Page - 95 - in Entangled Entertainers - Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna

Jewishness and the Viennese Volkssänger | 95 to granting the license and ask it to weigh in on the applicant. Rötzer, Recher, and Hirsch would carry out any necessary preparations in advance. At fi rst glance, the willingness of the Volkssänger to allow the authorities to retain the power to revoke licenses seems like a concession to unlicensed perform- ers. Th is would at least increase the likelihood that unlicensed Volkssänger could be granted a license and therefore be able to enjoy its benefi ts. Th e real reason that the Volkssänger relented, however, may have been the fear that a lack of offi - cial control could lead to abuses that would in turn be deleterious for the entire profession. Th e recent past provided an instructive example. In March 1896, the Vienna police revoked ten licenses because the ensemble managers in question were too old (or otherwise impaired) to run their own company. For example, it was an open secret that the troupe of Johann Kwapil, who was seventy-nine at the time, was de facto led by cast member Lina Ott.73 Nonetheless, Kwapil was still the licensee and had full decision-making power over his ensemble.74 Another Volkssänger director was said to have worked another job during the week and therefore allowed his troupe to perform only on Sundays. His employees were thus barely able to earn enough money to survive. With the police confi scating licenses, many families fell into fi nancial hardship. In reaction to this situation, the Volkssänger organized a meeting on 14 March 1896 in the Viennese district of Hernals. During the meeting, Hirsch proposed that they take up a collection for the families of colleagues who had lost their jobs. He also declared himself ready to lead a deputation that would submit a memo- randum to Minister-President Count Kasimir Felix Badeni (1846–1909) regard- ing their recently unemployed colleagues.75 Th e meeting with Badeni took place two days later. Shortly thereafter, the police informed Hirsch that nine of the ten Volkssänger in question would be allowed to apply for a renewal of their license.76 Due to his successful handling of the aff air, Hirsch earned great respect in the Volkssänger milieu. A daily newspaper remarked, “In a very aff ectionate way, our good Viennese Volkssänger Hirsch takes on the cause of his impoverished(!) colleagues. Th e man is on his feet all day. He runs from one government offi ce to another, asking for mercy for the reprimanded Volkssänger.”77 Th e meeting on 13 December 1902 was the last meeting in which Hirsch expressed his support for the reform ideas of Recher, Rötzer, and their followers. In the weeks that followed, he displayed behavior that, retrospectively, could be interpreted as evidence of a change of heart. Th e fi rst indication of this change was a meeting of the deputation committee on 9 January 1903, to which Hirsch had belonged since its foundation at the end of October of the previous year. Th e committee issued the slogan “Protect the native Viennese,” and the members voted to maintain the licensing obligation. At the time, Hirsch claimed he could not attend this meeting due to health reasons. A few months later, it would be- come known that he attended another meeting of fellow Volkssänger who were in favor of lifting the licensing requirement.78 This open access edition has been made available under a CC BY 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched.