwagenreise durch die Theaterwelt (produced 1832). In Samtliche Werke, 9, 1927.
Zampa der Tagdieb; oder, Die Braut von Gips (produced 1832). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Der konfuse Zauberer; oder, Treue und Flatterhaftigkeit (produced 1832). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die Zauberreise in die Ritterzeit; oder, Die UbermUtigen (produced 1832). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Der Zauberer Februar; oder, Die Uberraschungen (produced 1833). In Samtliche Werke, 1, 1924.
Der bose Geist Lumpazivagabundus; oder, Das liederliche Kleeblatt (produced 1833). 1835.
Robert der Teufel (produced 1833). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Der Tritschtratsch (produced 1833). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Der Zauberer Sulphurelektrimagnetikophosphoratus und die Fee Walpurgiblocksbergiseptemtrionalis. . . (produced 1834). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
MUller, Kohlenbrenner und Sesseltrager; oder, Die Traume von Schale und Kern (produced 1834). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die Gleichheit der Jahre (produced 1834). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die Familien Zwirn, Knieriem und Leim; oder, Der Welt-Untergangs-Tag (produced 1834). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die Fahrt mit dem Dampfwagen (produced 1834). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Weder Lorbeerbaum noch Bettelstab (produced 1835). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Eulenspiegel; oder, Schabernack Uber Schabernack (produced 1835). 1839.
Zu ebener Erde und erster Stock; oder, Die Launen des GlUckes, from a play by C.-D. Dupeuty and Fraderic de Courcy (produced 1835). 1838.
Der Treulose; oder, Saat und Ernte (produced 1836). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die beiden Nachtwandler; oder, Das Notwendige und das UberflUssige (produced 1836). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Der Affe und der Brautigam (produced 1836). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Eine Wohnung ist zu vermieten in der Stadt. . . (produced 1837). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Moppels Abenteuer im Viertel unter Wiener Wald, in Neu-Seeland und Marokko (produced 1837). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Das Haus der Temperamente (produced 1837). As The House of Humors, translated by Robert Harrison and Katharina Wilson, in Three Viennese Comedies, 1986.
GlUck, Missbrauch und RUckkehr; oder, Das Geheimnis des grauen Hauses, from a novel by Paul de Kock (produced 1838). 1845.
Der Kobold; oder, Staberl im Feendienst (produced 1838). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Gegen Torheit gibt es keine Mittel (produced 1838). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die verhangnisvolle Faschingsnacht, from a play by Holtei (produced 1839). 1842.
Der Farber und sein Zwillingsbruder, from a libretto by Adolphe de Leuven and Leon Lherie (produced 1840). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
DerErbschleicher (produced 1840). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die zusammengestoppelte Komodie (produced 1840).
Der Talisman (produced 1840). 1843; as The Talisman, translated by Max Knight and Joseph Fabry, in Three Comedies, 1967; also translated by Robert Harrison and Katharina Wilson, in Three Viennese Comedies, 1986.
Das Madl aus der Vorstadt; oder, Ehrlich wahrt am langsten (produced 1841). 1845.
Friedrich, Prinz von Korsika (produced 1841). In Unbekannter Nestroy, 1953.
Einen Jux will er sich machen, from a play by John Oxenford (produced 1842). 1844; as The Merchant of Yonkers, translated and adapted by Thornton Wilder, 1939; as The Matchmaker, 1954; as On the Razzle, translated and adapted by Tom Stoppard, 1981.
Die Ereignisse im Gasthofe (produced 1842).
Die Papiere des Teufels; oder, Der Zufall (produced 1842). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Liebesgeschichten und Heiratssachen (produced 1843). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91; as Love Affairs and Wedding Bells, translated by Max Knight and Joseph Fabry, in Three Comedies, 1967.
Das Quodlibet verschiedener Jahrhunderte (produced 1843). In Samtliche Werke, 9, 1927.
