BAUERNFELD

bauernfeld, eduard von (1802-1890), austrian dramatist, was born at vienna on the 13th of january 1802. having studied jurisprudence at the university of vienna, 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, _pia desideria eines osterreichischen 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 quitted the government service in order to devote himself entirely to letters. he lived in vienna until his death on the 9th of august 1890, 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); _das liebes-protokoll_ (1831) and _die ewige liebe_ (1834); _burgerlich und romantisch_, (1835) enjoyed great popularity. later he turned his attention to so-called _salonstucke_ (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. horner (4 vols., 1905). see a. stern, _bauernfeld, ein dichterportrat_ (1890), r. von gottschall, "e. von bauernfeld" (in _unsere zeit_, 1890), and e. horner, _bauernfeld_ (1900).