author
Ferdinand Bruckner
1891–1958
Best known for sharp, psychologically intense plays such as Pains of Youth, this Austrian-German dramatist wrote about ambition, fear, and moral pressure in a way that still feels modern. His career also reflects the upheavals of 20th-century Europe, including exile during the Nazi era.
1 Audiobook
Der zerstörte Tasso: Ausgewählte Gedichte
by Ferdinand Bruckner
About the author
Born Theodor Tagger in 1891 and later writing as Ferdinand Bruckner, he was an Austrian-German playwright, poet, and theater manager. He spent parts of his youth in cities including Vienna, Paris, and Berlin, and became an important figure in German-language theater during the Weimar years.
His best-known plays include Krankheit der Jugend (Pains of Youth), Die Verbrecher (The Criminals), and Elisabeth von England. Readers and audiences often remember his work for its nervous energy, moral tension, and close attention to the pressures facing young people and modern society.
After the Nazis came to power in 1933, he left Germany and lived in exile, including time in Paris and the United States, before returning to Berlin after the Second World War. He died in 1958, leaving behind plays that capture both the anxiety and the theatrical daring of his time.