The Good Soldier Švejk

	Lukas, Rudolf
	*11.10.1886 Nagyvárad (Oradea) - †22.2.1938 Praha
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Rudolf Lukas is easily recognisable as a real-life inspiration for Švejk’s Oberleutnant Lukáš, without this necessarily meaning that he was his only prototype or that there is a one-to-one relationship.

Lukas was Jaroslav Hašek's superior in Infanterieregiment Nr. 91 from 1 June 1915 until the author of Švejk was captured on 24 September the same year. Lukas commanded the 4th company of XII. Marschbataillon from June 1 to July 11, and then 11. Feldkompanie (part of III. Feldbataillon) from July 12 onwards. The officer seems to have protected the writer and even urged him to stop drinking. The goodwill was reciprocated, and this spills over into the novel, reflected in Švejk's gradually warming relationship with Oberleutnant Lukáš and the author’s obvious sympathy for the obrlajtnant.

Lukas' servant in 1914 and 1915 was František Strašlipka, from whom Hašek reportedly borrowed some of the traits he assigned to Švejk, particularly the incessant storytelling. Rudolf Lukas seems to have shared certain qualities with his fictional counterpart: fairness, treating his men well and even having the same rank in the army. However, there are also major differences: Lukas' everyday language was German, and he was not from the Czech south. He never attended cadet school in Prague, and he was no womaniser.

Early life and career

Lukas was born in Nagyvárad (now Oradea in Romania) in 1886. His parents were Heinrich Lukas and Josefa Skoupy. He had one sister, Ida. His father was an official in the k.u.k. postal service. In 1892 the family moved to Bodenbach (now Podmokly) and in 1895 to Smíchov, where young Rudolf spent the rest of his youth. He attended the Lower German Gymnasium in Prague.

In 1903, he began a military career by completing a preparatory course in Maribor. From 1904 to 1909, he attended cadet school in Královo Pole, near Brno. He was no model student and had to retake one year. On 18 August 1909 he joined IR. 91, the unit he was to serve with for the next nine years. On 1 May 1912, he was promoted from Fähnrich to Leutnant and from 1 January 1915 to Oberleutnant, the rank that eventually made him famous. His Evidenzblatt also reveals that he spoke Czech and German fluently, and had an adequate command of Croatian and French. From 18 August 1909 until 1 September 1911 he was stationed in Prague, and from then until the outbreak of war he was assigned to the regiment’s 4th battalion in Budějovice, where his name appears in address books and in the Schematismus.

First year of the war

On 1 August 1914 Lukas was sent to the front by the Drina (IR. 91 arrived on 4 August) and subsequently took part in the first invasion of Serbia, the battle of Cer (which ended in defeat for k.u.k. Heer). Conveniently, he contracted pneumonia on 6 September 1914, so he did not take part in the disastrous attack across the Drina two days later. Many soldiers drowned there after fleeing back to the Bosnian side. He was hospitalised in Bjelina in Bosnia until 27 September.

After a short holiday, he reported in Budějovice on 16 October to teach at the Einjährig-Freiwilligenschule before returning to the front in Serbia on 14 December 1914. That month IR. 91 suffered disastrous losses; three entire companies were captured by the Serbs. Lukas remained with the field unit until 13 March 1915, when he reported ill. Thus he took part in the regiment's transfer to the Carpathians in early February and the heavy battles in Východní Beskydy in February and March. He returned to Budějovice for a holiday and recuperation, via Košice, where he was in hospital due to neuralgia.

It has not been established whether Lukas had already met Jaroslav Hašek in Budějovice, but both were patients in k.u.k. Reserve-Spital at the end of March. On 1 April he was transferred to private care, also in the town. His servant from the outbreak of war until 24 September 1915 was almost certainly František Strašlipka throughout; their respective dates of front service correspond exactly.

The 12th March Battalion

On 1 June 1915 Lukas returned from his second period away from the front and was made commander of the 4th company of XII. Marschbataillon. This is also the date when Ersatzbataillon IR. 91 was transferred to Királyhida, and from then on Jaroslav Hašek and his obrlajtnant were in regular contact. Lukas was interviewed by Jan Morávek after the war and told him that Jaroslav Hašek surprised him by being a good soldier who did his duties, although he drank a lot, and that Lukas had tried to make him sober up.

The 11th Field Company

When the march battalion joined the core of the regiment on 11 July 1915, Lukas took command of the reconstituted 11. Feldkompanie and led them during the brutal battle near Sokal (25 July - 31 July), where he lost half his company. By this time Jaroslav Hašek had already been appointed company messenger (Ordonnanz). During the battle František Strašlipka saved his commander's life by shouting out that an enemy soldier was aiming at him.

