Josefine Mutzenbacher / oder Die Geschichte einer Wienerischen Dirne von ihr selbst erzählt

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

31284

Title

Josefine Mutzenbacher / oder Die Geschichte einer Wienerischen Dirne von ihr selbst erzählt

Language

de

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Josefine Mutzenbacher recounts her life from poverty in Vienna's slums to becoming a celebrated courtesan. This unflinching first-person memoir details her sexual exploits, interactions with powerful men, and eventual decline, offering a raw, scandalous, and culturally significant glimpse into late 19th-century Viennese society.

Summary up to 500 words

Published in 1906, *Josefine Mutzenbacher* is a first-person narrative detailing the life of a Viennese woman born in 1852 in the Hernals district to a poor saddler. The text serves as a raw confession written by Josefine during her final illness, recounting her rise from the slums to high society through prostitution. Josefine argues that her body, trained in vice from childhood, was her only asset, allowing her to escape the fate of her peers who died in poverty or foundel homes. She credits her 'lasterhaft' (sinful) lifestyle with providing her education and access to the elite. The narrative exposes the dark underbelly of early 20th-century Vienna, beginning with disturbing childhood sexual experiences. Josefine describes being sexually abused by boarders in her family's crowded tenement and by neighbors, experiences she initially viewed as confusing but later understood as exploitation. A pivotal moment occurs when she confesses these acts to a priest, only to discover the clergyman is himself a corrupt abuser who sexually exploits her under the guise of absolution. This revelation shatters her faith and highlights the hypocrisy of the institution she sought to save her soul. As an adult, Josefine navigates the perils of venereal disease, developing a rigorous system of self-protection against syphilis. She learns to demand payment upfront, avoid military barracks, and maintain discretion to evade police surveillance. Her career evolves from cheap brothels to serving wealthy clients during the 1873 World's Fair, eventually leading to her departure with a Russian nobleman. She returns to Vienna wealthy and glamorous, maintaining her status until 1894 before retiring to a small estate near Klagenfurt. The novel concludes with Josefine's reflection on the insensibility of love, comparing women to pipes that can only play a few notes regardless of the men who use them. She estimates having slept with over 33,000 men over three decades, viewing their interactions as repetitive and mechanical. The manuscript, handed to her doctor shortly before her death in 1904, stands as a document of 'seelischer Aufrichtigkeit' (spiritual sincerity), offering a stark, unvarnished look at the sexual lives and societal constraints of the era.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Romance
• Fiction