The legendary Viennese balladeer, bagpiper and impromptu poet who loved to drink is said to have actually lived. Only the first letter of the surname of Augustin N. (1645-1685) is known from the official death list (source: Historisches Lexicon der Stadt Wien). In some sources, however, the name Markus Augustin is given. In his favourite pub "Zum roten Dachel" in Vienna's 1st district (later the "Griechenbeisl" at Fleischmarkt 11 next to the Greek Church of the Holy Trinity) he regularly recited his funny and coarse songs and jokes. However, the song "Oh Du lieber Augustin", which was very popular in Vienna and often sung at the Heurigen, was only written after his death around 1800.
The fall into the plague pit
After one of these evenings, he staggered back to his dwelling, heavily intoxicated from excessive wine consumption. The year of the event is given as 1679. At that time there was a terrible plague epidemic in Vienna, which killed 150,000 people. Augustin fell into an open plague pit near the church of St. Ulrich in the 7th district of Neubau in Vienna, into which the deceased victims of the plague were thrown at that time and covered with unslaked lime (according to another version, he was found drunk in the street and thrown into the pit by the plague slaves). He fell asleep in the darkness and was only freed from his precarious situation the next morning by the plague servants. Allegedly he took no physical harm and still emptied many a glass. Whether this was perhaps due to alcohol consumption remains forever an unsolved mystery. Whether Dear Augustin actually lived is not certain. Among others, the famous preacher Abraham a Sancta Clara (1644-1709) also told during one of his sermons in 1675 in the Rochuskirche (Vienna-Landstraße) about a drunken bagpiper who was thrown into a plague pit by the gravediggers. However, he did not mention the place of the incident, nor did he refer to a person named Augustin.
Legend or truth
In 1679, a plague regulation was published in Vienna by the official physician Paul de Sorbait (1624-1691), in which this story was also mentioned as a warning example. However, he had a different motive and only wanted to point out the examination by a coroner, which is absolutely necessary before a burial. This had not been done in the case of Dear Augustin and could have ended badly for him (buried alive). As painful as this is for the Viennese who have grown fond of "their" Augustin, it is probably only a legend. For as early as 1576, a similar incident was reported by a man in Cologne. And the English writer Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), famous for his book "Robinson Crusoe", also tells a very similar story, which allegedly took place in London in the plague year of 1665. See also other bizarre stories about intemperate wine drinking under intoxication and drinking culture.
Picture left: By Zenit - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Image right: By Thomas Ledl - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, Link
