Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie leaving Sarajevo Town Hall on 28 June 1914, five minutes before the
assassination.
The Good Soldier Švejk has an exceptionally rich cast of characters. Alongside those who play a direct part in the plot, a great many
fictional and real people (and animals) are mentioned throughout the narrative, in Švejk's anecdotes, and in the
book's idioms and turns of phrase.
This page offers brief entries on the people referenced in the novel, from Napoléon in the introduction to Hauptmann Ságner in
the final lines of the unfinished Part Four. The list is sorted in the order in which names first appear. Chapter
headings follow Zenny Sadlon's recent translation (1999–2026) and, in most cases, differ from Cecil Parrott's 1973 version.
The Czech quotations are taken from the online version of The Good Soldier Švejk provided by Jaroslav Šerák and link to the relevant chapter. The
toolbar provides direct links to Wikipedia, Google Maps, Google Search, svejkmuseum.cz, and the novel online.
The names are colour-coded according to their role in the novel, as illustrated by the following examples:
Dr. Grünstein, a fictional character directly involved in the plot.
Fähnrich Dauerling, a fictional character who is not part of the plot.
Heinrich Heine, a historical person.
Note that many seemingly fictional characters are inspired by real people. Examples include Oberleutnant Lukáš, Major Wenzl, and many
others. These are still listed as fictional, since they are literary creations only partly inspired by their
similarly named 'models'.
Military ranks and other titles related to Austrian officialdom are given in German, in accordance with the terms
used at the time (explanations in English are provided as tooltips). This means that Captain Ságner is still
referred to as Hauptmann, even though the term is now obsolete and has been replaced by Kapitän. Civilian titles
denoting profession, etc., are translated into English. This also applies to ranks in the nobility where a direct
translation exists.
Toník
was one of the two soldiers who escorted Švejk to Feldkurat Katz. It appears from the dialogue that he is a Czech patriot and regards Švejk likewise. Toník is mostly referred to as Čahoun, a nickname for a long and lanky person. Toník is short for Antonín.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1] „Nejsi národní socialista?“ Nyní počal být malý tlustý opatrným. Vmísil se do toho. „Co je nám do toho,“ řekl, „je všude plno lidí a pozorujou nás. Aspoň kdybychom někde v průjezdu mohli sundat bodla, aby to tak nevypadalo. Neutečeš nám? My bychom měli z toho nepříjemnosti. Nemám pravdu, Toníku?“ obrátil se k čahounovi, který potichu řekl:
„Bodla bychom mohli sundat. Je to přece náš člověk.“
Serabona
was according to Švejk landlord at Na Kuklíku, member of Sokol and therefore to be trusted.
Background
Serabona
is a name which origin is unclear but the connection to the mentioned pub is obvious. Landlord at Na Kuklíku from 1901 was Vilém Srp, and there is even a picture of him on a postcard from 1906. Here the pub is called U Serabono and the address confirms that it is the same place as Kuklík.
Vilém Srp
Vilém Srp (sometimes written Srb) was born in 1864 in Panenské Březany east of Prague. In 1897 he married Marie Nováková with whom he already had the daughter Božena. From 1901 and until 1928, when the building that housed Na Kuklíku was demolished, he owned and managed the named hostelry. In 1916 it appears that the pub closed for a period, and in 1918 the name U Miláčka appeared in an advertisement[a], just as on the mentioned post card. Srp lived in the building next to the restaurant and he died on 26 May 1931. So far it has not been possible to confirm the author's assertion that "Serabona" was a member of Sokol.
It seems that Serabono was a nickname for Srp as he is said to have had the habit of welcoming guests with the Italian expression "Buena sera" (good evening)[c].
As a curiosity it could be added that Srp subscribed to Svět zvířat and he even wrote to them at the end of 1910, praising the magazine and confirmed that he had paid the subscription for the next year[b].
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1] „Pojďme na ,Kuklík’,“ vybízel Švejk, „kvéry si dáte do kuchyně, hostinský Serabona je Sokol, toho se nemusíte bát.
