PIONEER JOURNALISTI~~EN, TWO EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY VIENNESE CASES: BERTA ZUCKERKANDL AND ALICE SCHALEK DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Mary Louise Wagener, B.A., M.A. * * * * * The Ohio State University 1976 ReadIng Comnd, t tee = Approved by Professor Carole Rogel Professor June Fullmer Professor John Rothney D~partruent of History © Copyright by Mary Louise Wagener 1976 PREFACE The idea of fin de sieele Vienna conjures up many images, intellectual and erotic. Integral to the period which spawned these images are the influential newspapers and the journalists who wrote for them. This study will, I sincerely hope, shed new light on that fascinating period by focusing on the contribution of the Viennese Journalistin of .the.period as represented by two women journalists, Berta Zuckerkandl and Alice Schalek. Thus, a close examination of these participants in the formative phase of twentieth-century cul­ ture will perhaps serve as a partial corrective for the traditional conception of the woman's passive role in Viennese intellectual life. My initial interest in the period was stimulated by research for my Master's thesis, "Arthur Schnitzler and -the Decline of Austrian Liberalism,ff and heightened by reading William Johnston's brilliant volume on intellectual and social history, The Austrian Mind. To an extent I have followed Johnston's suggestion that scholars ffreexamine the entire range of modern Austrian thought." This dissertation begins to explore the active role of women in the "woman-steeped society" of fin de siecle Vienna. In my effort I have been aided by intellectuals in both the United States and Austria. Professor Kurt Paupie", University if of Vienna's Institute fur Zeitungswissenschaften, Frau Professor Hermine Muller-Hofmann, Dr. Gunther Nenning of the Austrian Jour­ nalists' Union and Liljan Espenak of New York provided valuable clues to the personalities and circumstances of the early Journalistinnen. The staffs of the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Kriegsarchi~ and Bibliothek der Stadt Wien were most helpful. Finally, lowe special thanks to my advisor, Professor Carole Rogel, for her insightful editorial assistance, and to those readers who, in the manner of Karl Kraus, contributed perceptive critical comment. iii VITA March 24, 1948 • Born - Spri:ngfield, Massachusetts 1970 • • • • • B.A. ~ "magna" cUIil "laude, Marymount College, Tarrytown, New York 1970-1975 University Fellow, The Ohio State UIll.versity, Columbus, Ollio Olissertation Fellowship Year in Vienna, Austria, 1974-1975} 19-71-19.74; 19-75-1976 • • •• Teaching Associate, Department of History, Tne Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1972 •••••••••••• M.A., with distinction, The Ohio State University, Columbus," Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Maj or Field: European History East Central Europe: Professor Carole Rogel Nineteenth Century France: Professor John Rothney Twentieth Century European Intellectual History: Professor David Liudenfeld Colonial Latin America: Prof'eaao'r Stephan Stoan iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE. i.i VITA ••• . iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. • . vi CHAPTER I .. INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • It • 1 II. THE VIENNESE PRESS SINCE 1848 AND THE EMERGENCE OF WOMEN JOURNALISTS IN VIENNA. • • • • • • • • • • • • . , 8 III. BERTA ZUCKERKANDL: JOURNALISTIN AJ.'ID PUBLICIST OF MODERN ART AND CULTURE. 56 IV. ALICE SCHALEK, CAREER JOURNALISTIN: PIONEER TRAVEL WRITER AND WAR CORRESPONDENT. • ••• 125 V. CONCLUSIONS. 186 BIBLIOGRAPHY • • • . .. '. 198 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AI - AM ISONZO MARZ BIS JUtI 1916 KPQ - KRIEGSPRESSEQUARTIER NFP - NEUE FREIE PRESSE NWJ - NEUES WIENER JOURNAL NWT - NEUES WIENER TAGBLATT TiW - TIROL 1M WAFFEN KRIEGSBERICHTE VaNDER TIROLER FRONT WAZ - WIENER ALLGEMEINE ZElTUNG vt CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION As the title of this dissertation indicates, women were indeed active in the influential press of Vienna in the early twen­ tieth century. The following pages will examine in detail the work of two individual Journalistinnen of the period and will demonstrate that they had a definite, positive impact on the society which nur­ tured the cultural flowering that accompanied the decline of the Habsburg Empire. First I offer a preliminary survey of the develop­ ment of the press in Vienna after 1848 and of the social and economic circumstances encountered by the first Viennese women journalists. Following this, r investigate the intellectual contributions of the two most noted Journalistinnen of the early twentieth century: Berta Zuckerkandl, the first woman journalist of any importance who contri­ outed regularly to the Viennese press and