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Volkssänger faced. He also addressed the subject of pay. He was less interested in
the specifi
c amount that they earned and more in their social status. Th
e Volks-
sänger had a dubious reputation. On the one hand, the general population of
Vienna tended to equate them with beggars. Th is view was reinforced by the fact
that anyone who applied for a Volkssänger license had to prove infi rmity or an-
other similar reason that made it impossible for the applicant to pursue another
profession.22 As a result, Volkssänger, like beggars, were considered incapacitated
or unwilling to work. And like them, the Volkssänger defrayed the cost of living
through charitable donations. Th
ey did not receive a fi
xed salary for their services.
Rather, a member of the ensemble usually walked around during or after the per-
formance and asked the audience to donate money to compensate the actors.
Recher wanted to mitigate this dependence on donations by charging a fi
xed
entry fee (Entrée).23 While the meeting’s participants generally seemed interested
in R
echer’s proposal, some criticized it as impracticable. For example, Albert
Hirsch said that the innkeepers and owners of the performance venues would
never agree to such a plan. Th
ey earned a living by packing their establishments
with as many people as possible. As Hirsch explained it, their customers came
both to enjoy the performances and to order food and drink; being forced to pay
a fi
xed entry fee would only discourage their attendance.24
Th
e second factor that contributed to the dubious reputation of the Volkssänger
had to do with the (sometimes) vague boundaries between their female members
and the prostitution industry. Th
ere had been overlap between the two occupa-
tions since the beginning of folk singing in the early nineteenth century. Some
of the best-known Volkssänger had fi rst been prostitutes before beginning their
new profession as singing performers.25 And even as Volkssänger, some women
continued to engage in prostitution on the side. For example, we see this kind of
attitude in a remark that Rötzer made about musical directors who played with
their Damenkapellen (all-female dance bands, as such groups were called) during
Volkssänger performances. According to Rötzer, these directors frequently hired
girls with no talent. He said that although the girls received only a small fee, they
managed to get by surprisingly well.26 It is diffi
cult to determine whether Rötzer
merely wanted to express a general sense of grievance or intended to criticize spe-
cifi
c people. For example, Adolfi Hirsch, under the direction of his father Albert,
operated a Damenkapelle.27
When it was Amon Berg’s turn to address the audience, there was no d
oubt that
he was specifi cally criticizing Albert Hirsch.28 Berg demanded that “licensees”—
that is, the Volkssänger with a license—be better protected. Berg stated that it had
become a habit for singspiel directors, and here he specifi
cally referred to Hirsch,
to hire four or fi ve licensed Volkssänger, but to allow “guest” performers to take
the stage, especially during weekend performances. Th
is kind of hiring practice
meant that directors like Hirsch eliminated opportunities for licensed Volkssänger
to perform, which in turn meant that they lost a portion of their fee.29 At that
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Entangled Entertainers
Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
- Title
- Entangled Entertainers
- Subtitle
- Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
- Author
- Klaus Hödl
- Publisher
- Berghahn Books
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-1-78920-031-7
- Size
- 14.86 x 23.2 cm
- Pages
- 196
- Categories
- Geschichte Vor 1918
- International
Table of contents
- Introduction 1
- 1. Jews in Viennese Popular Culture around 1900 as Research Topic 13
- 2. Jewish Volkssänger and Musical Performers in Vienna around 1900 44
- 3. Jewishness and the Viennese Volkssänger 78
- 4. Jewish Spaces of Retreat at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 121
- 5. From Difference to Similarity 148
- Conclusion 163
- Bibliography 166
- Index 179