Credit: Jaroslav Šerák, M. Smreček, Pavel Novotný
Literature
Odolena voda 7, Státní oblastní archiv v PrazeBirth record of Vilém Srp
Mařka
was a prostitute who frequented Na Kuklíku and who went to U Valšů with a soldier.
Background
The name Mařka is a shortened form of the Czech female first name Marie.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1] U hudby hádali se dva, že nějakou Mařku včera lízla patrola. Jeden to viděl na vlastní oči a druhý tvrdil, že šla s nějakým vojákem se vyspat k „Valšům“ do hotelu.
Franta
was a wounded soldier who had taken part in the campaign in Serbia. He was drinking at Kuklík when Švejk and his entourage dropped by.
Background
The name Franta is a shortened form of the Czech male first name František.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1] „Franto,“ volali na raněného vojáka, když přezpívali, zahlušivše „Osiřelé dítě“, „nech už je bejt a pojď si k nám sednout. Vykašli se už na ně a pošli sem cigarety! Budeš je bavit, nádivy!“
Later in the novel, Drašner appears in Švejk's anecdote about Mestek.
Background
Drašner
was a policeman at the IV. Department of c.k. policejní ředitelství in Prague. He was employed in the police force from at least 1902, and records show that he held this position in 1913. Čech states that he had already been promoted in 1911. In 1918 he was promoted to chief police inspector[a]. In Czechoslovakia, he continued to serve in the IV. Department.
Newspapers reveal that he was very active in monitoring prostitution and also investigated cases of human trafficking. He was a well-known figure among prostitutes and was generally held in high esteem by them, although some also feared him.
Drašner was married to Cecilie (b. 1880), and in 1905 their first child was born. The girl, however, died in 1909. In 1913 no further children are recorded in the police records.
A long career
A photo from Milan Hodík confirms that Drašner was still active in the police as late as 1937. This is corroborated by newspaper articles from January 1939, which indicate that he had recently retired.
On 7 November 1948Břetislav Hůla noted that he planned to visit Drašner for advice on searching police archives, suggesting that the retired policeman was still alive.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1] Švejk vžil se ve vzpomínky, když tu často sedával do vojny. Jak sem chodil policejní komisař Drašner na policejní prohlídku a prostitutky jak se ho bály a skládaly na něho písničky s obsahem opačným.
[I.10.1]
Za pana Drašnera
stala se tu mela,
Mařena byla vožralá
a Drašnera se nebála.
Mařena
(nickname for Marie) was a prostitute who is mentioned in a song that Švejk remembers was performed at Kuklík before the war. The main character in the song was Polizeikommissar Drašner who was inspecting the premises. She should not be confused with Miss Mařena from [I.6].
Background
Písen o Mařeně (The song about Mařena2) is a Czech folk song, but only a fragment from it is mentioned in the novel. Who wrote it and when it first appeared is not clear, but because Polizeikommissar Drašner features it must have been after 1900 and probably before World War I.
The song is set in the restaurant U Vonásků behind Pohořelec at BřevnovBělohorská tř. 47 and the theme is the arrival of Polizeikommissar Drašner and his colleague Malaska on an inspection. The latter, Norbert Malaška, was also a real person, born 4 August 1868 in Horká na Moravě by Olomouc. He is listed in the police registers as a civilian clothes patrol-man.
U Vonásků still exists (2019) but under the name U zelené brány. Address books confirm that this was the official name already in 1907, and František Smrtka was landlord.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1]
Za pana Drašnera
stala se tu mela,
Mařena byla vožralá
a Drašnera se nebála.
Epicurus
is referred to when the author maintains that small and fat people have the same philosophical attitude as Epicurus: get as much pleasure as possible, the less pain the better.
Background
Epicurus
was a Greek philosopher who maintained that the connection between good and evil is equivalent to the physical sensation of pleasure and pain. A well-known quote: "Do not fear death because when you exist death does not and when death does you do not". This laid the foundation of the Epicurean philosophical school: obtain maximum pleasure when you still can.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1] První z nich, který našel zde úplného uspokojení, byl malý tlustý, neboť tací lidé, kromě svého optimismu, mají velký sklon být epikurejci.
Feldhuber
was a senior lieutenant from whom Feldkurat Katz had borrowed a previous servant. The latter was a teetotaller and this did not suit Katz at all.
