Franz Nabl
Franz Nabl was an Austrian writer born in 1883 in Lautschin, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was raised in Vienna after his father's retirement, where he developed a passion for writing, abandoning his law studies to pursue a literary career. Nabl became known for his exploration of themes such as the search for self-determination and the tension between traditional and modern values. His notable works include the novel "Das Grab des Lebendigen," often regarded as his masterpiece, which contains a veiled critique of fascism.
Throughout his career, Nabl produced plays and novels that examined the complexities of human relationships, often highlighting the consequences of ambitious pursuits. Despite his literary contributions, his later years saw a decline in visibility, and he passed away in 1974, relatively unknown. Nabl received several honors for his work, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Graz and the Austrian Medal of Honor for Science and Art. His legacy remains a reflection of the socio-political landscape of his time, woven through a narrative lens that remains relevant to discussions of identity and societal change.
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Subject Terms
Franz Nabl
Writer
- Born: July 16, 1883
- Birthplace: Lautschin, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Loucen, Czech Republic)
- Died: January 19, 1974
- Place of death: Graz, Styria, Austria
Biography
Franz Nabl was born in 1883 in Lautschin in the Austro- Hungarian Empire, which is now in the Czech Republic. His father, also named Franz, was estate manager for the Princes of Thurn and Taxis. His mother was named Antonia Untersteiner. When Nabl was three years old, his father was able to retire on the fortune he had amassed and moved the family to Vienna, Austria. He also bought an estate in Lower Austria, where Franz spent his summers.
In 1905, Franz married Hermengild Lampa and broke off his legal studies at the University of Vienna to become a freelance writer, living in Enzensfeld in Lower Austria. He loved this area to the southwest of Vienna, and it became a typical setting for much of his later work. In 1913, he moved to Baden, just outside Vienna. Poor health exempted him from military service. From 1924 to 1927, he was editor of the daily newspaper, the Grazer Tagblatt. However, the success of his 1925 play, Trieschübel: Eine tragische Begebenheit in drei Aufzügen, encouraged him to resume freelance writing, first in Baden, then in Graz.
Although he did not actively welcome the Anschlu� (union) with Germany in 1938, he allowed the Nazi regime to use his name. In 1940, he married Ilse Metzler, his first wife having died in 1936. Although he continued to receive honors for his previous writing, he wrote little fiction after World War II, and died comparatively unknown in 1974.
Nabl’s earliest novel was Hans Jäckels erstes Liebesjahr (Hans Jäckel’s first year of love), followed by Ödhof: Bilder aus den Kreisen der Familie Arlet in 1911, in which he developed one of the themes that typify his work: the search for a full self-determined life, even if it means the destruction of weaker people. The success of such a search is found to be counter-productive, however, as his characters find that their relationships have been killed off. His 1917 Das Grab des Lebendigen: Studie aus dem kleinbürgerlichen Leben (the grave of the living) is often considered Nabl’s masterpiece. It was his first venture into realism. There is a hidden political message on the dangers of fascism, and the Nazis insisted on retitling the novel when it was reissued in 1936.
The theme of Nabl’s play Trieschübel and his 1921 novel Die Galgenfrist: Eine erfundene und etwas aus der Form geratene Geschichte deal with the protagonist needing to break out of his self-sufficient lifestyle to find meaning in life. Increasingly, however, his work reflected the clash between traditional and modern values. Nabl’s novella Der Fund: Eine Erzählung deals with the shooting of a socialist newspaper editor by an ex-officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army, an act he condoned. The Nazis filmed this in 1942 as Die Nacht nach der Oper. Nabl’s most popular work, Steirische Lebenswanderung (wanderings in Styria) is unashamedly nostalgic and bucolic, reflecting his own country retreat. His short stories were collected and published in 1948 under the title of Johannes Krantz: Erzählungen in einem Rahmen, Krantz being an alter ego for Nabl himself, the outsider, largely unknown and unread.
In 1943 Nabl received an honorary doctorate from the University of Graz. In 1952 he won the Prize for Literature from the City of Vienna, in 1957 the Great State Prize, and in 1969 the Austrian Medal of Honor for Science and Art.