AUSTRIA'S PROUD NOBILITY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7417, 31 May 1902, Page 2

AUSTRIA'S PROUD NOBILITY.

It Forms the Most Exclusive Social Set in Europe. (New tork Sum.) The entree to English court society is not difficult to obtain if one has money and ambition. The same statement applies to almost all the courts of Europe, but in i Vienna things are different. Even the American girl with her beauty and her i father's millions has not the open sesame j to court there. .' \ /'-'■. I / Some one wrote recently that she believed ] it would be easier to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than the Viennese smart set. That was putting it forcibly, but the fact remains that the exclusive set in Vienna is j a world apart and holds no dealings with lower caste. Sixteen quarterings ono must have to dwell in tht\ rare atmosphere. As for marrying outside the charmed circle, perish, the thought. Austrian men have done it, but neither they nor their wives were after- 1 ward received. • A mesalliance for an Austrian woman of the court circle is a thing almost unheard of. The young girl i 6 taught frW babyhood that she could not possibly marry outside of her own class, and as she never meets men save those of iher own circle, she has no temptation to violate the rules of her order. In no other country of Europe are caste lines drawji so sharply as in Austria. In the court circle are the aristocracy, the great statesmen. Then comes the haute bourgeoisie which includes the Magistrates, State-function-aries, great commercial directors, scholars and the more famous artists. After that there is the inconsequential petite bourgeoisie which is j THE BACKBONE OF THE NATION. l j Court etiquette in Austria has always' been rigid ; but once past the barriers of j formality and class, one will find Viennese < high society the gayest and niost fascinating of Europe. In early days the lame and power of the Hapsburgs drew to Vienna noble refugees from ail parts of Europe, and the blood of the" Austrian nobility contains mingled strains which, in a measure, account for tbe versatility and charm of the class^ ( The women are usually good-looking j and often beautiful. Moreover, the ma- i jbrity of them possess the indescribable I quality which, for want of a more definite j name, is called charm. They are gay, \ witty, good at repartee/ remarkably well ■ gowned. The men are brilliant, dashing, goodlooking, extravagant. ' The level of intelligence and wit is far above that of .the ordinary smart set ; yetj, oddly enough, there is no social, circle in Europe where so little honour is' paid to talent or even to genius. The Austriaa noble is charming to; his j intimates. He seldoni recognises 1 "the^ ex- j! istence 'of anyone beyond -them. 'A few ; daring social leaders have tried to improve j the condition of national art and' literature, j to draw the great writers and artists for- \ ward and pay them social honours., Ib can't be done. The Bmart set will buy pictures, will read books, will go to exhibitions. It will not receive the painbeTS or the writers. They are outside the pale.^ Genius cannot storm Austrian tradition. A few of the nobles, born to the Viennese purple, have shown genius themselves. That is a different matter. Of the Baroness do Suttner, tbe writer ; of Princess Metternich; of Baron Mundy, Austria's great philanthropist ; of Count Wilscek, the Arctic explorer, Viennese nobility is proud. , They belong within the gates. Tne smart set spends much of , its time at country houses, staying ia> Vienna only while the court is' theije, ior two seasons, which, last from Jan. 6\to Ash Wednesday and from Easter until the time of the great races in June. During those seasons there is one wild whirl of gaiety. The court, as a court;, has little to do with it, for . THERE ARE ONLY TWO COURT BALLS. Not to be invited to the first jtme is a J social calamity, for everyone who has j the right of presentation at court is in- j vited. The possession of sixteen quarterings, eight 011 each side of the family, is necessary to presentation, save in the case oi Hungarian nobles^ who are presented on eight quarterings. 80, not to be invited to tne court ball means that one* is shy on quarterings, and that is sad indeed. The second court ball is for the very elect, the Royal Family and its intimates. To be invited to it sets the seal upon the standing of the social aspirant. But it is outside the court that tho funi goes on. Everyone entertains. Every day und evening iB crowded with function's. Certain, great families entertain lavishly and constantly all through the season.* Nothing is dull. Everything goes with a verve, a snap. There is moro dancing in Vienna thorn in any other capital of Europe, and better dancing.. The Hungarians and Austrians are tho best dancers of the world, and a Viennese bull is the very apotheosis of dancing. No American girl should 1 be content until she has, for at least one evening, danced with Austrian and Hungarian partners. She may not be able to # «inter tho charmed upper circle, but even the petite bourgeoisie can dance. It is a national accomplish- . went. At a ball among the smart set, bad daneI ing is literally unknown. The musio is always exceedingly good. The setting of •the ball is brilliant, the crowd is on intimate terms, gay, informal. , Altogether a Viennese ball is A THING TO MAKE A GIRL IN LOVE WITH LIFE. Skating is, next to dancing, the favourite pastime of the Viennese society folk, and nere, for a wonder, the nobility and the bourgeoisie rub shoulders, for both have the freedom of the Eislauf Verein £ the fashionable ska-ting rink. ' i The Viennese skate almost as well as they I dance— with the same grace, tho same dash j and daring. Then^ too, ~ the Viennese i women s skating costumes are- most de- • lightful affairs. . She ds ordinarily elender and supple. The Viennese figure is proverbial. The Viennese tailor gown is as proverbial. Many foreigners go to Vienna for their tailor gowns, rather thai to Paris. 80, thoush the society woman of Vienna is almost in- : variably well dressed, it ig i n her walW suit, her riding habit, -her skating costume, that she shows to particular advantage Skating, shopping, visits, luncheons, 'the races fill tho day until five o'clock Then everyone anoets everyone else at Demmels, a pastry cook's establishment in the Korn Markt. « This is 'headquarter* for gossip, and Vienna » said to be the greatest place for gossip in Europe. Hotel dinners and suppers, just now the rage ht -London, have ; long been in vogue in Vienna.