After the battle came four weeks in reserve near Żdżary (15 km north of Sokal) before a new offensive into Russian territory started on 27 August. IR. 91 reached the area near Dubno by 8 September but were forced to withdraw on the 18th. In the early hours of 24 September 1915 parts of IR. 91, including the 11. Feldkompanie, were caught in their sleep by a surprise Russian attack. Lukas lost his messenger Jaroslav Hašek and also his servant František Strašlipka; they were both amongst the 509 men from the regiment who were reported missing. According to Jaroslav Kejla Lukas and his superior Čeněk Sagner fled in panic and only narrowly escaped capture.

The rest of the war

In November 1915 IR. 91 was transferred from the Dubno region to the Italian front by the river Isonzo. Apart from a brief stint with the regiment in South Tyrol, Lukas remained by Isonzo until 15 June 1916, his last day at the front. From 1 September 1916 until 31 July 1917 he was posted in Vienna and then at Ersatzbataillon IR. 91 in Bruck, where he remained for the rest of the war. In Vienna he worked as a riding instructor for Meldereiter (dispatch riders), and in Bruck he served as head of the regiment's history group. He was promoted to Hauptmann on 1 February 1918. Lukas was decorated several times, twice with Signum Laudis. In 1916 his third decoration was mentioned by Budweiser Zeitung. For the occasion his sister Miss Ida Lukas, a teacher in Briethal, donated 10 crowns to the blind soldiers of IR. 91.

Vormerkblatt für die Qualifikationsbeschreibung für die Zeit von 1. August 1914 bis 31. Mai 1916

Lebhafter engagierter Charakter, tüchtiger Offizier, im Gefechte umsichtig, initiativ, tapfer. Fester, gerader, engagierter Charakter, von netter Denkungsart, mit lebhaftem Temperament. Besitzt ein reifes Fundament und nützliche Kenntnisse, welche er Richtig anwendet. Dementsprechend im Gefecht rasche Auffassung und zielbewusste Durchführung, begleitet von menschlicher Tapferkeit, ein besonders tüchtiger erprobter Offizier. Besitzt hervorragende soldatische Eigenschaften. In der Führung einer Kompanie hervorragend bewährt, besitzt ein gewisses administratives Talent mit praktischem Blick. In der Leitung der Mobilführungsberater versiert. Ist zur Führung eines Baons (Bataillons) vollkommen geeignet. Auf Untergebene disziplinierend einwirkend, von durchdringenden Einfluß, sowie stehts besorgt um das Wohl jedes Einzelnen, Subalterne Offiziere und Chargen sehr gut führend und entsprechend sehr gute Erfolge. Oblt. Lukas ist das Muster d. vorzüglichen, strebsamen, äußerst selbstbewußten, selbsttätigen, vorausdenkenden Offizier, seine Handlungen sind stehts vom Interesse für den Dienste geleitet.

In military documents Lukas is described as a steadfast character, but also as lively and enthusiastic, with an energetic temperament. He was a good soldier who treated his subordinates well. He had a disciplining effect on his men, another trait that connects him to his literary counterpart. The verdict from his superiors was that he was fully capable of commanding a battalion. He was quick to react to situations in the field, brave, full of initiative, possessed a certain administrative talent, and was practical in his approach. Lukas was a model of a self-conscious and independently minded officer; his actions were always guided by the interests of the armed forces.

Marriage and the end of IR. 91

On 19 December 1918 Lukas married the 22-year-old Anna Marie Bauer (born 26 December 1896). She was the daughter of property owner Karl Bauer and Anna (born Reisenberger) in Alstadt 7, Bruck. Their wedding took place in the town's parish church, witnessed by two officers from IR. 91, Kamillo Kettner and Karl Gröbner. The regiment was soon transferred to Enns and dissolved during 1919. In Enns Lukas lived in Reintalgasse 12.

In court

In Enns Hauptmann Lukas was involved in a controversy with a junior officer Leopold Hopfinger. Lukas accused Hopfinger of having made a movement towards him, and allegedly threatened: "I'll throw you out of the window". The episode took place on 19 September 1919. The case was heard in the brigade court in Linz on 19 November and reported in the local newspaper a few days later. Hopfinger was in the end found "not guilty" after the court decided he was the victim of undue behaviour from the captain, who reportedly shouted at the junior officers and threatened them with prison.

Czechoslovak officer

On 13 March 1919 he reported for service in the Czechoslovak Army, and he returned to Bohemia on 13 November and was eventually accepted by the new state's army after completing the compulsory vetting process and a language course. He became staff captain at the Ministry of Defence in Prague, but also had stints in Budějovice and in Slovakia. In 1935 he was promoted to major. He even kept some material related to Jaroslav Hašek, which was unfortunately lost after his death in 1938. He lived at U Průhonu čp.48 in Holešovice, by chance the neighbour of future communist prime minister Klement Gottwald. His wife moved to Brno after her husband's death, then back to her parents in Bruck (Karel Stránský, fond Zdena Ančík, LA-PNP). During World War II her brother Karl was Nazi mayor of Bruck (Friedrich Petzneck).

