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referred to as Hauptmann, even though the term is now obsolete and has been replaced by Kapitän.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.
The chief prison guard has perhaps been inspired by the very real police high commisioner in Prague, Rudolf Demartini (1866-1919), who lived in Vinohrady (1906). This is a person Jaroslav Hašek surely knew or knew about. Little is known about him except for that he had three daughters and is buried at Olšany in Žižkov.
It has not been confirmed if he really was the chief guard in the remand arrest at c.k. zemský co trestní soud in 1914. He is not listed as an employee of the criminal court in the address books of 1907 and 1912 and it seems strange that someone with such a high rank is employed as the head of the prison guards. Therefore this is probably a borrowed name and not much more.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] Čisté, útulné pokojíky zemského „co trestního soudu“ učinily na Švejka nejpříznivější dojem. Vybílené stěny, černě natřené mříže i tlustý pan Demartini, vrchní dozorce ve vyšetřovací vazbě s fialovými výložky i obrubou na erární čepici. Fialová barva je předepsána nejen zde, nýbrž i při náboženských obřadech na Popeleční středu i Veliký pátek.
Valeš
was a well-known murderer who some years earlier had been interrogated by the same good-natured man who questioned Švejk at c.k. zemský co trestní soud.
Background
Valeš
and his wife Ludmila committed a brutal double murder in April 1902 in the villa "Vilém" in Horní Krč, where he was employed as a gardener. The victims were the young Slovak/Hungarian couple Matilda Hanzely and József Takács. They were planning to emigrate to America and, therefore, had a lot of money at hand. Valeš hid the corpses in the garden, and the crime was not discovered until October 1904. In February 1905, the couple was sentenced to death, but the term was converted to life imprisonment by Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Interrogation
Amongst those who interrogated Valeš in 1905 were Karel Křikava and Václav Olič. They were police officers that Jaroslav Hašek knew, and one of them may well have served as a model for the good-natured interrogator. Egon Erwin Kisch mentions the Valeš-case briefly in the story Polizeimuseum, where he reveals that the murderer's weapon is on exhibition.
The villa owner
At the time of the discovery of the murder, the owner of the villa was Alois Bauer, a merchant who lived in Smíchov. When the trial took place (January 1905), he was under administration, and the villa was sold. In 1909, Bauer committed suicide by jumping into the Vltava near Střelecký ostrov[a].
E.E. Kisch: Polizeimuseum
Eine ganze Vitrine weist die Instrumente auf, mit denen das wurdige Ehepaar Valeš zu Krtsch das Liebespaar Takasz-Hanzely im Schlafe umgebracht hatte: ein Jagdgewehr, ein Strick, ein Revolver, ein Beil.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] Starší pán dobromyslného vzezření, který kdysi, vyšetřuje známého vraha Valeše, nikdy neopomenul jemu říci: „Račte si sednout, pane Valeš, právě je zde jedna prázdná židle.“
Pontius Pilate
is written about by the author when he describes those of the examining magistrates who were most obsessed with the letter of the law as "the Pilates of the new era".
Background
Pontius Pilate
was Roman prefect of Judea in the period 26 to 36 AD and obviously plays a central part in the Bible as the Roman official who sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] Vracela se slavná historie římského panství nad Jerusalemem. Vězně vyváděli i představovali je před Piláty roku 1914tého dolů do přízemku. A vyšetřující soudcové, Piláti nové doby, místo aby si čestně myli ruce, posílali si pro papriku a plzeňské pivo k Teissigovi a odevzdávali nové a nové žaloby na státní návladnictví.
Prokop Švejk
is here at c.k. zemský co trestní soud mentioned in passing by Švejk when referring to his parents. They are mentioned again in [II.5], and it is only then their full names are revealed. It also transpires that they are from Dražov. His father was a bailiff.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] „Já myslím,“ odpověděl Švejk, „že jím musím být, poněvadž i můj tatínek byl Švejk a maminka paní Švejková. Já jim nemohu udělat takovou hanbu, abych zapíral svoje jméno.“
[II.5] Jakmile jsem ho poznal, šel jsem k němu na plošinu a dal jsem se s ním do hovoru, že jsme oba z Dražova. On se ale na mne rozkřik, abych ho neobtěžoval, že prý mne nezná. Já jsem mu to začal vysvětlovat, aby se jen upamatoval, že jsem jako malej hoch k němu chodil s matkou, která se jmenovala Antonie, otec že se jmenoval Prokop a byl šafářem. Ani potom nechtěl nic vědět o tom, že se známe. Tak jsem mu ještě řekl bližší podrobnosti, že v Dražově byli dva Novotní, Tonda a Josef.
Antonie Švejková
is mentioned in passing by Švejk when referring to his parents in a conversation at c.k. zemský co trestní soud.
