
Set in the modest town of Emilsburg, the play opens on a quiet Sunday afternoon inside the stately home of Fritz Beermann, a prosperous landowner and banker. As guests arrive—his poised wife Lena, their spirited daughter Effie, and a parade of local dignitaries—the veneer of respectability begins to crack, revealing the petty ambitions and self‑interest that underlie their polite conversation.
Through sharp dialogue and lively banter, the drama skewers the pretensions of the town’s elite: merchants, police officials, and self‑styled reformers who hide their hypocrisy behind titles and good manners. The audience is invited to watch the clash between sincere yearning for moral integrity and the comfortable complacency of those who profit from illusion. With a blend of Bavarian wit and universal satire, the first act sets the stage for a compelling examination of social double standards that feels both historically rooted and surprisingly contemporary.
Language
en
Duration
~2 hours (135K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Text file produced by Charles Franks, Nicole Apostola and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team HTML file produced by David Widger
Release date
2004-01-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1867–1921
Best known for sharp, funny portraits of Bavarian life, this German writer turned everyday speech and local politics into memorable satire. His work ranges from warm village comedy to pointed social criticism, which helped make him one of the most widely read authors in southern Germany.
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