Ferdinand Von Saar – författare

Burda, ein schmucker Leutnant der k.-u.-k. Armee, tadellos in seinen Manieren, ehrenhaft in seinem Charakter, hat nur eine Schwäche: Er ist eitel und himmelt Frauen an, die unerreichbar für ihn sind. Als er der blutjungen Prinzessin Fanny verfällt, findet er immer wieder neue Indizien dafür, dass die Prinzessin seine Gefühle erwidert. Ein Wahn, der sein Ansehen, seine Karriere, schließlich sein Leben selbst gefährdet. Am Ende bleibt nur ein vertrockneter Veilchenstrauß im Kehricht.Mit Leutnant Burda ist eine der ergreifendsten Novellen der österreichischen Literatur des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts neu zu entdecken. Schon zeigen sich Risse im Gefüge des Habsburger Reichs, das in einem letzten halb verzweifelten, halb lächerlichen Aufbäumen von seinem Untergang kündet, dem sich wenig später auch Autoren wie Arthur Schnitzler und Joseph Roth widmen sollten.

In the regiment in which I had spent my military time, there was also a lieutenant named Joseph Burda. Considering his rank, he no longer seemed too young; he might already be approaching his thirties. This circumstance in itself would have been enough to give him a certain prestige among his immediate comrades, who were almost all fluffy yellowbeaks; but he possessed other qualities that particularly distinguished him. For he was not only a very efficient, useful officer, he had also acquired a kind of higher education through all kinds of reading, which he knew how to combine very advantageously with fine, worldly manners. As a superior, he was considered strict but fair; towards his superiors, he displayed a modest, but thoroughly confident attitude; in social intercourse, he showed a somewhat measured and reserved demeanour, but was always ready to faithfully assist each individual in word and deed. No one watched over the so-called esprit de corps more strictly than he, and in everything that concerned the point of honour he proved to be of the most scrupulous sensitivity, so much so that in this respect he had more than once got into serious conflicts without being the least bit of a quarrel seeker, and had had to settle them with a sabre in his fist. As a result, he was a little feared, but also all the more respected, without becoming pretentious or haughty, although it did help to enhance the somewhat melancholy dignity of his nature.