KLINGER, klineer, Friedrich Maximil ian von, German dramatist, novelist and essay ist: b. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1752; d. 1831. By profession he was a soldier though he early showed his literarytendencies when, as a student at Giessen, he was awarded a special prize for his tragedy 'Die Zwillinge' which was published in 177a. He was a man of con siderable force of character; and he made rapid advancement in his military life just as he made a strong impression on the literature of his day. In 1776, the year following his literary debut, he published a drama entitled 'Sturm und Drang> which' was destined not only to profoundly influence the German liter ary tendencies of his day but to give its name to one of the most intensive literary move ments in German literature. Klinger, after several years' military service in Germany, went to Saint Petersburg and there entered the Russian army where he remained most of his life, though in more or less close contact with the leaders of the literary movement in Germany. He rose, through gradual and suc cessive promotions, to the rank of lieutenant general, and he was held in high esteem by the Russian military authorities. In the army, too, he found some congenial literary spirits over whom he exercised considerable influence. Klinger was one of the first novelists in Ger many who worked toward a certain definite purpose ethical in its tendencies; and this in itself attracted many literary men to his stand ard and gained many readers and critics for his works. Unfortunately his literary taste falls generally below his inventiveness; and so his works are constantly offending through the crudeness of their presentations and their lack of literary discrimination and good form. But the vehemence with which he presented his opinions, more or less novel, and therefore attractive in his day, outbalanced all the short comings of their author; gained for him a very extensive following and gave him an in fluence over literary thought and form of ex pression of his day out of all proportion to the real value and importance of his literary work. Yet, in the midst of much that offends
good taste and of presentations and character izations that are untrue to life, there is also much in Klinger's work that gave inspiration to the writers of his age and that left their impression indelibly imprinted upon the literary movement not only in Germany but upon that of most of Europe; for he was, in some senses, the most aggressive of the leaders of the "Storm and Stress° period in German lit erature. His work was very considerable and most of his writings have appeared in various editions. Among his works most worthy of at tention for their own intrinsic merits and for the influence they have had on Germany lit erary thought are, in addition to those already mentioned, 'Faustus Leben, Thaten und Hollen
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