Hermann Anastas Bahr (; 19 July 1863 – 15 January 1934) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, ...

, playwright, director, and critic.

Biography

Born and raised in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

, Bahr studied in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

Czernowitz Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, devoting special attention to

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

political economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

. During a prolonged stay in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, he discovered his interest in literature and art. He began working as an art critic, first in Berlin, then in Vienna. In 1890 he became associate editor of ''Berliner Freie Bühne'' (''Berlin Free Stage''), and later became associate editor and critic of the ''Deutsche Zeitung'' (''German Newspaper''). In 1894 he began publication of ''Die Zeit'' (''The Times''), and was also editor of the ''Neue Wiener Tagblatt'' (''New Vienna Daily Flyer'') and the ''Oesterreichische Volkszeitung'' (''Austrian Popular Newspaper''). Hermann Bahr 1891

In 1906–07, Bahr worked with

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pr ...

as a director at the German Theater (german: Deutsches Theater) in

, and starting in 1918 he was a

Dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

with the Vienna

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in V ...

. Spokesman for the literary group

Young Vienna Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

, Bahr was an active member of the Austrian avant-garde, producing both criticism and

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

plays. Bahr's association with the coffeehouse literati made him one of the main targets of Karl Kraus's satirical journal ''

Die Fackel Karl Kraus (28 April 1874 – 12 June 1936) was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He directed his satire at the press, German culture, and German and Austrian politics. He was nominate ...

'' (''The Torch'') after Kraus's falling out with the group. Bahr was the first critic to apply the label

modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

to literary works, and was an early observer of

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it ra ...

. His theoretical papers were important in the definition of new literary categories. His 40 plays and around 10 novels never reached the quality of his theoretical work. He died, aged 70, in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

Selected fiction

Plays

* ''The New People'' (''Die neuen Menschen'' – 1887) * ''The Mother'' (''Die Mutter'' – 1891) *''Das Tschaperl'' (1897) *''Der Star'' (1899) *''Wienerinnen'' (1900) *''Der Krampus'' (1902) *''Ringelspiel'' (1907) *'' The Concert'' (''Das Konzert'' – 1909) *''The Children'' (''Die Kinder'' – 1911) *''Das Prinzip'' (1912) *''Der Querulant'' (1914) *''The Master'' (''Der Meister'' – 1904)

Short stories and novellas

*''The School of Love'' (''Die gute Schule. Seelenstände'' – 1890) *''Fin de siècle'' (1891) *''Die Rahl'' (1908) *''O Mensch'' (1910) *''Österreich in Ewigkeit'' (1929)

Selected nonfiction

Essays

*''Zur Kritik der Moderne'' (1890) *''Die Überwindung des Naturalismus'' (1891) *''Symbolisten'' (1894) *''Wiener Theater'' (1899) *''Frauenrecht'' (1912
eLibrary Austria Project (elib austria full text)
*''Inventur'' (1912) *''Expressionismus'' (1916) *''Burgtheater'' (1920)

Books

*''Theater'' (1897) *''Drut'' (1909) *''Himmelfahrt'' (1916) *''Die Rotte Korahs'' (1919) *''Self-Portrait'' (''Selbstbildnis'' – 1923), an autobiography

References

External links

Hermann Bahr on the eLibrary Austria Project (Information and eLib Austria full txts)Bibliography of his books as well as (English) translations, articles to download and literatureResearch group at the Leuphana University Lüneburg currently assembling and publishing Bahr's critical writings, essays, and articles
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahr, Hermann 1863 births 1934 deaths Writers from Linz 19th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights Austrian male dramatists and playwrights Young Vienna