The Tragic Demise of a Faithful Court Official By Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando Translation and Afterword by David A. Veeder

The Tragic Demise tells of the romantic entanglements, inexorable decline, and subsequent tragicomic death of the rigid and proper Biedermeier bureaucrat Jaromir Edler von Eynhuf. In his unwavering efforts to gain the attention of his beloved Emperor Franz I Eynhuf loses sight of all propriety and embarks on an irreversible path of obsession leading into the netherworld of the diva Hoellteufel and to his eventual ruination.

Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando (1877–1954) brings to his literary creativity the freshness of someone who loves both the process and the subjects of his writing. The reader is treated to an inimitable menagerie of bizarre characters and a satiric portrayal of an Austria which has long since vanished.