Book after scandal

Former Burgtheater boss: “I am not angry with Vienna”

Theater maker and former director of the Burgtheater Matthias Hartmann at the presentation and reading of his book "Warum eine Pistole auf der Bühne nicht schießt".(Bild: Alexander Tuma)

What was initially a dream come true for the former Burgtheater director turned into a bitter nightmare: Matthias Hartmann has now published a book about the theater, Vienna and the scandal that brought him down. 

The disgraced theater maker Matthias Hartmann returned to his city of destiny: here in Vienna, he took over as director of the Burgtheater in 2009 as the successor to Klaus Bachler, only five years later he had to leave in the wake of a financial scandal. 

Hartmann also invited many friends and prominent companions to the reading.(Bild: Alexander Tuma)

At the Theater an der Josefstadt, in the presence of many prominent friends and companions, he presented his book "Warum eine Pistole auf der Bühne nicht schießt" ("Why a gun doesn't shoot on stage"), as he himself said in an interview with the "Krone", primarily "a declaration of love to the theater". What should have been a non-fiction book took on biographical traits until the end - an aspect that also makes it interesting for readers outside the theater industry.

No scandal, no biography
Not least because he also addresses the scandal that ultimately cost him his prestigious post. "Of course people said: 'Excuse me, but you can't write a biographical book without the important impact of your life, this scandal, playing a role in it'. And so the third part was added, the scandal part, the Burgtheater, the Burgtheater story. However, it has to be said, I didn't turn it into a dedicated crime novel, but instead handed it over to an investigative journalist, Rainer Fleckl, who then wrote down the 'hard facts' in the appendix."

Desirée Treichl-Stürgkh and her husband Andreas Treichl listened with interest.(Bild: Alexander Tuma)

Former Jedermann Michael Maertens with Hartmann's wife, director Alexandra Liedtke.(Bild: Alexander Tuma)

The artist Erwin Wurm with his wife Elise Mougin.(Bild: Alexander Tuma)

Despite his inglorious departure, he still associates the city with positive feelings: "It was always my place of longing. As a theater man, you have to love Vienna. I'm not angry with the city, you can't be angry with the Viennese audience. I've experienced so much love here in the meantime and so much affection ... You just don't like going here anymore. You don't like coming to a place that you've charged with so much longing. It's logical."

Despite all the conciliatory words, he did not refrain from one last side blow to his opponents at the time: "It was a nasty and faked affair [...]. Those who are responsible for this, financial manipulation, tax evasion, tax evasion and the like, they went free!"