Summary of The House of Wittgenstein
Alexander Waugh’s “The House of Wittgenstein” is a biography of the illustrious Wittgenstein family. The patriarch, Karl Wittgenstein, was a self-made steel magnate who, by around 1900, virtually controlled steel production in Austria-Hungary and was one of the wealthiest men of his time. His children included Ludwig, who would become one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, and Paul, a celebrated concert pianist who achieved fame despite losing his right arm in the First World War. Their sister Margarethe was immortalised in a wedding portrait by Gustav Klimt. Several other children tragically took their own lives, with suggestions that Karl’s overbearing nature played a part in the family’s dysfunction. Bound by their shared passion for music, the Wittgensteins hosted artists such as Brahms, Strauss, and Mahler, while Ravel and Prokofiev composed pieces specifically for Paul to play with his left hand.
Reasons to read The House of Wittgenstein
“The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War” is a thoroughly researched book by English writer Alexander Waugh that explores the lives of the remarkably talented and affluent Jewish Wittgenstein family, set against the backdrop of twentieth-century Vienna. The subtitle refers not only to the Wittgenstein’s experiences during the World Wars but also to the internal conflicts within the family.
Setting: Vienna (Austria)
The Wittgenstein’s family city palace – Palais Pranter-Wittgenstein – stood at what is now the ArgentinierstraĂźe 16, but was demolished during the 1950s.
Original title: The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War
Year of publication: 2008
Nr of pages: 384