The parents are mentioned again in [II.5], and it is only then that their full names are revealed and it transpires that they are from Dražov.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] „Já myslím,“ odpověděl Švejk, „že jím musím být, poněvadž i můj tatínek byl Švejk a maminkapaní Švejková. Já jim nemohu udělat takovou hanbu, abych zapíral svoje jméno.“
[II.5] Jakmile jsem ho poznal, šel jsem k němu na plošinu a dal jsem se s ním do hovoru, že jsme oba z Dražova. On se ale na mne rozkřik, abych ho neobtěžoval, že prý mne nezná. Já jsem mu to začal vysvětlovat, aby se jen upamatoval, že jsem jako malej hoch k němu chodil s matkou, která se jmenovala Antonie, otec že se jmenoval Prokop a byl šafářem.
Heveroch
was mentioned in a story told by one of Švejk's fellow detainees at c.k. policejní ředitelství who had gone to a lecture by Heveroch to learn to fake madness. He drank from the ink pot and performed his bodily needs in front of the legal commission. The only mistake he made was to bite a psychiatrist in the right foot, a procedure that was not described by Heveroch. One of the doctors of the commission that examined Švejk was a follower of Heveroch's psychiatric teaching.
Background
Heveroch
was a notable Czech psychiatrist and neurologist who was, amongst other things, known for his studies on dyslexia and epilepsy. His book On Freaks and Striking People[a] was according to František Langer amongst Jaroslav Hašek's favourites.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] „Já těm soudním lékařům nic nevěřím,“ poznamenal muž inteligentního vzezření. „Když jsem jednou padělal směnky, pro všechen případ chodil jsem na přednášky k doktoru Heverochovi, a když mě chytili, simuloval jsem paralytika právě tak, jak ho vyličoval pan doktor Heveroch.
Rotter is mentioned 4 times in The Good Soldier Švejk.
Rotter
was a well known police chief in Kladno who trained his dogs by experimenting with them on tramps in the district. This is according to a story Švejk tells his fellow prisoners at c.k. zemský co trestní soud.
The policeman is mentioned again in [II.2] during Švejk's wanderings around Písek. This story is almost identical, but is now told by a tramp.
Background
Rotter
was a renowned dog breeder and policeman, stationed in Kladno in 1909 and 1910. During his period of service here he became the first ever to introduce police dogs in k.k. Gendarmerie.
Career
Theodor Rotter was born in 1873 in Krumlov with HeimatrechtBudějovice[a], son of brew-master TheodorRotter and Rosalie. In his younger years he served as an active (professional) officer in k.u.k. Heer, as a cadet in Infanterieregiment Nr. 11 (Písek) from 1 September 1893 until 1895[d]. He was promoted to Leutnant on 1 May 1895 and this year he was also transferred to Infanterieregiment Nr. 56 (Kraków). In 1901 he left the army and continued his career in k.k. Gendarmerie[f].
Trutnov, Chomutov, Kladno
He carried the rank lieutenant into the police and was promoted to Oberleutnant on 1 November 1902. He was commander of the gendarmerie in Trutnov until 1906, then he was posted to Chomutov. In 1909 he was subsequently transferred to Kladno where he on 1 November 1909 was promoted to Rittmeister. It was during his term in Kladno that his name was first noticed in connection with police dogs [g] and he was at time mentioned in the newspapers several times.
Písek
His assignment in Kladno was brief because already in 1910 his career path continued to Písek where he became commander of Gendarmerieabteilungskommando Nr. 14, a position he held at least until 1916. The census records from 1910 reveal that he was registered on 16 August 1910, lived at the department station in Pražská ulice č.p. 261 with his wife Hedwiga and 5 year old son Franz[j]. Here they had a flat at their disposal where also a servant and a female cook lived. He reported Czech as his everyday language whereas his wife and his son reported German. In 1911, Rotter published the booklet Anleitung zur Dressur von Polizeihunden. Towards the end of the war he was stationed in Djakova in occupied Montenegro as Bezirkskommandant. He was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 August 1918[e].
Svět zvířat and Rotter
With the police dog Vlčka and Franz Ferdinand, Rotter to the right
Svět žvířat,1.1.1911
In 1908 Rotter went to Saarbrücken to attend a course in training police dogs. Back home in 1909 he bought two German Shepherds from Fuchsův psinec. He trained the dogs Vlk and Vlčka for service purposes and in Svět zvířat appeared a picture of the latter "catching" a runaway. The magazine also printed a couple of photos with Rotter present, and in 1910 he wrote a series of articles for them, signed T. R.. At this time Hašek was editor at the magazine so it goes without saying that the two knew each other. In 1911 appeared in Svět zvířat a photo with Rotter, Vlčka and Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Radko Pytlík claims that Josef Lada and Hašek on 28 June 1914 visited Rotter in Kladno[b]. This is however unlikely, considering that Rotter had moved to Písek already in 1910. In Lada's own words they "visited a strážmistr in Kladno who trained police dogs". One must therefore assume that the person they visited was one of Rotter's former understudies.
