Above: Alexander Campbell as Bratfisch in Kenneth Macmillan's Mayerling, The Royal Ballet Season 2016/2017. Photo credit: Alice Pennefather.
21. Aftermath: Josef (continued)
According to another legend, Josef was shattered by the Mayerling tragedy. "After the catastrophe it was all over with Bratfisch." wrote Leopold Kunschak. "Formerly so cheerful and full of joie de vivre, he became as reticent as a Carthusian, no-one ever heard him sing again, never again was there a merry smile about his lips" (Judtmann 35).
The implication is that Josef was heartbroken and depressed after Rudolf's death, but in fact he had something much more personal and devastating to deal with. He had contracted cancer of the larynx which destroyed his singing career and then killed him on December 16, 1892.
He spent his last four years in a futile effort to find an effective treatment. At his death his liabilities included a medical bill for 200 florins.
There was a huge turnout for his funeral, but this owed little or nothing to his association with the Mayerling tragedy. Those who attended were people who remembered him from his two careers, cab driving and the musical stage:
"The funeral of the recently deceased Viennese cab driver Bratfisch took place with great pomp. The church was filled to the last seat with mourners, and such a large crowd had gathered in front of the church that passage was completely blocked.
"Thousands of people lined Hernals' main street, from Kirchengasse to Friedhofstrasse. In the local cemetery, the body of the popular horse-drawn carriage driver was laid to rest in a separate grave.