ANZENGRUBER, fin'tsen-groVber, Lunwto (1839-89). An Austrian dramatist and novel ist, born at Vienna. He left school early, and after spending some years in business pursuits became a strolling actor at the age of nineteen. While leading this life (1860-67), he wrote a number of plays, none of which met with success, then turned to journalism, and finally accepted a clerical position in the police department of his native city. While thus employed he produced, in 1S70, his "Pfarrer von Kirchfeld," an anti clerical drama, which caused a sensation and made him famous. He now decided to devote himself exclusively to literature. In the follow ing year was performed the "Meineidbauer," a powerful drama of peasant-life, by many consid ered his masterpiece. Even more popular proved the "Krenzelschreiber" (1872), whose subject is less sombre. All these plays were performed in the popular Theater an der Wien. A drama written for the more exacting audiences of the Burgtheater was unsuccessful, but when Anzen gruber returned to the scenes and characters of the peasant-life he knew so well, he achieved uniform success, as with his "Gwissenswurm" (1874), and many other plays. He showed
the same power of charaeter-drawing in his nov els Der Schandfleck (1876), and Der 8ternstein hof (1883-84). Anzengruber is a realist in the best sense of the word, and his pathos and humor are equally genuine. Although many of the characters in his plays and novels speak the dialect of Upper Austria and Styria, his works have won a conspicuous place in German literature, and several of his plays hold the Ger man stage. no less than that of Austria, at the present day. His collected works appeared in 1896-99. See the biography, by Bettelheim (Dres den. 1891), and Rosner, Erinnerungen an An zengruber (Leipzig, 1891).