AMANDUS GOTTFRIED ADOLF

MULLNER (1774—1829)  , German dramatic poet, nephew of Gottfried August Burger, (q.v.), was born at Langendorf near Weissenfels on the 18th of October 1774 . After studying law at Leipzig he established himself as advocate at Weissenfels and made his debut as an author with the novel Incest, oder der Schutzgeist von Avignon (1799) . He next wrote a few comedies for an amateur theatre in Weissenfels; these were followed by more pretentious pieces: Der angolische Kaer (1809) and Der Blitz (1814, pub' . 1818), after French models . With his tragedies, however, Der neonund-zwanzigste Februar (1812), and especially Die Schuld (1813; publ . 1816), Milliner became the representative of the so-called Schicksalsdramatiker, and for several years " fate-tragedies " on the model of Die Schuld dominated the German stage . His later plays, Konig Yngurd (1817) and Die Albaneserin (182o), were less important . Notwithstanding his literary success, Mullner did not neglect his profession, and was given the title of Hofrat; he also edited various journals, and had a reputation as a vigorous if somewhat acrimonious critic He died at Weissenfels on the 11th of June 1829 . Mullner's Vermischte Schriften appeared in 2 vols . (1824–1826) ; his Dramatische Werke in 8 vols . (1828; 2nd ed., 1832) . In 1830 four supplementary volumes were published containing mainly criticism .

See F . K . J . Schutz, Mullners Leben, Charakter and Geist (183o) ; J .

Minor, Die Schicksalstragodie in ihren Hauptvertretern (1883), and the same author's volume, " Das Schicksalsdrama ", (1884), in Kiirschner's Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol . 151 .