Josef Kilian Schickh
Austrian writer (1799-1851)
Josef Kilian Schickh (7 January 1799 – 22 May 1851) was an Austrian playwright who wrote mainly fairy tales, lokalposse and parodies for the Alt-Wiener Volkstheater, one of the three Wiener Vorstadttheater. He was the nephew of the journalist Johann Schickh and a contemporary of Johann Nestroy, Karl Meisl, Josef Alois Gleich and Franz Xaver Told.
Life
Born in 1799 in Landstraße (Vienna), Schickh was the son of the Viennese merchant Josef Schickh. He attended the Academic Gymnasium and started his military service in 1815 as furir at the Fuhrwesenkorps (Train). In 1819 he quit the service and worked first in the Court War Accounting Department, later on at the Universalcameral-Zahlamt (until 1845). He then changed to the Universal-Staats- und Banco-Schuldencasse, where he remained until his death. He was married to the actress Antonie Schickh (1808–1870).
Literary activity
Besides his civil service career, he wrote more than 70 plays for the suburban theaters of Vienna with which he achieved considerable success although they mostly only reached (quite wanted) mediocrity. His first work ("Pluto and Proserpina or: The Simandl from the Underworld") was performed in 1821 at the Theater in der Josefstadt. The same year he was also present for the first time at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Josef Kilian Schickh” is austrian writer (1799-1851). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Josef, Kilian and Schickh, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “austrian writer (1799-1851)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q15859290. VIAF identifies the subject as 153198631. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1799, 1851, 1815 and 1819.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Josef Kilian Schickh”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Josef Kilian Schickh primary sources, Josef Kilian Schickh archive and Josef research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Josef Kilian Schickh”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Josef Kilian Schickh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.