Believe It or Not

by Dan Peterson
During the winter of 1960 I lived in vienna as both student of German at the Austrio-Amerikanisher Gesellshaftto learn German as well as taught English to students at the University of Vienna.

A great moment for the opera that winter was the farewell concert with Elizabeth Schwartzkopf singing the title role of the Marchellin in Strauss' der Rosenkavalier. Traditionally, I had bought seats for the opera at the back door to the house from the custodian; he was allowed to sell seats to foreigners. Naturally for this opera, neither the front door nor the back door had seats available for Schwarzkopf singing her operatic trademake for this performance.

On my way home from the university that Saturday I was properly attired in a black three piece suit when I stopped at the lebensmittel to get my weekend supply of bratswurst. I approached the end of the line to make my purchase only to find the ladies essentially pushed the herr doctor (prematurely actually) to the front of the line. I went home thinking of the last vestige of the aristocracy was not yet dead in Austria.

Once in my apartment the oversoul took over. I asked my Austrian roommate whose father owned a costume shop to get a tux for me and a chauffer's cap from him. The plan was for him to drive me in my new 180 mercedes (cost: $3000 at the factory in the sixties), drop me at the entrance, and enjoy the use of the car for the evening.

I approached the entrance with heart pounding, thinking the scam had little chance of succeeding. When asked for my karte, I waived the man aside and continued walking toward the orchestra. Once in standing room I relaxed, but a few minutes before the overture began an usher asked, "haben sie kein sitzplatz, herr doctor?" I replied I was only able to get standing room, to which he replied the opera could not begin with a gentleman standing. He escorted me to an unoccupied seat in the orchestra.

Upon returning home from this exceptional evening with even today the greatest soprano for this role as well as a definite cast, my roommate lamented the last vestiges of the Austrian aristocracy was indeed in jeopardy with such scams occurring.

Today I would agree that his fears were not unfounded when i go to Salzburg to find the wonderful backeries with such greetings as "guten morgan, gnaedige frau" on getriedegasse have yielded to chain type stores and the aristocrats finding themselves replaced by a new wave.

Thanks and welcome to DOCTOR Dan Peterson for this great story!