Mozart in the Viennese Council of War

On 21 October 1786, Mozart's name ("Mozard Capellmeister") appears in the protocol of the k.k. Hofkriegsrat (I. & R. council of war) – of all places. Mozart stood bail for his friend Franz Jacob Freystädtler who was accused of having stolen a piano by the Bavarian captain David Haißer. In the last fifteen years nobody has discovered more handwritten Mozart documents from the composer's lifetime than yours truly.

Part of the entry in the protocol of the I. & R. council of war concerning Mozart posting bond for his friend Freystädtler (OeStA, KA, ZSt HKR HR 2026, fol. 1067). The file related to this case does not survive.

This discovery was published the article "Mozarts Haftungserklärung für Freystädtler. Eine Chronologie". Mozart-Jahrbuch 1998. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2000, 1-19.

Updated: 6 October 2018