Josefine Mutzenbacher oder Die Geschichte einer Wienerischen Dirne von ihr selbst erzählt

A young woman born in a modest district of Vienna in the 1850s finds herself thrust into the world of prostitution long before most peers even know the meaning of the word. From cramped city courtyards to the bustling exhibition year of 1873, she moves through cheap houses, a broker’s salon, and finally the upscale circles that prize her company. Her narration is unflinching, describing the many places—rooms, railway cars, barracks—where she learned the craft that would shape her entire existence.

Reflecting on a life that many would label sinful, she argues that her body and its desires offered the only path out of poverty, granting her an education the streets alone could provide. The memoir captures her encounters with educated gentlemen, the occasional loneliness of wealth, and her resolve to record these memories before illness silences her. It offers a rare, candid glimpse into the hidden social fabric of 19th‑century Vienna, where personal history and broader cultural attitudes intersect.