 christian dietrich grabbe (11 december 1801 &ndash; 12 september 1836) was a german dramatist of the vormÃ¤rz era. he wrote many historical plays conceiving a disillusioned and pessimistic world view, with some shrill scenes. heinrich heine saw him as one of germany's foremost dramatists, calling him "a drunken shakespeare". ==life== born in detmold, the son of a prison officer, he began to write plays in the age of sixteen, while attending the gymnasium. a scholarship awarded by princess pauline enabled him to study law at the universities of leipzig and berlin, where he became acquainted with heinrich heine. after graduating in 1823, he unsuccessfully applied as a theatre director. grabbe returned to detmold, he passed the final staatsexamen and tried to find an employment as a legal officer, though also to no avail. finally in 1826 he was appointed to act as a military legal advisor, initially without remuneration. from 1831 he increasingly suffered from alcoholism. after his fiancÃ©e turned away from him, he married his beloved louise christina clostermeier in 1833, but the marriage quickly turned out to be unhappy. the next year grabbe quit and left detmold for frankfurt, where he also fell out with his publisher. he proceeded to dÃ¼sseldorf, where he temporarily worked at the altes theater with karl leberecht immermann. grabbe returned to detmold in 1836 as a broken man, his wife filed for divorce. he died from general paresis in the same year. ==legacy== with georg bÃ¼chner, grabbe was one of the principal german dramatists of his time. his debut herzog theodor von gothland overtaxed contemporary critics by its all-pervasive nihilism. influenced by shakes
1801_births 1836_deaths German_dramatists_and_playwrights People_from_Detmold People_from_the_Principality_of_Lippe Writers_from_North_Rhine-Westphalia