Vienna edition

19 volumes show Ödön von Horváth’s way of working

Ödön von Horváth(Bild: Wiener Ausgabe/Bd.18)

Ödön von Horváth is a megalith of Austrian literature, a classic of modernism. Under the direction of Klaus Kastberger, the Franz Nabl Institute at the Karl Franzens University in Graz has now finalized his complete historical-critical edition.

After 15 years, the mammoth work has finally been completed: the "Vienna Edition" is dedicated to the work of the exceptional Austrian writer Ödön von Horvath (1901 to 1938) down to the smallest detail. And it is not only literary scholars who are celebrating this new complete edition, which comprises 19 volumes and, in addition to all the works, also includes the letters, notebooks and life documents as well as all the files in which the author is mentioned - in large format and with many facsimiles.

State-of-the-art work process
It is particularly exciting to be able to trace the history of the works' creation and the changes the author made. Horváth's ultra-modern working process is thus made clear. This is also interesting for many theaters, who like to refer back to this "Viennese edition". 

This is made easier by the fact that all the plays are recorded on the GAMS archiving platform at the University of Graz. However, the inexpensive Reclam editions also make use of this historical-critical edition. The individual volumes of the "Wiener Ausgabe" themselves are quite expensive (from 279 to 549 euros) and are intended more for universities, libraries and literary institutes - or for real fans.

A comprehensive Horváth handbook (also published by the renowned academic publisher de Gruyter) was published at the same time as the last volumes of this edition.

The complete edition

Ödön von Horváth: Vienna edition of his complete works. Historical-critical edition.

Complete edition: Klaus Kastberger.

19 volumes edited by Erwin Gartner, Kerstin Reimann, Nicole Streitler-Kastberger and Martin Vejvar. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter 2009-2024

The edition will be presented with prominent support on March 18 at 7 p.m. in the Graz Literaturhaus: Johannes Silberschneider will read passages from Horváth's plays. This will be followed by events in Vienna (April 22, Austrian Society for Literature), Klagenfurt (April 29, Robert-Musil-Institute), Innsbruck (May 13, Brenner Archive) and in September at the Horváth Society in Murnau.