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Hugo Bettauer
1872–1925
A sharp, provocative Viennese writer and journalist, he became known for socially critical novels that challenged prejudice and hypocrisy. His most famous work, The City Without Jews, remains striking for the way it imagined antisemitism and political extremism long before the darkest events of the 20th century.
1 Audiobook
Die Stadt ohne Juden: Ein Roman von übermorgen
by Hugo Bettauer
About the author
Born in Vienna in 1872, Hugo Bettauer built a lively career as a novelist, journalist, and editor. He wrote popular fiction with a strong social edge, often mixing entertainment with criticism of moral double standards, corruption, and intolerance.
He is best remembered today for The City Without Jews (1922), a satirical novel about the expulsion of Jews from Vienna. The book brought him lasting attention because of how clearly it exposed antisemitic thinking and the damage it could do.
Bettauer’s outspoken work also made him a target. In 1925, he was shot by a young Nazi sympathizer in Vienna and died from his injuries, a fate that has made his life story inseparable from the political hatred he warned against in his writing.