Also: “Icons of Austria” – The novel “Josefine Mutzenbacher” and “The Culture Week” – on April 28th from 9:05 a.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – The “matinee” on Sunday, April 28, 2024, at 9:05 a.m. on ORF 2 offers a wide range of topics: First, the focus is on a culinary classic of Austrian pastry cuisine: “The Gugelhupf – King of Cakes”. Afterwards, ORF 2 will bring a dacapo of the documentary “Karl Kraus – The Power of the Word” (9:50 a.m.) shown in the last “kulturMontag” on exactly the 150th birthday of the sharp-tongued critic, media maker and writer. After an edition of the short series “Icons of Austria” (10.35 a.m.) about the novel “Josefine Mutzenbacher”, “Die Kulturwoche” (10.45 a.m.) concludes the ORF cultural morning presented by Clarissa Stadler with reports and tips on current cultural events.
“The Gugelhupf – King of Cakes” (9:05 a.m.)
The Gugelhupf is not only a piece of Austrian cultural heritage, but is also known in various versions far beyond the country’s borders. Since the Biedermeier era, this cake has been the epitome of a coffee snack or Sunday breakfast. Juicy, buttery, yolk-yellow, with raisins or with small chocolate pieces, made from sponge cake dough, shortbread dough or yeast dough in a wide variety of variations – all of this can be a good Bundt cake. One of his best-known baking molds is the tall wreath mold made of metal, ceramic, glass or silicone, which resembles classic pudding molds, has an opening in the middle and thus allows the dough to cook more evenly. In Anita Lackenberger’s documentary, enthusiastic bakers present their stories and favorite recipes.
“Karl Kraus – The Power of the Word” (9:50 a.m.)
Karl Kraus was an all-round journalist: journalist, poet, playwright, satirist, visionary, newspaper editor, critic and media pioneer. And he was a person full of contradictions and attitudes that would be extremely offensive today. On the occasion of his 150th birthday, the film “Karl Kraus – The Power of the Word” by Franz Gruber and Susanne Pleisnitzer gets very close to this uncomfortable figure, through people – artists and researchers – who gain access to him person and his work.
Karl Kraus is hardly read at all these days. His sentence structure is too twisted, the content too time-related. Nevertheless, he dealt with social questions that are still valid today. Despite all this, there is a tight-knit community that invests a lot of love, time and money in researching his life – including young people.
It is the contradictions that become apparent when dealing with Kraus and pose a mystery. There is his transformation from loyal to the Kaiser to one of the first opponents of the war during the First World War, or from a supporter of social democracy to an eloquent supporter of the Austro-fascist dictator Engelbert Dollfuß. Another contradiction is his dogged fight against corruption in the newspaper industry, while with the self-published “Torch” he practices exactly what is now called “outrage management” – one of the business foundations of tabloid journalism. There are the expressions of love from his long-time lover Sidonie Nádherná von Borutín, which at times were perceived as oppressive, while one does not have to look far for misogynistic statements in his work. There are anti-Semitic statements, even though Kraus himself has Jewish roots. And there is the technology skeptic who, when the Titanic sank and other occasions, castigated his contemporaries’ blind faith in progress – but soon became one of Austria’s first frequent flyers himself.
Those speaking include Katharina Prager, proven Kraus expert and Kraus estate administrator, Isabel Langkabel, enthusiastic Kraus researcher, quote researcher and blogger Gerald Krieghofer, cabaret artist Hosea Ratschiller and castle actor Cornelius Obonya. 88 years after the death of the controversial publicist, this film answers the question of whether there is someone else behind the far-sighted and sharp-sighted, loudly rumbling, intellectually often overwhelming and seemingly egomaniacal figure who is worth discovering.
During the creation, AI systems were used to bring Karl Kraus to life using sound recordings of his original voice or photos from which short film sequences were generated and to let his own quotes speak.