Czechoslovakia
Rotter continued working for the the police in Czechoslovakia after the war and newspaper articles reveal that he was promoted to plukovník (colonel) and was still considered a prominent dog expert. Otherwise, it is not known where he lived. In 1939 it was revealed that he had retired[h], and by now he was 67.
In his advanced years he wrote several books on dog breeding, the latest of which was published in 1938.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] Taky vám dám příklad, jak se na Kladně zmejlil jeden policejní pes, vlčák toho známého rytmistra Rottera. Rytmistr Rotter pěstoval ty psy a dělal pokusy s vandráky, až se Kladensku počali všichni vandráci vyhejbat.
[II.2] "....Jó, dneska mají právo četníci." "Voní ho měli i dřív," ozval se vandrák, "já pamatuju, že na Kladně bejval četnickým rytmistrem nějakej pan Rotter. Von vám najednou začal pěstovat tyhlety, jak jim říkají, policejní psy tý vlčí povahy, že všechno vyslídějí, když jsou vyučení. A měl ten pan rytmistr na Kladně těch svejch psích učeníků plnou prdel...."
Credit: Petr Netopil, Josef Lada, Michal Dlouhý, Radko Pytlík
Vlčka
was most probably the name of the police dog that is mentioned in connection with Rittmeister Rotter's experiments in Kladno where he lets police dogs chase tramps. In the novel the dog is referred to as a police dog and wolf-dog.
Background
Vlčka was a female police dog that Rittmeister Rotter bought from Fuchsův psinec together with the male Vlk in 1909. It was probably one of those dogs Švejk had in mind when he told his anecdote. The author knew Rotter well and had surely been aware of and seen both dogs.
Vlčka was bred at the kennel of Fuchs a Klamovka, next to the villa where Svět zvířat had their editorial offices and where Jaroslav Hašek worked as an editor. He would therefore have known the female dog well and in an article in the magazine 1 November 1909 it is stated that her training took place here at Klamovka[a].
On 16 October 1909Rittmeister Rotter showed off the skills of Vlčka and a Doberman Pinscher called Petar on the premises of c.k. policejní ředitelství. The whole leadership of police HQ was present, amongst them Polizeikommissar Drašner and Ladislav Adamička (the brother of Josef Adamička). The article also states that Vlčka was bought from the kennel at Klamovka earlier in the year.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] Taky vám dám příklad, jak se na Kladně zmejlil jeden policejní pes, vlčák toho známého rytmistra Rottera. Rytmistr Rotter pěstoval ty psy a dělal pokusy s vandráky, až se Kladensku počali všichni vandráci vyhejbat.
Hůla is of the opinion that Hašek invented the names Kallerson and Weiking
Kallerson
is mentioned together with the psychiatrists Doctor Heveroch and Doctor Weiking as someone who had founded a school within the discipline.
Background
Kallerson was according to The Good Soldier Švejk a psychiatrist but there is no information available apart from what is stated in the novel. Břetislav Hůla assumed that the name is an invention as he was unable to verify the existence of any well known psychiatrist Kallerson.
If the psychiatrist isn't invented it is probably a case of a distorted name. In one of Hašek's stories a Karl Larsson features, a name that is phonetically similar. This person was however not a psychiatrist, he was head of the Czechoslovak Salvation Army[a].
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] Věc byla úplně jasnou. Spontánním projevem Švejkovým odpadla celá řada otázek a zůstaly jen některé nejdůležitější, aby s odpovědí potvrzeno bylo prvé mínění o Švejkovi na základě systému doktora psychiatrie Kallersona, doktora Heverocha i Angličana Weikinga.
Hůla is of the opinion that Hašek invented the names Kallerson and Weiking
Weiking
is an Englishman mentioned together with the psychiatrists Doctor Heveroch and Doctor Kallerson. He had allegedly founded a certain school within the discipline of psychiatry.
Background
Weiking is supposed to have been an English psychiatrist but there is no information available apart from what is stated in The Good Soldier Švejk. The name doesn't sound particularly English. Břetislav Hůla assumes that the names Doctor Kallerson and Weiking are inventions. Alternatively it is a distortion of the name of a real psychologist.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.3] Věc byla úplně jasnou. Spontánním projevem Švejkovým odpadla celá řada otázek a zůstaly jen některé nejdůležitější, aby s odpovědí potvrzeno bylo prvé mínění o Švejkovi na základě systému doktora psychiatrie Kallersona, doktora Heverocha i Angličana Weikinga.
