About the work
Die Papiere des Teufels (in full "...oder Der Zufall") is a farce with songs in three acts and a prologue by Johann Nestroy, premiered on 17 November 1842 at the Theater an der Wien. Nestroy wrote the play in haste to beat a competing adaptation of the same material to the stage.
Plot
A mason is hired by two fraudsters to wall up an important document and swears silence under threat of demonic retribution. After the two fraudsters die, their cook initially inherits, but the secretary Federl uncovers the fraud: disguised as the devil, he exposes the scheme at a ball, and a coincidence that reveals the secret passwords restores the hidden document to the rightful heiress and her daughter. Federl wins the daughter's hand in the end.
Cultural significance
Critics and audiences responded cautiously, faulting logical weaknesses in the hastily written plot, though Nestroy's own performance as Federl was praised. A couplet sung by Federl remained well known beyond the play itself, not least through later recitals by Karl Kraus, while the farce itself is rarely staged today.