Nur Ruhe! (produced 1843). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Eisenbahnheiraten; oder, Wien, Neustadt, BrUnn, from a play by J.-F.-A. Bayard and Victor Varin (produced 1844). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
HinUber-HerUber (produced 1844). 1852.
Der Zerrissene (produced 1844). 1845; as A Man Full of Nothing, translated by Max Knight and Joseph Fabry, in Three Comedies, 1967.
Die beiden Herren Sohne (produced 1845). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Das GewUrzkramerkleeblatt; oder, Die unschuldig Schuldigen, from a play by J.-P. Lockroy and Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois (produced 1845). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Unverhofft, from a play by J.-F.-A. Bayard and Philippe Dumanoir (produced 1845). 1848.
Der Unbedeutende (produced 1846). 1849.
Zwei ewige Juden fUr einen (produced 1846). As Zwei ewige Juden und keiner, in Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Der SchUtzling (produced 1847). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die schlimmen Buben in der Schule, from a play by J.-P. Lockroy and Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois (produced 1847). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Martha; oder, Die Mischmonder Markt-Magde-Mietung, from a libretto by W.F. Riese and Saint-Georges (produced 1848). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Die Anverwandten, from a novel by Charles Dickens (produced 1848).
Freiheit in Krahwinkel (produced 1848). 1849; as Liberty Comes to Krahwinkel, translated by Sybil and Colin Welch, 1961.
Lady und Schneider (produced 1849). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Judith und Holofernes, from a play by Friedrich Hebbel (produced 1849). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91; as Judith and Holofernes, translated by Robert Harrison and Katharina Wilson, in Three Viennese Comedies, 1986.
Hollenangst, from a play by J.-B. d’Epagny and J.-H. Dupin (produced 1849). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Sie sollen ihn nicht; oder, Der hollandische Bauer (produced 1850). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Karikaturen-Charivari (produced 1850). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Alles will den Propheten sehen (produced 1850). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Verwickelte Geschichte (produced 1850). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Mein Freund (produced 1851). 1851.
Der gutmUtige Teufel; oder, Die Geschichte vom Bauer und der Bauerin (produced 1851). As Der gemUtliche Teufel, in Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Kampl; oder, Das Madchen mit den Millionen und die Nahterin (produced 1852). 1852.
Heimliches Geld, heimliche Liebe (produced 1853). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Theaterg’schichten durch Liebe, Intrige, Geld und Dummheit (produced 1854). 1854.
Umsonst (produced 1857).
Tannhauser, from the libretto by Richard Wagner (produced 1857). 1857.
Lohengrin, from the libretto by Richard Wagner (produced 1859). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
FrUhere Verhaltnisse (produced 1862). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Zeitvertreib (produced 1862). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Hauptling Abendwind; oder, Das greuliche Festmahl, from an operetta by Jacques Offenbach (produced 1862). In Samtliche Werke, 14, 1930.
Der alte Mann mit der jungen Frau (produced in revised version, as Der FlUchtling, 1890; original version produced 1948). In Gesammelte Werke, 1890-91.
Genius, Schuster und Marqueur; oder, Die Pyramiden der Verzauberung. In Samtliche Werke, 1, 1924.
Der Feenball; oder, Tischler, Schneider und Schlosser. In Samtliche Werke, 1, 1924.
”Nurkeck!” (produced 1943). In Samtliche Werke, 14, 1930.
Ein gebildeter Hausknecht. With Zwolf Madchen in Uniform, 1943.
Unbekannter Nestroy (includes Zwolf Madchen in Uniform; Ein gebildeter Hausknecht; Friedrich, Prinz von Korsika). 1953.
Three Comedies (includes A Man Full of Nothing; The Talisman; Love Affairs and Wedding Bells), translated and adapted by Max Knight and Joseph Fabry. 1967.
Three Viennese Comedies (includes The Talisman; Judith and Holofernes; The House of Humours), translated by Robert Harrison and Katharina Wilson, 1986.
Other
Gesammelte Briefe und Revolutionsdokumente (1831-1862), edited by Fritz Brukner. 1938.
