Rudolf Gschladt

Rudolf Gschladt was born on 11 March 1876 in Vienna (then part of Austria-Hungary, today Austria). He completed his schooling with the Matura, and in 1894 he enrolled at the University of Vienna to study law. During his studies he was very active in various student fraternities: first in the fraternity “Austria Wien.” In 1895 he moved to Chernivtsi, where he studied for one year at the Franz-Josephs-Universität in order to support the fraternity Unitas Czernowitz. In 1898 Rudolf Gschladt was a founding member of the fraternity Rudolfina and helped to establish this association in the following years. His strong commitment to the fraternities had the consequence that his law studies stalled; in the end he was able to complete only the second state examination and never fully finished his studies.
Nevertheless, Rudolf Gschladt obtained a position as an officer in the Vienna municipal administration and advanced to head of division and eventually to senior senate councillor in the housing department. He was also politically active in the Christian-Social Union and was elected a member of the provisional municipal council in 1918, and later served in the Vienna state parliament from 1927 to 1932.
Rudolf Gschladt died on 1 March 1947 in Vienna (Austria).

Besides these activities, Rudolf Gschladt was also a composer and poet in his leisure time. Only a few of these works were ever published or performed. For example, his text of the “Farbenlied” for the fraternity Rudolfina was published in the book Lieder-Texte des Cartellverbandes der deutschen katholisch-österreichischen Studenten-Corporationen in 1900. His “Deutsche Messe” for soli, choir and organ was premiered in 1934 in the Schlosskapelle Schönbrunn under the direction of the choirmaster Victor Gomboz.

Rudolf Gschladt Archive


In my possession is the complete artistic estate of Rudolf Gschladt. That includes dozens of poems and compositions, mainly songs for voice and piano on own texts. As mentioned above most of these poems and compositions were never published and the public wasn't even aware that these works exist.

Regarding the poems it seems that Rudolf Gschladt wrote many of his writings under the pseudonym "R. von Schalkenstein". Beside the poems used for his songs I also preserved the poem cycles "Reiterliebe", "Österreichische Kinderkriegslieder" and "Moosröschen".

The compositions are listed in detail below. In one of the songs the text author is given as "A. Larolo". That could be a pseudonym as well because I could not find any such poet. And Rudolf Gschladt was in contact with his compositions with Rudolf Malaric, a double bassist and publisher in Vienna.


work catalogue of Rudolf Gschladt


  • Hans und Lotte, for men’s choir
  • Frühling über Nacht, for men’s choir with baritone solo
  • Die Treue, for men’s choir
  • Vor der Krippe, for voice, violin and organ
  • Mein Heiland, wie mußt du leiden!, for community singing and organ
  • Tantum ergo, for mixed choir and organ
  • song cycle „Betrogen um mein Glück“, 20 songs for voice and piano
Gschladt_Betrogen.pdf
  • song cycle "Lieder des Gefangenen", 20 songs for voice and piano
  • In meinem Nachtgebet bist du!, for voice and piano
  • Schelmische Erhörung, Kuckuck!, for voice and piano
  • Klage, Liebe und Herbst, for voice and piano
  • Trost, for voice and piano
  • Oh! den ganzen Tag…, for voice and piano
  • Schön ist die Nacht, for voice and piano
  • Tröstung, for voice and piano
  • Liebchens Haus, for voice and piano
  • Wie ich dich liebe, for voice and piano
  • Nur eine Locke…, for voice and piano
  • Mailiebchen, for voice and piano
  • Nachtgruß, for voice and piano
  • Dein Lied, for voice and piano
  • Im Duft der Linden, for voice and piano
  • Enttäuschung, for voice and piano
  • Nur einmal…, for voice and piano
  • Erwartung, for voice and piano
  • Wortloses Verstehen, for voice and piano
  • Eilige Botschaft, for voice and piano
  • Frühglockenläuten, for voice and piano
  • ie Rosen und du, for voice and piano
  • Du bist nicht mehr…, for voice and piano
  • Blümchen Wundertreu, for voice and piano
  • Herzenssprache, for voice and piano
  • Wortloses Verstehen, for voice and piano
  • Auf Bergeshöh’, for voice and piano
  • Zum letztenmal, for voice and piano
  • Erlösung, for voice and piano
  • Mißgeschick, for voice and piano
  • Nacht und Tag, for voice and piano
  • Stiller Winkel, for voice and piano
  • Waldrast, for voice and piano
  • Wiedervereinigung, for voice and piano
  • Besiegte Spröde, for voice and piano



Österreichische Kinderkriegslieder


Rudolf Gschladt both wrote poems and composed music. Not every poem was set to music, some stand alone. Like his "Austrian children's war songs" which he wrote in 1914. I would like to present soem of these poems here because they document the adults’ enthusiasm for war and the propaganda and manipulation directed at children in order to make them eager for war as well.

Gschladt_Kinderkriegslieder.pdf