The Last Days of Mankind

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This image was used in the work The Last Days of Mankind by Karl Kraus, which has been described as the Austrian national drama, symbolic for the oppression in Austria, particular towards non-german people. Depicted is the irredentist Reichsrat and provincial assembly deputy Cesare Battisti after his execution by the for Austria typical garrote (1916) in the moat of the Castle of Trento, together with the infamous executioner Josef Lang. L'esecuzione di Cesare Battisti.jpg
This image was used in the work The Last Days of Mankind by Karl Kraus, which has been described as the Austrian national drama, symbolic for the oppression in Austria, particular towards non-german people. Depicted is the irredentist Reichsrat and provincial assembly deputy Cesare Battisti after his execution by the for Austria typical garrote (1916) in the moat of the Castle of Trento, together with the infamous executioner Josef Lang.

The Last Days of Mankind (German : Die letzten Tage der Menschheit) is a grotesque drama by Karl Kraus. The play is a perceptive and bitter reckoning with the horrors of World War I. One third of the play is drawn from documentary sources. [6] Written between 1915 and 1922, the drama consists of more than 200 scenes. Kraus depicts the depths of war in all its grotesque and equally unbearable absurdity — from the cynical delusion of politicians to the disinformation of the press to indifference and dullness of the population.

Contents

The Last Days of Mankind is considered one of the most important of Kraus's works. It was written as a reading piece; the author could not imagine a performance onstage given the megalomania of the work.

Preface

It was written for a "Martian theater" because no earthly stage could ever fully recreate this pandemonium, according to the preface. The play wasn't released for the stage until 1928.


Most of the play is highly realistic, except the final scenes which are of expressionist genre. [6]

Performances

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Nachrichten, Salzburger (2025-07-21). "Why is The Last Days of Mankind the 'Austrian national drama'?". Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  2. ↑ Kramer, Alan (July 9, 2024). "Atrocities / 1.1 / handbook". 1914-1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  3. ↑ Wedrac, Stefan (January 13, 2025). "Centenary (Austria) / 1.0 / handbook". 1914-1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  4. ↑ "ORF Topos". ORF Topos (in German). Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  5. ↑ Wolf, Norbert (2020-11-19). ""After the executioner, the photographer had to come too." War and photography in Karl Kraus's monumental drama The Last Days of Mankind". Cahiers d’études germaniques. 1 volume (79). OpenEdition: 79–108. doi: 10.4000/ceg.12415 . ISSN   0751-4239 . Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  6. 1 2 Knight, Charles A. (2004) Literature of Satire p.255
  7. ↑ Salzburger Festspiele: „Vor dem Totenbett der Zeit stehe ich …“ , retrieved on 9 August 2025

Further reading

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