The Legend of Augustin

Back in 1679, Vienna was struck by the Great Plague. Augustin was a ballad singer and bagpiper who toured the city's inns entertaining people. The Viennese loved Augustin because of his charming humour in bitter times, and they called him Lieber Augustin.

According to legend, once he was drunk and on his way home he fell in the gutter and went to sleep. He was mistaken for a dead man by the gravediggers patrolling the city for dead bodies. They picked him up and threw him, along with his bagpipes which they presumed were infected, into a pit filled with bodies of plague victims outside the city walls.

Next day when Augustin woke up, he was unable to get out of the deep mass grave. He was shocked and after a while he started to play his bagpipes, because he wanted to die the same way he lived. Finally people heard him and he was rescued from this dreadful place. Luckily he remained healthy despite having slept with the infected dead bodies and Augustin became a symbol of hope for Viennese people.

Just like today’s medici, police, teachers, cityworkers, ... were our symbols of hope during the lockdown. They are the Augustins of today.