"The Dangers of Versatility"

Friedrich Torberg

17.09.2008 - 08.03.2009
Palais Eskeles
Dorotheergasse 11
1010 Wien

"On paper he was a nasty person, yet in flesh and blood he was lovely." Thus wrote Günther Nenning in an obituary of Friedrich Torberg (1908-1979). Opinions are divided in this way even today: to his friends, Torberg has always been a witty writer and trenchant critic, a constantly aware Jew and Zionist, who like no other brought to life the "good old days" before the Jewish exodus from Austria in his "Tante Jolesch" stories. For his enemies he is the man who initiated the "Brecht Boycott" and a cultural henchman.

Torberg was a writer, journalist, translator, publisher, and a complete multi-talent early in life: in 1928 he won the Czechoslovakian water polo championship together with a Jewish team, and in 1930 his first novel "Der Schüler Gerber hat absolviert" brought him instant fame. However, his flight in 1939 brutally ended his promising career. Whilst in exile in the US from 1940 to 1951, Torberg's only works to be published were the concentration camp novella "Mein ist die Rache" (1943), probably his most important work from a literary point of view, and the controversial novel "Hier bin ich, mein Vater" (1948). He returned to Vienna in 1951 where he published FORVM, an important cultural magazine (1954-1965), which adopted a strictly anti-Communist position during the Cold War. His translations of Ephraim Kishon were not only bestsellers, they were also a form of  advertising for the young state of Israel. His versatility made Torberg a dominant yet also controversial figure in Austrian cultural history, still playing a more important role than almost any other of his generation.

The exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Vienna is a cooperation with the Vienna City Library. Torberg's letters which are kept there provide the major part of the exhibits, while others come mainly from the archives of the Austrian National Library. The exhibition sets out to follow Torberg's tracks, devoting itself in numerous ways to themes such as literature, exile, the Cold War, Judaism, Israel and sports. Besides manuscripts, letters, books, photos and contemporary documents, TV and radio excerpts are also presented. An extensive and richly illustrated book will be published in conjunction with the exhibition by Holzhausen Verlag (ISBN 978-3-85493-156-0).

Curator:
Marcus G. Patka, Marcel Atze

Coordinator:
Marcus Patka

Team:
Gestaltung: Bernhard Denkinger
Text: Marcus G. Patka/Marcel Atze
Fotos: David Axmann, Jüdisches Museum Wien, Wienbibliothek im Rathaus
Grafik: Renate Stockreiter

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