Georg Büchner

Life & Legacy

Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. His literary achievements, though limited by his death at age 23, are generally held in great esteem in Germany. Despite his brief career, his plays profoundly influenced naturalism, expressionism, and later developments in European theater.
At the age of 21, Büchner, with others, wrote a pamphlet entitled The Hessian Courier that has been called the most revolutionary manifesto of the nineteenth century before The Communist Manifesto.