Alice Schalek, the first woman travel and war correspondent to write for a Viennese newspaper. In. examining the published work of these previously uninvestigated figures of the Viennese press, the historian gains a valuable insight into pre~ and postwar Viennese society and cultural life from the perceptive viewpoint of two observant; and well-placed Journalistinnen. I 2 However, Berta Zuckerkand1 and Alice Scha1ek. utilized their positions not merely to serve as "Spiegel der Zeie' (mirrors of the time), but to crusade actively and effectively for their own particular causes. Both seemed. aware that intellectual life and social mores in their city were in need of criticism, yet a sense of mission and a basic pride in Vienna prevented them from losing all faith in its powers of recuperation. Zuckerkand1 championed the modern in art and theater against the Viennese predilection for an eclectic conventional style. Scha1ek. sought to overcome Viennese indifference to the world outside the Kaiserstadt by drawing attention to two neglected aspects of the outside world: the situation of women and the fate of the com­ mon soldier in World War 1. But their efforts would prove to be only partial remedies to Vienna's malaise, a fact that became clear to these Journa1istinnen only when they were forced to flee into exile in 1938. As apolitical journalists, they campaigned against cultural ignorance and social insularity and gained the attention of their often indifferent fellow· citizens for their .causes through the most influential news medium of the period--the daily press. Newspapers played a major role in conditioning the social and intellectual milieu of the Habsburg capital. No Austrian with intellectual aspirations neglected a daily dissection of the various Viennese gazettes available for leisurely perusal at his favorite coffeehouse. In such a society a skilled professional journalist obviously had great influence. Indeed, wags when referring to Moritz Benedikt, the editor of the Neue Freie Presse from 1880 to 1920~ 3 remarked that next to him Emperor Francis. Jose.ph was the. most impor­ tant personage in Austria.1 This state of affairs had not always prevailed in the Cis1ei.thian part of the Empire. The initial section of my paper describes the rapid growth of the Viennese press after 1848, leading to the development of a number of mass c:trculation dailies and, subsequently, to the entry of the first women into journalism. Eager to increase their circulation, Viennese newspaper owners and editors introduced popular feature articles designed to attract women readers; these articles were often written by women. Women first became prom- went as feuilleton writers, and in fact made their greatest journal­ isti.c impact in this French import, wh.1ch had become the most Viennese of genres. Middle-class women, frequently of Jewish background, were first in. the field, for journal:tsm was one of the few status-carrying occupations available to them. Special problems were encountered by these. women. and, to an extent, overcome by them. Female journalists were. plagued by: the. difficulties of oBtaining regular employment, often the.y used pseudonyms to disguise their sex; the unfair criticism levelled 'by male ed:ttors and colleagues; the frequency with which the .Jolirn.a.1istiJinen were relegated to "female" areas as news of society or of fashion; and the reluctance of editors to promote them. How the Journalistincountered these problems to win a permanent place :tn the Viennese. press will be examined in Chapter II, Part 2. lHenry Wickham. Ste.ed, The. Hapsburg Monarchy (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913), p. 182. 4 In the major portion of my work, I will consider the careers and cultural contributions of the Journalistinnen, Berta Zuckerkandl (1864-19.45) and Alice Scbalek (1874-1956). How Zuckerkandl used her position on the arts staff of the Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung to influ­ ence. the cultural life and opinions of her time is the subject of Chapter ITT. An intellectually prominent hostess of a leading liter­ ary and fine arts salon and a lifelong pacifist, she was also involved in political affairs (chiefly with Franco-Austrian negotiations in World War II. HOwever, journalism was her principalo~cupation; for decades she contributed to art and theater columns where she championed the cause of the then little-known Viennese Art Nouveau group, tfie Sezession, and the innovative drama of Schnitzler and Rofmatmstnal. Her interests extended to the applied arts as well, since she was- a leading supporter of the new architecture of Otto Wagner and Josef Hoffmann. Ludwig Hevesi, the Hungarian-born art critic wfio wrote an introduction to a collection of her columns, much admired her work. Toge.ther with Hevesi, Zuckerkandl supplied perliaps tlie