FOUR SISTERS. DISTANT VIENNA, FOREIGN WORLD

Renata Schmidtkunz in conversation with Ernst Strouhal

FOUR SISTERS. DISTANT VIENNA, FOREIGN WORLD

Gerda, Friedl, Ilse and Susanne were the daughters of „Benedikt's son“ and granddaughters of Moriz Benedikt, the famous publisher of the powerful „Neue Freie Presse“, against which Karl Kraus polemicised vehemently. Elias Canetti lived in the immediate neighbourhood of the Benedikts, whose daughters did not escape his notice and who invited him to their salon. The Anschluss put an end to their privileged existence, but the four sisters managed to escape. Scattered in all directions, they remained connected through emigration, war and post-war.

Ernst Strouhal tells in Four sisters of a piece of irretrievable culture, giving a voice to his own mother and three aunts. This great Viennese family history of the 20th century will be published by Zsolnay Verlag at the end of August.

Ernst Strouhal is a professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, author and publicist. He received the Austrian State Prize for Cultural Journalism in 2010 and has worked on exhibitions including. A song of reason (Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna 1996), Games of the city (Vienna Museum 2011). He has recently published the following books:  The world in the game. Atlas of playable maps (2015), Nasty letters. The history of threats and blackmail (together with Christoph Winder, 2017) and Conversation with a donkey. Reading with the thumb (2019).

Moderation Renata Schmidtkunz, journalist, director and presenter, head of the programme series "Im Gespräch", Radio Österreich 1

In co-operation with the Zsolnay Publishing House.

Ernst Strouhal:
FOUR SISTERS. DISTANT VIENNA, FOREIGN WORLD
Zsolnay-Verlag, August 2022, 416 pages
ISBN 978-3-552-07312-8