The young girls of the Viennese smart set have an uncommonly larky time. In tho privileged class everyone knows everyone else well. It is a large and intimate family. The girls share in the informality, but they have certain privileges of their own, -which seem odd in this day of the young manned woman's, social triumphs. The Wiener Contessen is a social foody including practically all 'die young girls of the noble families of Vienna. At social •functions the girls have ft, room to themselves—the CoTrtessen-Zimmer. Into that room no married woman may intrude. A violation of that social law causes vigorous i protest. ! In the Contessen-Zimmer the young person reigns supreme, and to the ContessenZftnmer the young men gravitate. Verily, there are worse things than being A GIRL .IN VIENNA'S SMART SET. . There are judges who contend that the haute bourgeoisie is the social leven of Vienna end much more agreeable than the I court circle. It is'divided into the Jewish and tihe Christian sets. The first is perhaps the wealthiest and most extravagant • class in Europe. There is exaggerated luxury but there ia also genius, intellect. In the haute bourgeoisie one finds the men of brains, <ft\e men of genius whom one misses an the exclusive court set. The women are quite as fascinating as those of higher rank, and more broadly cultivated;. Her* are the beauty, the wit, the grace, the luxury, the gaiety — all that count* in the aristocratic set, save the blood. Possibly the brains 11 and genius more then compensate for that loss. Mamy critics. have said that Vienna has the most exclusive and interesting court and the most delightful bourgeoisie in existence to-day. Certainly the boundary lines are more closely drawn there than elsewhere. The American heiress will not many into that one court. Tie mesalliance would not be countenanced. She might .get tiie title and the husband. She wouldn't get the court. . • Royal mismating the Emperor may allbw, provided the royal hot-head does not go quite outside of the charmed circle. The Countess Sophie vom Ohotek was no mate for the heir to tie throne, yeb . tbe Arohduke was allowed to marry her upon condition .that their children should have no $aim upon tbe throne, and she is a favourite in court society. The Archduchess Elizabeth married far beneath her. So did the Countess von Sonvay. ! Each time Eranz josef gave ins bless- ! ing, but all /hese matches were, though : unequal, within the sacred caste lin«. Beyond tihat there is no freedom of choice. !