Johann Nestroy Bust

Life and Work

Johann Nepomuk Nestroy (1801-1862)

He was born into a civil servant family, studied law for a few semesters to please his father, but soon turned to the theatre. He played on several stages (Brünn/Brno, Lemberg/Lviv and Graz), but also in Vienna and Ischl. His plays -- masterpieces of satirical-comic art -- are still consistently performed today. They critically target the political and social injustices of his time which was the reason why he was always threatened by censorship.

Some of his most famous plays are The Evil Spirit Lumpazivagabundus (Der böse Geist Lumpazivagabundus), Downstairs, Upstairs (Zu ebener Erde und erster Stock), The Talisman (Der Talisman), On the Razzle (Einen Jux will er sich machen), A Man Full of Nothing (Der Zerrissene), Freedom in Krähwinkel (Freiheit in Krähwinkel, a revolutionary play written in 1848), Past Circumstances (Frühere Verhältnisse) and Chieftain Evening-Breeze (Häuptling Abendwind, in which Nestroy himself was on stage ).

Reference to Ischl

In 1845, Nestroy visited Ischl for the first time and stayed at Hotel Goldenes Kreuz. Ten years later, he was on stage in Ischl as Schnoferl in his play The Girl from the Suburbs (Das Mädel aus der Vorstadt). It was a charity event for the Kinder-Bewahr-Anstalt kindergarten.

Further stays followed in 1856 and 1858, during which his plan to acquire a house in Ischl solidified, which was realized in 1859 (Villa at Nestroyweg 3).