Eduard von Bauernfeld (13 January 1802 – 9 August 1890),
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
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, was born at
Vienna
en, Viennese
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.
Life
Having studied
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
, he entered the government service in a legal capacity, and after holding various minor offices was transferred in 1843 to a responsible post on the Lottery Commission. He had already embarked upon politics, and severely criticized the government in a pamphlet, ''Pie Desideria eines österreichischen Schriftstellers'' (1842); and in 1845 he made a journey to England, after which his political opinions became more pronounced. After the Revolution, in 1848, he quit the government service in order to devote himself entirely to letters.
He lived in Vienna until his death, and was ennobled for his work.
As a writer of comedies and farces, Bauernfeld takes high rank among the German playwrights of the century; his plots are clever, the situations witty and natural and the diction elegant. His earliest essays, the comedies ''Leichtsinn aus Liebe'' (1831); ''Des Liebes-Protokoll'' (1831) and ''Die ewige Liebe'' (1834); ''Burgerlich und Romantisch'', (1835) enjoyed great popularity. Later he turned his attention to so-called ''Salonstücke'' (drawing-room pieces), notably ''Aus der Gesellschaft'' (1866); ''Moderne Jugend'' (1869), and ''Der Landfrieden'' (1869), in which he portrays in fresh, bright and happy sallies the social conditions of the capital in which he lived.
A complete edition of Bauernfeld's works, ''Gesammelte Schriften'', appeared in 12 vols. (Vienna, 1871-1873); ''Dramatischer Nachlass'', ed. by F. von Saar (1893); selected works, ed. by E. Homer (4 vols., 1905). See A. Stern, ''Bauernfeld, Ein Dichterporträt'' (1890), Rudolf von Gottschall, "E. von Bauernfeld" (in ''Unsere Zeit'', 1890), and E. Homer, ''Bauernfeld'' (1900).
From about 1825 (though he had met him earlier, and enjoyed some of his stage works) until his death in 1828, Bauernfeld was a friend of the composer
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
. The famous Schubert song '' An Sylvia'' used Bauernfeld's translation of Shakespeare: Schubert also set a handful of original Bauernfeld poems. At his death Schubert left an unfinished opera ''Der Graf von Gleichen'' to a libretto by Bauernfeld. There are Memoirs of Schubert and his circle (including the painter
Moritz von Schwind 200px, Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860.
Moritz von Schwind (21 January 1804 – 8 February 1871) was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna. Schwind's genius was lyrical—he drew inspiration from chivalry, folklore, and the songs of the people. Schwind ...
who Bauernfeld had known from the Gymnasium (school) in Vienna and remained close friends with until old age) from Bauernfeld in Deutsch's book ''Schubert Memoirs by his friends''.
Bauernfeld’s secret beloved was Clotilde Neilreich Dornau (1805-1885).
Rita Steblin
Rita Katherine Steblin (April 22, 1951 – September 3, 2019) obituary, ''Figures of Speech'' was a