Identified as prototype

Already by 1924 Lukas had been identified as a prototype for Oberleutnant Lukáš. In the 16-part series by Jan Morávek in Večerné České slovo in September/October Lukas is interviewed and tells of his encounters with Jaroslav Hašek. Lukas was worried about the author and begged him to stop drinking. He also reveals that Hašek was a good soldier and that the two had got on well. He also kept some of his poems and other material that he planned to publish after his retirement, but his early death put a stop to that.

More information about Lukas has become available over the years, mainly through the research of Milan Hodík and Ivo Pejčoch who both use material from military and other archives. He is also mentioned in virtually all literature that exists on the theme The Good Soldier Švejk, including Radko Pytlík, Cecil Parrott, and Gustav Janouch. Apart from published information there are extensive files on him in the war archives in Vienna and Prague, and his marriage record from Bruck (1918) has also been found (courtesy of Wolfgang Gruber).

He also appears in newspapers from time to time. News of officer promotions was always printed, as were decorations. Apart from the episode at Enns mentioned above, he was involved in a court case against a female tram conductor in Vienna in 1917. After the war he also appeared in Czechoslovak newspapers, and several of them printed his obituary. In these, he is first and foremost noted as a model for Oberleutnant Lukáš. In the Literature Archive in Prague (LA-PNP) there are some unpublished accounts about him, collected by Haškologist Zdena Ančík.

False information

Regarding prototypes of characters from the novel there is a lot of false, outdated or unconfirmed information floating around, be it in books, newspaper articles or on the Internet. This is also the case with Lukas, and the following claims have been disproved:

He changed his surname to Lukáš after the war (Czechoslovak Army files consistently use Lukas and this is also the name written on his gravestone).
He commanded 11. Marschkompanie (such a unit never existed).
He married the sister of Hans Bigler (he married Anna Bauer in 1918).

Moreover, some unconfirmed information and hearsay are in circulation: that he was a womaniser, and that he dated a certain Anna Wendler in 1915 (see Katy Wendler). The claim by Jan Mikolášek (via Jan Berwid-Buquoy ) that Hašek met Lukas in 1920 is highly improbable: the soldier Mikolášek supposedly served under Lukas and thus became the inspiration for Major Wenzl's servant Offiziersdiener Mikulášek due to an episode similar to that of the novel. Hašek only arrived in Prague on 19 December 1920, leaving little time for any meeting that year. Lukas served in Budějovice and Ružomberok that year and only began working in Prague on 1 June 1921. It is also striking that no other biographer mentions either Mikolášek or any meeting between Hašek and his former superior. Although there is no doubt Mikolášek lived (Berwid-Buquoy, Pejčoch) the story is extremely far-fetched, and it is tempting to suggest that Mikolášek was amongst the many who attempted to attach themselves to a celebrity.

The first-ever Švejk-society?

On 9 November 1932 a small note appeared in Budweiser Zeitung. It reveals that on 28 October a meeting took place where former officers of IR. 91 decided to establish a society called Verein der "Freunde des guten Soldaten Schwejk" (Society of Friends of the Good Soldier Švejk). The aim was to invite people described in the novel to become members. Staff Captain Lukas himself was present at the meeting and so was reserve captain Jan Maleček, who was reportedly the model for some Zugsführer Marek (sic).

Grave maintained

Lukas is buried at Malvazinky cemetery in Smíchov, and thanks to the initiative of the IR. 91 society from České Budějovice, it has been maintained since 2016.

Credit: ÖStA, VÚA, Jan Morávek, Bohumil Vlček, Jaroslav Kejla, Wolfgang Gruber, Milan Hodík, Ivo Pejčoch, Jan Ciglbauer

Literature

Soupis pražského obyvatelstva 1830-1910 (1920), AHMP
Jaroslav Hašek - dobrý voják Švejk, Večerní České SlovoJan Morávek,1924
Rudolf Lukas, Jan Ciglbauer
Fahrküche kontra Kosakenpatroille, Böhmerwalds Söhne im Felde,1924-1928
Auch eine militärische Nachtübung, Tages-Post,30.7.1913
Kriegsauszeichnungen, Budweiser Zeitung,29.10.1915
Zum drittenmale ausgezeichnet, Budweiser Zeitung,2.6.1916
Gerichtsaal, Deutsches Volksblatt,10.3.1917
Skupina důstojníků ze slavnosti ..., Vídeňské illustrované noviny,17.3.1918
Aus dem Gerichtsaal, Tagblatt,23.11.1919
Hrdinové z dobrého vojáka Švejka se sešli, České slovo,30.10.1932
Ein Verein der "Freunde des guten Soldat Schweijk", Budweiser Zeitung,9.11.1932
Nadporučík Lukáš zemřel, Lidove Noviny,23.2.1938
Major Rudolf Lukáš z MNO , Národní listy,24.2.1938
Zemřel kamarád, Důjstonické listy,24.2.1938
Švejkův pan obrlajtnant, RovnostVladimír Černý,13.9.1969
Kde to bylo, Československý voják - Petr Hajdúk,6.4.1983

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