Briefe, edited by Walter Obermaier. 1977.
Critical Studies:
Nestroy und die Nachwelt by K. Kraus, 1912, revised edition, 1987; Johann Nestroy und seine Kunst by Franz H. Mautner, 1937; Johann Nestroy: Abschatzer der Menschheit, Magier des Wortes by O. Forst-Battaglia, 1962; Johann Nestroy in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten by Otto Basil, 1967; Die Komodie der Sprache: Untersuchungen zum Werke Nestroys by S. Brill, 1967; Die Dramatisierung des komischen Dialogs: Figur und Rolle bei Nestroy by A. Hillach, 1967; Johann Nestroy by H. Weigel, 1967; Johann Nepomuk Nestroy: Der Schopfer der tragischen Posse by Rio Preisner, 1968; Die kunstlerische Eigenstandigkeit und Eigenart Nestroys by L. Tonz, 1969; Spiel und Satire in der Komodie Johann Nestroys by Jurgen Hein, 1970; Johann Nestroy; oder, der wienerische Shakespeare by Kurt Kahl, 1970; Nestroys dramatische Technik by R. Koth, 1972; Nestroy: Satire and Parody in Viennese Popular Comedy by W.E. Yates, 1972; The Dramatic Art of Ferdinand Raimund and Johann Nestroy by Laurence V. Harding, 1974; Nestroy by Franz H. Mautner, 1974; Johann Nestroy: Nihilistisches Welttheater und verflixter Kerl, by B. Hannemann, 1977; Johann Nestroy im Bild: Eine Ikonographie by H. Schwarz, 1977; Das wiener Volkstheater: Raimund und Nestroy, 1978, and Johann Nestroy, 1990, both by Jurgen Hein; ”Bis zum Lorbeer versteig ich mich nicht”: Johann Nestroy—Ein Leben by H. Ahrens, 1982; Nestroy and the Critics by W.E. Yates, 1994.
Johann Nepomuk Nestroy was a philosopher and clown called by Franz Mautner ”the greatest German writer” and by Fritz Martini ”the Viennese Aristophanes.” In spite of this, Nestroy was not truly appreciated on the international scene until after his death in 1862. During his lifetime, though, he was beloved by the common people and was played in the ”Burgtheater,” which was not considered to be a serious theatre the way the Staatstheater was. Hans Weigel in Der Monat, Germany’s leading international magazine for political and intellectual life, pointed out that Nestroy was interested only in writing for the people and in creating parts for certain actors including himself (almost always the main part), and doing this for no other reason than to entertain and make money. World success was not on his mind; he had not written in the expectation that posterity would listen to him. And yet, today, Vienna has its own Nestroy Theatre which produces nothing but the works of the master.
Nestroy wrote his dramas for the masses and he gave them what they wanted: raw comedies and tear-jerkers in the heavy Viennese idiom, the Austrian version of the le commedia dell’arte. These plays had become stereotyped—fairytales, romantic stories, vulgar farces— but the crumbling of the class system and the emergence of a monied aristocracy broke up the stereotypes. And yet the remnants of feudalism are still in evidence in the plays. The aristocrat in his mansion is seen as the protector of the people in the village, and it is he who controls the local police. But the newly rich man can now buy the mansion and the power. Nestroy poured forth his irony against the rich, which censorship did not allow him to do against the establishment and the aristocracy. All problems are solved by money; money often comes in the crudest form: a sudden inheritance, an unforeseen treasure, an unexpected gift. The unexpected money brings about the happy ending.
With two exceptions, 50 of Nestroy’s most popular works were really adaptations of novels or plays by others—often parodies. For instance, Der Einsilbige; oder, Ein dummer Diener seines Herrn [The Taciturn One; or, A Stupid Servant of His Lord] parodies Franz Grillparzer’s Ein treuer Diener seines Herrn (A Faithful Servant of His Master); Friedrich Hebbel’s Judith inspired Nestroy’s Judith and Holofernes, in which Nestroy lays bare the weaknesses of Hebbel’s characters. Hebbel’s inhuman monster Holofernes, impelled to destroy all in his path, becomes in Nestroy’s play a good-natured bourgeois lapsing into Viennese dialect. Nestroy also parodied Richard Wagner in his plays Tannhauser and Lohengrin.
