Seite - 126 - in Entangled Entertainers - Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna

126 | Entangled Entertainers Goldmann reacts to this pronouncement by stating that money rules the world. When Esther and Bruno are alone again, they hear the voice of the priest, Father Lorenz. Since they are especially familiar with his charitable reputation, they resolve to ask him for a way out of their predicament. Th e following scene shows Father Lorenz, who is granting his assistance to a young woman. Her father lost his life a year ago in a work accident, and her mother desperately needs medication that she cannot aff ord. Father Lorenz, who collects money from the rich to help the poor, pays for the remedy. Bruno and Esther hope to win his support, despite their particular circum- stances. Th ey tell him about Mr. Goldmann’s decision to withhold his consent to their marriage until Bruno is in possession of 1,000 gulden. Father Lorenz knows Mr. Goldmann from his charitable donations for the building of the church. Conversely, Esther’s mother is also acquainted with him, having heard him give a eulogy at a funeral several years before. According to Esther, his sermon moved Mrs. Goldmann so much that she returned home in tears. Th e Goldmann family and Father Lorenz have not cultivated a close personal acquaintance, but they respect one another. Over the course of the conversation with Esther and Bruno, Father Lorenz devises a plan to get Mr. Goldmann to change his mind about his daughter’s marriage request. To that end, the priest must speak with him in person. He sends Esther back home to her parents, so that she may be present at the meeting. In the fourth scene, Mrs. Goldmann reads aloud to her husband from the newspaper about a fund-raising drive in remembrance of those who perished in the Ringt heater fi re.27 All residents were asked to contribute something. Mr. Goldmann reckons that there must have been Jews among those who died and that he would therefore contribute 100 gulden. When the doorbell rings shortly thereafter and Father Lorenz enters, Mr. and Mrs. Goldmann believe that he is there for the door-to-door collection that had been announced in the paper. Without prompting, Mr. Goldmann declares his willingness to contribute a considerable sum. Yet, upon the Catholic priest’s request for 1,000 gulden, Mr. Goldmann is so shocked that he almost faints. His wife has to help him stay on his feet. After he recovers, Mrs. Goldmann urges him to give Father Lorenz the requested sum. Initially, Mr. Goldmann protests, but he nevertheless gives in. Father Lorenz gives Bruno the money, who presents the sum to Mr. Goldmann. In the end, Bruno and Esther receive Mr. and Mrs. Goldmann’s permission to marry. Father Lorenz appears once more as well. His parting words to Bruno and Esther are “Fare thee well, children, live well with one another, you have seen that Father Lorenz does not only pray for Christians, but also for Jews, when they are decent people.” Th e A postle of Schottenfeld is Hirsch’s most famous work. In it, he not only portrays Jews as part of old Viennese society, but also presents them in close relationship to non-Jews. He foregrounds both of these aspects in the farce A This open access edition has been made available under a CC BY 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched.