Carl Schorske’s Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture contains a wide assortment of men and ideas that had a profound impact on the modern intellect and culture of Vienna. Schorske’s work is the culmination of a twenty-five-year study, and within the first seventy-two pages, he introduces the rich and complex culture of the Austrian capital at the turn of the last century. A simplified version of his thesis is the rise of Viennese version of modernism along with the birth of the free-thinking man. He explores this new modernism through the short-lived Austrian liberalism and explores the importance of the creation of the Ringstrasse. Through the complexity of his writings and his utilization of metaphors, he develops a compelling case regarding the birth of the psychological man amidst political disruption. By 1900, Viennese liberalism was defeated by the modern mass movements: Christian, anti-Semitic, socialist and nationalist. This defeat had “profound psychological repercussions” (Schorske 6) seeming to halt progress and political enlightenment. The opening
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“The highest strata of society not only resided in the Ring area but, with surprising frequency, owned the buildings in which they lived. For the Ringstrasse apartments [they] were prized as among the most secure and lucrative private investments…the high aristocrat, the merchant, the widow of fixed income, or the doctor who could afford it, were all drawn to buying an apartment…in the Ringstrasse house, social desirability and profitability thus reinforced each other.” (Schorske 54)
Schorske asserts that with the construction of the Ringstrasse community it created class mobility which subsequently showed a clear reflection on one of the major social tensions between the aristocrats and bourgeoisie. With the growth and expansion of the middle-class, status has become
“The highest strata of society not only resided in the Ring area but, with surprising frequency, owned the buildings in which they lived. For the Ringstrasse apartments [they] were prized as among the most secure and lucrative private investments…the high aristocrat, the merchant, the widow of fixed income, or the doctor who could afford it, were all drawn to buying an apartment…in the Ringstrasse house, social desirability and profitability thus reinforced each other.” (Schorske 54)
Schorske asserts that with the construction of the Ringstrasse community it created class mobility which subsequently showed a clear reflection on one of the major social tensions between the aristocrats and bourgeoisie. With the growth and expansion of the middle-class, status has become