Count Bobby

Count Bobby (German: Graf Bobby) is a fictional Viennese comic figure that has been very popular for many years. The inventors of Count Bobby are unknown. Originally a popular figure in jokes, in the early 1950s Count Bobby became so popular that the jokes were collected in anthologies. Later, he was the main character in a number of films, played by Peter Alexander. Count Bobby has more recently also featured in computer games.

Many of the jokes about Count Bobby also feature his friend Baron Rudi, who is a little more versed in the ways of the actual world, more energetic and a little brighter, and thus the perfect foil for Bobby. Their stories range from the silly to the downright philosophical.

Both Count Bobby and Baron Rudi are a little remote from daily life; their education is somewhat problematic; their intellectual abilities are only so-so; but their manners are impeccable. Both have a hard time making ends meet - but noblesse oblige! They speak in a slightly bored inflection in a nasal Viennese dialect known as Schönbrunnerdeutsch, or German as spoken at the Habsburg Imperial Court at Schönbrunn.