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The Last Days of Mankind

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The Last Days of Mankind (German: Die letzten Tage der Menschheit) is a grotesque drama by Karl Kraus. The play is a perceptive and bitter reckoning with the horrors of World War I. One third of the play is drawn from documentary sources.[1] Written between 1915 and 1922, the drama consists of more than 200 scenes. Kraus depicts the depths of war in all its grotesque and equally unbearable absurdity — from the cynical delusion of politicians to the disinformation of the press to indifference and dullness of the population.

The Last Days of Mankind is considered one of the most important of Kraus's works. It was written as a reading piece; the author could not imagine a performance on tage given the megalomania of the work.

Salzburg Festival 2014

Preface

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It was written for a "Martian theater" because no earthly stage could ever fully recreate this pandemonium, according to the preface. The play wasn't released for the stage until 1928.


Most of the play is highly realistic, except the final scenes which are of expressionist genre.[1]

Performances

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b Knight, Charles A. (2004) Literature of Satire p.255
  2. ^ Salzburger Festspiele: „Vor dem Totenbett der Zeit stehe ich …“, retrieved on 9 August 2025

Further reading

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  • "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit" im Bunker, Spiegel Online, April 22, 1999
  • The last days of mankind; a tragedy in five acts. an abridgement translated by Alexander Gode and Sue Ellen Wright. New York: F. Ungar Pub. Co. 1974. ISBN 9780804424844.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  • The Last Days of Mankind: The Complete Text. Yale University Press. 24 November 2015. ISBN 978-0-300-21643-1; translated by Fred Bridgham and Edward Timms; with glossary & index{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
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