Karl Schönherr
Karl Schönherr (1867–1943) was an influential Austrian playwright primarily recognized for his works set in the Tirol region, where he spent his formative years. His plays often reflect the folk legends and dialect of Tirol, contributing significantly to the genre of Heimatliteratur, which captures regional culture and identity. Throughout his prolific career, Schönherr produced an estimated twenty-four plays from his debut, "Der Judas von Tirol," in 1897 to his final work, "Die Fahne weht," in 1937. His early work faced challenges, such as the initial failure of "Der Judas von Tirol," which he famously burned before it was later revised and celebrated as a masterpiece. Many of Schönherr's plays are characterized by their melodramatic elements, exploring themes of betrayal, rebellion, and the struggles of the common people against oppression. His notable works, including "Glaube und Heimat," garnered both public acclaim and critical recognition, earning him the Grillparzer Prize. After his passing, Schönherr's legacy continued to be honored through various collections of his works and scholarly studies, cementing his place in the history of Austrian drama.
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Subject Terms
Karl Schönherr
Medical Doctor
- Born: February 24, 1867
- Birthplace: Axams bei Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria
- Died: March 15, 1943
- Place of death: Vienna, Austria
Biography
Most of Karl Schönherr’s plays are set in the Tirol region of Austria where he grew up. Indeed, he is best known for his contributions to Austrian Heimatliteratur, fiction based on specific regions of the country. In Schönherr’s case, Tirol provided him with its folk legends and dialect and he in turn offered the prestigious theaters of Vienna his plays celebrating the people and values of the Tirol region. Generally, his plays were very popular, and he was prolific, often releasing new works or revisions of previous works at a rate that eventually allowed him to give up his previous medical career and concentrate on his work as a playwright. It is not easy to determine just how many of his plays were produced since several revisions have new titles, but an educated guess is that twenty-four appeared on the stage between his first play, Der Judas von Tirol, in 1897 and his last, Die Fahne weht, in 1937.
Der Judas von Tirol is an excellent example of Schönherr’s work. Curiously enough, its premiere was a failure and the play lasted only for three performances. Out of disappointment and frustration, Schönherr burned the manuscript, but a copy surfaced thirty years later. Schönherr revised it, and in 1928 it was a great success as performed in Innsbruck. Today it is regarded as one of his masterpieces. Written in Tirolean dialect, the play deals with resistance against Napoleon I’s invasion of the region led by the heroic Andreas Hofer, executed after a farmhand, Franz Raffl, was paid to betray him. As is typical of Schönherr’s plays, its structure is tight and its effects gripping, often melodramatic, with swift and surprising reversals, including betrayals, fratricide, adultery, suicide, drownings, and heroic rebellions against tyrants.
Another of Schönherr’s plays, Glaube und Heimat (1910; Faith and Fireside, 1916), was very successful with the public as well as the critics and won the Grillparzer Prize. It deals with the tyrannical imposition of the Catholic faith on the peasantry of Tirol, resulting in murder, suicide, and other deaths. Highly melodramatic, it is also tightly structured and deftly balanced in its effects.
In 1927, Schönherr was honored by being made a member of the Deutsche Dichter Akademie, the Academy of German Writers, and a four-volume collection of his works was published. His last play, Die Fahne weht (1937), returned to the Judas story, mixed with the story of Christ’s passion. Since Schönherr’s death in 1943, he has secured a lasting place in the history of Austrian drama. A new three-volume collected works has appeared along with several important scholarly studies.