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referred to as Hauptmann, even though the term is now obsolete and has been replaced by Kapitän.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.
Božena Němcová
is mentioned when Švejk tells Feldkurat Katz that finding oil consecrated by a bishop is worse than finding the water of life in tales by Němcová.
Background
Božena Němcová
was a prominent Czech writer who wrote short stories, poems and fairytales. Her best known work is however a novel: Babička (Grandmother), regarded as one of the classics of Czech literature. The well known film Three nuts for Cinderella (1973) is based on her fairytale from 1845, called O Popelce (About Cinderella).
Water of life
One of the tales that Švejk refers to is surely About the talking bird, the water of life and the three golden apple trees. It was first printed in 1846 and has since been included in many compilations.[a]
Life
Němcová was born Barbara Pankl in Vienna but the family moved to Bohemia when she was a year old. Her father was a German (Austrian) coach driver, her mother a Czech maid. Němcová grew up in Ratibořice by Náchod and married the 15 year older civil servant Josef Němec when she was 17. The marriage was a result of pressure from her parents. The couple had four children but the marriage was an unhappy one, and Němcová had a number of extra-marital affairs.
In 1842 the family moved to Prague where she came in contact with leading figures in the Czech national revival movement. She started to write and in 1844 her first tales were published. Around this time she changed her first name to the more typical Czech Božena.
The family moved frequently and Němcová suffered from poverty and illness during the final years of her life. She was only 42 years old when she died on 21 January 1862. The funeral took place three days later, and was a stark contrast to the penury of her later years. It was attended by a big crowd; amongst them were a number of Czech notabilities from literary and political circles. She was buried at Vyšehrad and her tomb is still there.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13] Švejk vypravil se tedy na cestu za olejem posvěceným od biskupa. Taková věc je horší než hledání živé vody v pohádkách Boženy Němcové.
Tauchen (in the slightly changed form Tauben) had already in 1909 played a part in stories by Jaroslav Hašek; he was an assistant at Kološka (read Kokoška) in the eight stories "From the old chemists" in Veselá Praha. It is very likely that these three varieties of Tauchen are inspired by the author's time as a chemist's apprentice in 1898-99.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13] Když Švejk přišel a přál si za deset korun olej posvěcený od biskupa, řekl šéf k příručímu: „Nalejou mu, pane Tauchen, deset deka konopného oleje čís. 3.“
Saint John Chrysostom
was quoted by Feldkurat Katz when addressing the persistent money lender: "He who honours the priest, honours Christ. He who persecutes the priest, persecutes Christ the Lord, whose representative happens to be that very priest".
Background
Saint John Chrysostom
was a Greek Church Father who was proclaimed a saint with 13 September as his memorial day. He was famous for his rhetorical capabilities. The name of Chrysostom, which is Greek for 'golden mouth', refers to this ability.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13] „Vidíte, Švejku, jak to dopadá s takovým člověkem, který nectí kněze,“ usmál se polní kurát. „sv. Jan Zlatoústý řekl: ,Kdo ctí kněze, ctí Krista, kdo příkoří činí knězi, činí příkoří Kristu pánu, jehož zástupcem právě kněz jest.’
Boušek
was a man from Libeň who was impossible to get rid of at U Exnerů. In one of his aptly chosen analogies Švejk compared him to the ever persisting money lender who pestered Feldkurat Katz.
Background
There is no person carrying this name in the address book of Libeň from 1896, but on the other hand a couple of Bouček are listed. Nor in the police registers is there any trace of Boušek.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13] „Poslušně hlásím, pane feldkurát,“ poznamenal Švejk, „že je to hotovej nezmar, jako nějakej Boušek z Libně. Vosumnáctkrát za večer ho vyhodili od ,Exnerů’, a vždycky se jim tam vrátil, že tam zapomněl fajfku.
Janata
was a senior lieutenant who fell by the Drina without having paid the 700 crowns he owed the moneylender who pestered Feldkurat Katz.
Background
The name Janata appears several times in the list of casualties throughout the war. The database of fallen soldiers from the current Czech and Slovak republic contains 21 names[a], but none of them appear to have died by the Drina or even had the rank of senior lieutenant. Schematismus reveals only one Janata and he served in the navy[b].
Otherwise this surname is quite common in Czechia with almost 1000 bearing the name[c].
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13] Vytáhl zápisník z kapsy a pokračoval: „Mám to všechno zapsáno. Nadporučík Janata dluhoval mně 700 korun a odvážil se padnout na Drině.
Prášek
was a lieutenant who was captured by the Russian without having paid his debts to the money lender.
Background
Many soldiers named Prášek were taken prisoner at the Russian front and some of them eventually joined the Legions. Still, there is no indication that any of them held the rank of lieutenant when they were captured[a]. This is no surprise as in the entire k.u.k. Heer served only one Prášek in 1914 and he was a Fähnrich in Bosnisch-hercegovinisches Infanterieregiment Nr. 3[b]. That Hašek knew this person is almost ruled out and the name is probably picked pretty much at random.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13]Poručík Prášek upadl na ruské frontě do zajetí, a je mně dlužen na 2000 korun.
Josef Wuchterle: did Hašek borrow the name of the Czechoslovak national hero?
Adolf Zeman,1927
Wichterle
was a captain who let himself get killed by his own soldiers at Rawa Ruska without having settled his debts to the money-lender who pestered Feldkurat Katz.
