Books and Publications
Available
Hermann Kraszna
Johann Breitwieser. Ein Lebensbild.
2 volumes, Verlag der Tribunal, Vienna 1925
This book about Schani Breitwieser is a mixture of documentary and novel.
Dr. Hermann Kraszna was a lawyer and author of several books. He was forced to flee from Vienna during the Third Reich and died in exile in Ecuador in 1942.
Even from second-hand sources this book is very hard to get. Should you be able to get one, please get in touch.
The e-book version of this book is a project of this website.
Wolfgang Maderthaner, Lutz Musner
Unruly Masses: The Other Side of Fin-de-siecle Vienna
Berghahn Books, Oxford-New York 2008, ISBN 978-1-84545-446-3 Pb, ISBN 978-1-84545-345-9 Hb
Imperial Vienna was not a snowglobe between Waltzes and Schönbrunn Palace. It was capital of an Empire with all the problems of a big city. This book offers good insight into the situation of the poor in Vienna's suburbs during the time of Schani Breitwiesers. Ten pages containing several photos are dedicated to his life.
Also, it is the only book listed here that is available in English.
Wolfgang Maderthaner
Österreich. 99 Dokumente, Briefe und Urkunden.
Brandstätter Verlag, Wien 2018, ISBN 978-3-7106-0193-4
Again, Wolfgang Maderthaner has included a chapter on Schani Breitwieser in his hefty and luxuriously illustrated book on the history of Austria.
Egon Erwin Kisch
Der rasende Reporter
Aufbau Taschenbuch Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-7466-5051-7
This, the most famous book by Egon Erwin Kisch, contains an article named Wie der Einbrecher Breitwieser erschossen wurde (How the burglar Breitwieser was shot). It also features a sketch of the villa in St. Andrä Wördern, where Schani Breitwieser lived. The article is available here to copy and paste into your favourite translating service.
Alfred Polgar
Das große Lesebuch.
rororo, 2004, ISBN 978-3-499-23806-2
Alfred Polgar too wrote an article about Schani Breitwieser. It was published as Ein Heldenleben and first collected in Schwarz auf Weiß (s. below).
Beppo Beyerl
Die bösen Buben von Wien. Gauner, Strizzis & Hallodris.
Styria, 2022, ISBN 978-3-222-13666-5
One of the bösen Buben in this book is, of course, Schani Breitwieser and he got to feature on the cover, too. The author was so nice as to include mention of this website.
Out of print
Alfred Polgar
Schwarz auf Weiß.
Rowohlt, Berlin 1929
In Alfred Polgar's lifetime his article Ein Heldenleben on Schani Breitwieser was published in this collection. Other collections are still available (s. above)
Wilfried Zeller-Zellenberg
Seid lieb auch zu Disteln. Von Undsoweiter der k. u. k. Herrlichkeit 1918 bis dato und in alle Ewigkeit
Europaverlag, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-203-50502-4
Writer and cartoonist Wilfried Zeller-Zellenberg on 15 pages dedicates critical texts and many drawings - some of them of very rebellious nature - to the funeral of Schani Breitwieser. Also included are photographs and newspaper articles.
It is not hard to find this book second-hand.
Hans W. Bousska
Johann Breitwieser. Der Einbrecherkönig von Meidling, ein Robin Hood der Vororte?
in: Museumsblätter des Bezirksmuseums Meidling, Heft 30, Vienna 1992
This publication is mostly about the history of the police in Vienna and in Meidling. Included you can find an article on Schani Breitwieser.
Theatre
Thomas Arzt, Jherek Bischoff
Johnny Breitwieser - Eine Verbrecher-Ballade aus Wien
The play saw its very first night on November 28, 2014 in Vienna's Schauspielhaus theatre.
From the text to the first night:
Thomas Arzt translates Breitwieser's fast life into a short sequence of scenes, sometimes in its own version of Viennese dialect: a ballad written for the stage, perfectly accompanied by the eerily beautiful music of young US pop-composer Jherek Bischoff, using string quartett and percussion as live elements.