When Nestroy adapted borrowed plots, he was usually satisfied with writing juicy parts for himself and his colleagues. The parts he wrote for himself most often embody figures from the lower level of society: servants, apprentices, adventurers, and proletarian types. In creating amusing situations, Nestroy looked for opportunities to clown. The plays abound in comical disguises and primitive misunderstandings that lead to colossal and often unnecessary mix-ups: people hiding behind curtains, unlikely chance meetings, and just plain fun, even if it interferes with the plot and stops the show. In fact, that was often the purpose. Furthermore, Nestroy was skilful at transplanting foreign settings to Vienna and at pumping life into the often pale characters of the originals. In his hands even minor characters became people his Viennese public could identify with. Most characters look like prototypes of 19th-century Austrians: even the foreign types were naturalized by Nestroy’s pen and have become part of Austrian folklore. So thorough was the transformation that even people who knew the original play did not recognize the characters when they saw Nestroy’s version on the stage. By the same token, one of Nestroy’s plays was reworked into an English musical: his Einen Jux will er sich machen (The Merchant of Yonkers and On the Razzle) inspired Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker.
Whereas Nestroy’s plots often were borrowed and his characters adapted, the dialogue was unadulterated Nestroy. His plays are sprinkled with witticisms, puns, and homespun philosophy packaged into quips which were used in the parts he wrote for himself. Indeed, the real source of Nestroy’s greatness lies neither in the plots nor even in the complex and highly effective theatrical devices of his comedies, but rather in his characterizations or, more precisely, in his astonishing verbal inventiveness and virtuosity. His famous ”couplets,” doggerel or ballad songs, sometimes improvised before the show, are a unique mixture of the topical and the perennial, full of hidden allusions to avoid the absurd censorship of Metternich’s police. Nestroy was truly a virtuoso of the German language and more particularly in combining Viennese idiom and standard High German into similes, metaphors, mixed-up proverbs, and gyrating figures of speech. His puns are often popular sayings turned inside out and parodies of archness and sententiousness. In them and in the rapid repartees of his characters, the Austrian dialect is exploited as never before. The greater part of Nestroy’s verbal acrobatics is usually entrusted to the character he himself played, and hence derives a special fascination in the mouth of a character at the bottom level of society.
Der bose Geist Lumpazivagabundus [The Evil Spirit Lumpazivagabundus] was Nestroy’s first great success; it made him famous and he acted in it 259 times. In this early farce, Nestroy still uses the world of magic: the king of the good fairies and the patron saint of the vagabonds (the title part) make a bet whether down-and-outs will remain down-and-outs even if they win a fortune in the lottery. The test is made on three unemployed tradesmen: a cobbler, a tailor, and a carpenter. The first two waste their money on wine, women, and song, but the carpenter becomes a thrifty family man, saved by true love. The play has three magnificent parts, plenty of antics, and one of Nestroy’s most famous songs. The cobbler, an amateur astrologer, is certain that a comet will soon destroy the earth, and sings, almost yodels, the catch line, ”Die Welt steht auf kein Fall mehr lang” (The world will surely not last long).
In Der Zerrissene (A Man Full of Nothing) the main character, Herr von Lips, a millionaire who doesn’t know what to do with his money or his life, thinks he has drowned a jealous locksmith (who in turn thinks he has drowned the hapless Herr von Lips), and in fear of the police, flees to one of his own farms, disguised as a labourer. The farcical action turns on the curse of money, the double dealing of false friends, and rescue from adversity by the poor-but-faithful lover.
Nestroy’s use of language and songs, his fertile invention of comic situations and skilful characterization, combine to reveal him as one of the most brilliant writers of farce in European literature.
