Myths and legends - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1998 - 9 Shilling

Vienna was visited by the plague several times since 1349. In 1679, the devastating epidemic spread again in Vienna. Streets and squares filled with dying bodies. These were often superimposed on the carts for lack of space and buried in out-of-town pest pits. At that time, a bagpiper named Augustin lived in Old Vienna, a jolly man who moved from one wine tavern to another, putting people in a happy mood and drinking a cup of wine with them. The more frightening the days were, as a result of the furious plague, the sooner the Viennese gathered round this happy fellow to forget, at least for a few hours, the deadly danger of the plague. At that time Augustin often sang his favorite song: "Oh, my dear Augustine, my money is gone, my husband is gone, oh dear Augustine, everything is gone!" One day, once again, he performed his song in a downtown pub, cheerful and cocky, as was his nature. The wine ran so well through his throat that he stumbled on a curb on his way home, fell into a trickle and fell asleep. Then plumbers passed by, saw the alleged dead lying on the side of the road, picked him up and laid him down to the bodies on their cart. Then they emptied the sad burden into the pit. Fortunately, the bodies were always covered with earth until the excavated square was filled to the top with dead bodies. So Augustine lay deep in sleep until dawn on the plague dead. He looked around in astonishment in the morning and did not quite know whether he was still dreaming or already awake. When the prostitutes arrived with new corpses, they heard someone in the pit call for help, and brought him up, and were not a little taken aback when they realized that it was the well-known Augustin, always well-known in the city. This time, however, he swore violently because he had been thrown into the plague pit. However, when he realized that he had survived the night of shivering and had not been infected by the pestilence, his good humor returned and he still often sang his scary-nocturnal experience in verses to lewd people. This is the legend of "Dear Augustin". Even after his death, Augustin continued to live in the hearts of the Viennese, and even in 1908 he was even given a memorial: the Augustin Fountain. In the series "Legends and legends from Austria", the POST UND TELEKOM AUSTRIA dedicates a special postage stamp to this amiable figure of Old Vienna, a symbol of the invincible optimism of the Viennese.