Badge for the ushers at the Cabaret Fledermaus, 1907

This badge created by the painter, graphic artist and designer Bertold Löffler (1874–1960) beautifully illustrates the concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or universal work of art, espoused by Viennese Jugendstil. The performance venue Cabaret Fledermaus, planned by Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956), opened in 1907. Every last object, no matter how unassuming, was designed by artists of the Wiener Werkstätte, including the badges worn by the staff. Everything was created with the same attention to detail and thus emanated the spirit of the Wiener Werkstätte. For the badges, Löffler chose an almond-shaped format and used silver-plated alpacca, rendering the Cabaret Fledermaus’s initials “K” and “F” with sparingly applied black enamel to the left and right of the central depiction of a lady. While it is not clear at first glance what this silhouetted figure is doing, we are enlightened by a description of the badge by Ludwig Hevesi (1843–1910), who informs us that she is smelling the scent of a rose.

MR, 2021