Ignaz Franz Castelli (6 March 1781 – 5 February 1862) 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 dramatist born 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 ...

. He studied law at the university, and then entered the government service. During the Napoleonic invasions his patriotism inspired him to write stirring war songs, one of which, ''Kriegslied für die österreichische Armee'', was printed by order of the Archduke Charles of Austria and distributed in thousands. For this Castelli was proclaimed by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in '' Le Moniteur'', and had to seek refuge in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. In 1815 he accompanied the allies into

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as secretary to

Count Cavriani Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, and, after his return to Vienna, resumed his official post in connection with the estates of Lower Austria. In 1842 he retired to his property at

Lilienfeld Lilienfeld () is a city in Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), Austria, south of St. Pölten, noted as the site of Lilienfeld Abbey. It is also the site of a regional hospital Landesklinikum Voralpen Lilienfeld. The city is located in the valley ...

, where, surrounded by his notable collections of pictures and other art treasures, he for the rest of his life devoted himself to

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. Castelli's dramatic talent was characteristically Austrian; his plays were well constructed and effective and satirized unsparingly the foibles of the Viennese. But his wit was too local and ephemeral to appeal to any but his own generation, and if he is remembered at all today it is by his excellent ''Gedichte in niederösterreichischer Mundart'' (1828). He died at Lilienfeld. Castelli's ''Gesammelte Gedichte'' ("Collected poems") appeared in 1835 in 6 vols.; a selection of his ''Werke'' in 1843 in 15 vols. (2nd ed., 1848), followed by supplementary volumes in 1858. His autobiography, ''Memoiren meines Lebens'', appeared in 1861–1862 in 4 vols.

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* 1780 births 1862 deaths 19th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights Austrian male dramatists and playwrights Austrian people of Italian descent Writers from Vienna {{dramatist-stub