Egon Friedell Friedmann was born in Vienna and studied in Vienna and in Heidelberg, Germany. He lived as a versatile bohemian and was a witty critic. He was a regular at the Cafe Central in Vienna with his friends, Peter Altenberg, Franz T. Csokor and Alfred Polgar. It was about this time that he dropped the name Friedman.
His Jesusproblem was published in 1921. His major work, the Kulturgeschichte der Neuzeit (Cultural History of the Modern Age) published 1927-1932 in three volumes, covers history ranging from the Reformation to World War I. Friedell sometimes acted in his own plays, like Die Judastragoedie, 1929, and performed in Max Reinhardt’s theater. The Kulturgeschichte des Altertums (Cultural History of Antiquity) was published in the years 1936-1949.
Friedmann was urged by some of his friends to leave Nazi-ruled Austria, but was reluctant to leave behind his life’s work. Two days after the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich in March 1938, SS squads came up the stairs to his apartment. Friedell leaped from the window to his death.
His letters were published in 1959.