Background
No officer carrying this surname can be identified from the address books of Prague (1906, 1910, 1913). Nor was there any Feldhuber in the police domicile records during the period so this must have been a rare surname. Nor does it appear in the Verlustliste from the war or Schematismus for k.u.k. Heer and k.k. Landwehr from 1914.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.1] „Dobře, podívejte se tady na toho vojáka. Toho jsem si vypůjčil na dnešek od obrlajtnanta Feldhubra, je to jeho pucflek. A ten nic nepije, je ab-ab-abstinent, a proto půjde s marškou. Po-poněvadž takového člověka nemohu potřebovat. To není pucflek, to je kráva. Ta pije taky jenom vodu a bučí jako vůl.
Helmich
was a senior lieutenant who arranged a party that Feldkurat Katz took part in. The field chaplain was in the end thrown out and had to be picked up by Švejk. Their trip back from Helmich is an in-depth study in drunken drivel.
Background
A certain senior lieutenant AlfredHelmich (born 1872, Vienna) actually served in Prague in 1906 and 1910, in 8. Korpsartillerieregiment that was headquartered at Hradčany with the men garrisoned at Bruska kasárna. Whether or not Hašek knew or knew about this person is mere guesswork, but can't be entirely ruled out. In the address book from 1912 Helmich is not listed with this unit.
If this is the person who inspired the character in the novel, it is logical that Feldkurat Katz needed a cab back to Karlín. Helmich lived at Hradčany (1906) and Malá Strana (1910).
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.2] Již třetí den byl Švejk sluhou polního kuráta Otto Katze a ta dobu viděl ho jen jednou. Třetího dne přišel vojenský sluha od nadporučíka Helmicha, aby si Švejk přišel pro polního kuráta.
This is a person that has so far never been linked to any real-life model. Moreover Infanterieregiment Nr. 75 was not stationed in Prague in 1914, they had been moved away from the city already in 1909.
Schematismus for 1914[a] lists several officers with the surname Just but none of them held a rank as high as colonel, and none of them served in Infanterieregiment Nr. 75.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.2] Švejk ho vzbudil a za pomoci drožkáře dopravil do drožky. V drožce polní kurát upadl v úplnou otupělost a považoval Švejka za plukovníka Justa od 75. pěšího pluku a několikrát za sebou opakoval: „Nehněvej se, kamaráde, že ti tykám. Jsem prase.“
Batěk
is mentioned when Feldkurat Katz, suffering from a heavy hangover, sounds as if he is delivering a lecture by Batěk.
Background
Batěk
was a Czech doctor of chemistry and was very prominent in the fight against the twin demons of alcohol and tobacco. He was also a vegetarian, science fiction writer, scout activist, YMCA activist and pacifist. During a lengthy period in 1919, he gave almost daily lectures at Staroměstské náměstí, so these are probably the ones to which the novel refers.
More than 100 of the lectures appeared in a collection of instalments printed by publisher Kočí in 1919. His Sto jisker ethických (One Hundred Sparks of Ethics) was included in the collection, but the timing indicates that Otto Katz could hardly have known about it then, so here the author has mixed in contemporary elements and moved them back in history by six years. Batěk also published the lecture mentioned as a separate 16-page pamphlet.
He was very productive; the catalogue of the Czech National Library lists more than 500 items under his name. The other pamphlet mentioned, "Let's declare a life-and-death struggle against the demon of alcohol ...", is not listed in the catalogue.
He also lectured for the Czechoslovak Abstinence Association, together with Pavla Moudrá and others.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.3] Polní kurát byl stižen dokonalou kočkou a naprostou depresí. V tom okamžiku, kdo by ho slyšel, musil by být přesvědčen, že chodí na přednášky dra Alexandra Baťka „Vypovězme válku na život a na smrt démonu alkoholu, jenž nám vraždí muže nejlepší“ a že čte jeho „Sto jisker ethických“.
Šnábl
was a captain at the Bruska kasárna barracks who, according to Feldkurat Katz, had good ořechovka (nut liqueur). The field chaplain also sent Švejk there to borrow one hundred crowns. The captain was a monster, according to Švejk. The good soldier had to kneel before him, and the matter was only resolved when he told the captain that the money was needed for child maintenance.
