Grabbe, Christian Dietrich, 1801-36, German dramatist and journalist. Critical of "Shakespearomania," Grabbe strove for a national German drama and wrote original, poetic historical tragedies. Hannibal (1835) and Hermannsschlacht [Hermann's battle] (1838) depict the genial individual shattered by others' lack of understanding. Napoleon (1831), Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung (1822; tr. Comedy, Satire, Irony and Deeper Meaning, 1955), and Don Juan und Faust (1829) are among his other notable works.

Christian Dietrich Grabbe (December 11, 1801 – September 12, 1836) was a German dramatist.

Born in Detmold, Lippe, he wrote many historical plays and is also known for his use of satire and irony. He suffered from an unhappy marriage. Heinrich Heine saw him as one of Germany's foremost dramatists, calling him "a drunken Shakespeare". Even though Bertolt Brecht wanted to stage Grabbe's "Hannibal", the National Socialists saw Grabbe as the "prototype of the Low German man". The Nazis idolized Grabbe mainly because of his blatant anti-Semitism. Brecht also wrote the play "Baal" as an answer to Hanns Johst's "Der Einsame", a play about Grabbe.

Works

Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung (1827)

Herzog Theodor von Gotland (1827)

Don Juan und Faust (1829)

Die Hohenstauffen (1829/30)

Napoleon oder Die Hundert Tage (1831)

Hannibal (1835)

Die Hermannsschlacht (1838)