Slopfest #20 · Autumn 1949 · Vienna
The Zither Would Not Stop
One man, one zither, one tune, eleven hours. Quantity over quality, in its purest form.
Museum status: Declared a national treasure by the committee, unanimously, of one.
- Venue
- Riesenrad, all gondolas, all night
- Attendance
- 204
- Guest of honour
- Anton Karas (played the zither for eleven hours because nobody told him to stop)
- Fun fact
- 11 hours, 1 tune, 0 requests honored
What happened
Anton Karas agreed to play the zither for the evening, and the committee neglected to tell him when to stop. He played the same theme for eleven hours while the Riesenrad went round and round. Neighbors complained for the first two hours and hummed along for the next nine. It became the first Slopfest anthem, and is still the only one anyone can play.
“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”
Elsewhere in 1949
The Third Man, filmed in Vienna, is released, with Anton Karas's zither theme and a famous scene on the Riesenrad.
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