Gedenktafel Kaiserdamm 102 (Charl) Ferdinand Bruckner

Ferdinand Bruckner (born Theodor Tagger; 26 August 1891, in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

– 5 December 1958, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n-German writer and theater manager. Although his works are relatively rarely revived, ''Krankheit der Jugend'' was put on at the Cottesloe stage of London's

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

in 2009, under the title ''Pains of Youth''. It was directed by

Katie Mitchell Katrina Jane Mitchell (born 23 September 1964) is an English theatre director. Life and career Mitchell was born in Reading, Berkshire, raised in Hermitage, Berkshire, and educated at Oakham School. Upon leaving Oakham, she went up to Mag ...

and was met with very mixed reviews. Bruckner's play ''Die Rassen'' under the title ''Race'' was revived in 2001, in New York, by the Classical Stage Company. The critic John Simon called it "both scarily suspenseful and heartbreakingly elegant..." Simon concluded that the play: " comes as close as anything I know to explaining how a cultured nation hurtled into stupefying barbarity."New York Magazine, March 5, 2001

Life

Bruckner's father was an Austrian businessman and his mother a French translator. After the separation of his parents, he spent time in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and in

where he began to study music. However, impressed by the

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

literary scene in Berlin, in 1916 he moved away from music and devoted himself to poetry. In the following years, he published several poetry collections and in 1917 he began the literary magazine ''Marsyas'' with texts from authors like

Alfred Döblin Bruno Alfred Döblin (; 10 August 1878 – 26 June 1957) was a German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel '' Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of ...

and

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

. In 1922, he founded the Berlin Renaissance Theater, whose leadership he gave to Gustav Hartung in 1928. In 1929 and 1930 he released the pieces ''Krankheit der Jugend'' (Illness'' of Youth'') und ''Elisabeth von England'' (''Elizabeth of England'') using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

''Ferdinand Bruckner''. Bruckner reviewed some of his own plays under his real name. After the success of these works, he revealed their authorship, although he also changed his name itself in 1946. In 1933 he emigrated to Paris and worked on the anti-fascist play ''Die Rassen''. In 1936, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, although he achieved little success there. In 1953, twenty years after he left Germany, he returned to

where he worked as an advisor to the

Schiller Theater The Schiller Theater is a theatre building in Berlin, Germany. It is located in the central Charlottenburg district at Bismarckstraße 110, near Ernst-Reuter-Platz. Opened in 1907, the building served as a second venue for the Prussian State ...

. He also wrote a ''Historiche Dramen.''He died in Berlin on 5 December 1958.

Works

* ''Der Herr in den Nebeln'', 1917 * ''Krankheit der Jugend'', 1929 * ''Die Verbrecher'', 1929 * ''Elisabeth von England'', 1930 * ''Die Rassen'', 1933 * ''Simon Bolivar'', 1945 * ''Pyrrhus und Andromache'', 1951

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruckner, Ferdinand 1891 births 1958 deaths Jewish Austrian writers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Austrian male dramatists and playwrights German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights Austrian male writers 20th-century German male writers 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian male writers Expatriates of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Bulgaria People from Sofia