Background
This character has no prototype as far as we know. Bruska kasárna was used by Infanterieregiment Nr. 28, but the address books from 1906 and 1913 list no officer with this name, either here or at other barracks in Prague. There were many people with the surname Šnábl, Schnabl or Schnabel in Praha at the time, but the address book from 1907 has none of them listed as belonging to the army.
Jaroslav Hašek surely knew, or knew of, people with this surname and could, in his usual manner, have borrowed it. Curiously, one Hynek Schnabl lived at Na Bojišti 1732/14 in 1907, and U kalicha was actually located in the same house!
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.3] Když ukazoval tři sta korun, vrátiv se čestně z výpravy, byl polní kurát, který se zatím umyl a převlékl, velmi překvapen. „Já to vzal najednou,“ řekl Švejk, „abychom se nemuseli zejtra nebo pozejtří starat znova o peníze. Šlo to dost hladce, ale před hejtmanem Šnáblem jsem si musel kleknout na kolena. Je to nějaká potvora. Ale když jsem mu řek, že máme platit alimenty...“
No trace of any Mahler can be found by IR73 or Traindivision Nr. 8, the largest military units that were garrisoned in Vršovice. In fact there was not a single Mahler registered in any of the Prague garrisons in 1907. Presumably the name of this rather peripheral figure was picked fairly at random.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.3] Jestli tam nepochodíte, tak půjdete do Vršovic, do kasáren k nadporučíkovi Mahlerovi.
Fišer
was a captain at Hradčany. He was one of the three to whom Švejk was sent by Feldkurat Katz to borrow money.
Background
It is unlikely that this peripheral figure has any real-life model. At Hradčany there were several barracks, among them artillery and k.k. Landwehr, but in 1906 no officer with this name was listed in the address book.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.3] Nezdaří-li se to tam, půjdete na Hradčany k hejtmanovi Fišerovi. Tomu řeknete, že musím platit futráž pro koně, kterou jsem propil.
Kejřová
was the cousin of Mrs. Müllerová and was present in Švejk's flat when he visited his home for the last time. She had received a letter from Müllerová who was now locked up in the Steinhof concentration camp. The arrest had taken place the very evening she had pushed Švejk to the military in a wheel-chair. The letter is quoted in the novel, complete but words removed by the censors. The letter reveals that Müllerová believes that Švejk already has fallen in battle or been executed.
Background
This could be a name the author borrowed from an advert in Národní politika on 28 March 1915. If this is the case, she was owner of a cookery school, author of cook-books and teacher of cookery from Hradec Králové. It is not inconceivable that the author already knew about her. On the other hand: according to police records there were 313 carriers of the name Kejř/Kejřová in Prague at the time so who (if any) Hašek used as a prototype is debatable. What we do know is that the author made use of several fragments from newspapers published late March/early April 1915, so this could be another example. See Marschall Liman von Sanders.
Narozena 1874 v Kralupech nad Vltavou, zemřela 16 September 1926 v Praze. Učitelka
vaření, autorka kuchařských knih. Napsala:
Cukrovinky na vánoční stromek, Dělnická kuchařka se sřetelem na malé
dělnické domácnosti, Dělnická kuchařka, Kniha vzorné domácnosti, Minutové
večeře, příležitostné hostiny, Úsporná kuchařka, Úsporná válečná kuchařka,
Zdravotní polovegetariánská kuchařka, Zlatá kuchařka s rozpočty, Návod k
přípravě pečiva s použitím výrobků "Kveta", Česká vegetariánská kuchařka
Anuše Kejřové,České moučníky Anuše Kejřové, Naše ryby a jich vhodná úprava,
... - Zdroj Česká národní bibliografie.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.10.4] „To je náramně žertovné,“ řekl Švejk, „to se mně báječně líbí. Tak aby věděli, paní Kejřová, mají ouplnou pravdu, že jsem se dostal ven. Ale to jsem musel zabít patnáct vachmistrů a feldweblů. Ale neříkají to nikomu...“.
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