Background
No Wichterle is listed in the database of fallen from World War I (soldiers from the current Czech and Slovak republics). Nor is the name found in Verlustliste or in Schematismus from 1914. The only item that appears on searches for Wichterle at the time is a tools manufacturer in Prostějov. In Czechia live only 30 persons with this surname[a]. Even rarer is the similar Wuchterle.
Wuchterle
There lived a person of this name whom Hašek definitely had heard of and probably also knew in person. He was Josef Boris Wuchterle (1891-1923), a high ranking officer in the Legions and a national hero in Czechoslovakia. He was one of the very first who joined the Česká Družina in 1914. He commanded one of the companies of the 1st rifle regiment (where Hašek also served) and was severely wounded during the battle of Zborów in 1917. After the battle he was promoted to captain[b].
The small difference between Wichterle and Wuchterle is well within the margin of errors in The Good Soldier Švejk and it could even be that Hašek deliberately changed the letter to avoid controversies.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13]Hejtman Wichterle, dluhující mně stejný obnos, dal se zabít pod Ruskou Ravou vlastními vojáky.
Nachrichten über Verwundete und Verletzte,21.1.1915
Národní listy,10.2.1915
Machek
was a senior lieutenant who was a prisoner of war in Serbia despite his unpaid debts of 1500 crowns.
Background
In Schematismus from 1914 one OberleutnantViktorMachek is actually listed. That year he served at 3. Tyroler Kaiserjägerregiment. On 1 July 1915 he was promoted to captain and was still enlisted with the same regiment.
From the list of wounded 21 January 1915 it is evident that Machek was hospitalised in Vienna after having been shot in the lungs. It is also mentioned that he was born in Prague in 1886. In Verlustliste Nr. 116 from 29 January he is correspondingly listed as "Verwundet". The Czech version is however confusing. In Čech and Národní listy it may be interpreted as if he was captured. Národní politika however makes it clear that when nothing else is noted, the soldier mentioned in the list is wounded.
The rank fits, Machek was born in Prague and from Czech newspapers it's not entirely clear whether he was wounded or captured. His family lived in Vinohrady, a place Jaroslav Hašek knew very well. This indicates that the author may perhaps have linked his literary figure with the real Viktor Machek.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13]Nadporučík Machek zajat v Srbsku, dluhuje mně 1500 korun. Je zde víc takových lidí.
Matyáš
was a field chaplain from Brno who died in isolation hospital, he never got round to paying his debts before he pegged out.
Background
Miklos Mátyás actually served in k.u.k. Heer in 1914 as a reserve field chaplain[a]. The field chaplain was Hungarian and Hašek spells the name slightly differently but phonetically correct. With a Hungarian name it is unlikely that he was from Brno. There is apparently no evidence in military documents about him being killed, captured or injured.In Verlustliste several others with this name appear but none of them were field chaplains.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13] Přistrčil polnímu kurátovi svůj zápisník pod nos. „Vidíte: Polní kurát Matyáš v Brně, zemřel v isolační nemocnici před týdnem. Já bych si rval vlasy. Nezaplatil mně 1800 korun, a jde do cholerového baráku zaopatřovat nějakého člověka, po kterém mu nic nebylo.“
Devatenácté století slovem i obrazem, Jan Klecanda,1903
Národní politika,2.10.1902
Le Figaro,6.7.1902
Lidové noviny,23.1.1908
Zenger
is mentioned indirectly as "one professor" when Švejk reveals his mishaps relating to sunspots. Our good soldier claimed that when "that time the volcano Mount Pelée destroyed the entire island of Martinique a professor had written in Národní politika that he well in advance had warned about a big sunspot".
Background
The professor that Švejk refers to in the conversation at Vojenská nemocnice na Karlově náměstí is almost certainly Karel V. Zenger. It can however not be verified that Zenger wrote any article similar to the one Švejk mentions, but his studies of the connection between sunspots and seismic activity on earth makes him an obvious inspiration for the professor in the novel.
Zenger was a distinguished physicist and meteorologist and towards the end of his life he was even awarded the title "Hofrat". He published widely; in Czech, German and even French. He was particularly well known in French academic circles, but his name also appears in newspapers like Bergens Tidende (Norway).
He taught at the technical high school Česká technika (now ČVUT) in Prague and Jaroslav Hašek mixed a great deal with its students and has surely been aware of professor Zenger and his theories.
Zenger observed an approximate ten year cycle on volcanic eruptions, and linked this to a corresponding cycle of high solar activity. The first eruption that was included in the statistics happened in 1732, and with only two exceptions there were repeated eruptions in years that ended in two. The two remaining happened in years that ended in three, amongst these were Krakatoa in 1883.
Národní politika
Some months after the disaster at Martinique an article was printed in the very Národní politika where Zenger's theories were linked to the mentioned eruption. The article quotes the newspaper L'Opinion from Martinique, but also other French newspapers wrote about Zenger and his theories.
Many years earlier Zenger had investigated the connection between solar activity and its effect on the earth. He coined the term "sun climate" and was an international capacity within this research. For instance he provided some statistics that indicate a link between high sunspot activity and seismic events on earth, and it may well be that Švejk had noticed this.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.13] Když tenkrát ta sopka Mont-Pellé zničila celý ostrov Martinique, jeden profesor psal v ,Národní politice’, že už dávno upozorňoval čtenáře na velkou skvrnu na slunci.
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