About the work
Farce with songs in three acts by Johann Nestroy, first performed on 23 April 1845 at the Theater an der Wien as a benefit performance for the victims of the Vltava and Elbe floods. Its source was the French vaudeville 'Boquillon à la recherche d'un père' by Bayard and Dumanoir, which had premiered in Paris only on 15 January 1845; Nestroy adapted it under great time pressure, and the music was written by Adolf Müller senior.
Plot
The confirmed bachelor Herr von Ledig unexpectedly finds a strange child in his home and, searching for its parents, becomes entangled in a web of mistaken identities, a mysterious visiting card and several love affairs. In the end it emerges that his nephew Berg is the father, with Theres, who had given up the child in despair; an inheritance settlement and a happy ending close the play.
Cultural significance
With 106 performances, this quickly written adaptation became one of Nestroy's most successful repertory pieces and was staged in several European cities; it shows his comic skill in turning a current Parisian source into a Viennese box-office hit within weeks.