ANZENGRUBER, an'ts&i-groo-ber, Lud wig, German dramatist: b. Vienna, 2$ Nov. 1839; d. Vienna, 10 Dec. 1889. In early life he sometimes wrote under the pseudonym L. Gru ber. His father's ancestors were Austrian peasants and his mother was of Viennese descent. The elder Anzengruber, who was an admirer of Schiller, tried his hand at writing dramas and stories but without success. He was instrumental, however, in early turning the attention of his boy to the drama and the theatre. The family lived in straitened cir cumstances and when the father died young Ludwig had to take a position in a bookstore. The duties of the position did not greatly ap peal to him, but he had an opportunity to sat isfy his taste for wide reading. His early interest in the theatre developed and in 1859 he became a traveling actor, going about the country accompanied by his mother. On these journeys he had opportunity to become ac quainted with various types of characters which he later embodied in his dramas and novels. In fact, these travels brought nearly all the knowl edge of peasant life that he possessed, as the rest of his days were spent in Vienna.
In 1869, after having been without a theat rical engagement for some time, he took a position as clerk in the Vienna police depart ment. This experience he always valued, as it made him more intimately acquainted with human nature and gave him a knowledge of the seamy side of life. He wrote popular plays all along but had achieved success with none of them, when suddenly in 1870 he became famous with his
von Kirchfeld.) The public was visibly affected when it was pre sented on the stage and its reputation was helped by the favorable criticism of Heinrich Laube. Anzengruber now resigned his position with the police department and devoted all his attention to literary work. Among his dramas of this neriod
Then followed a period of unproductivity in the drama due largely to the failure of two of his plays in 1879. The years 1880-84 were mostly devoted to the writing of novels and short stories and the editing of a journal, Die Heimat. In 1885 he secured a fixed income as editor of the humorous paper Figaro. Begin ning with 1886 the interest in his dramas was again revived in Vienna. In the meantime he had made his reputation in north Germany. Was vierte Gebot) had been especially well received in Berlin. In 1886 he was awarded the Grillparzer prize for his drama (1885). Of his later dramas und Stein' (1886) and (Fleck auf der Ehro (1889) should be mentioned. At this time the Vienna theatres were again producing his plays with continued success. When Anzengruber died in 1889 he was the leading dramatist of the German speaking people of that day.
He also wrote novels of interest and power, the chief ones being