Richard Voss

Born in Neu-Grape, Pomerania, on September 2, 1851, Richard Voss served in the Franco-Prussian War and was wounded before going on to study philosophy at Jena and Munich. Although he had been meant for country life, he turned instead toward literature and built a career as a novelist and playwright.

Voss later settled in Berchtesgaden, and in 1884 he was appointed librarian of the Wartburg by Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, though he eventually resigned because of ill health. He also spent many years in Frascati near Rome, and Italy became an important setting and influence in his writing.

He wrote both plays and novels, including Savonarola, Die Patricierin, Villa Falconieri, and Zwei Menschen. Remembered as a German realist writer, he published work that ranged from historical drama to psychologically charged fiction, and his popularity in his own time helped keep his name alive well beyond his death in Berchtesgaden on June 10, 1918.