Mullner, Amandus Gottfried Adolf
MULLNER, AMANDUS GOTTFRIED ADOLF (1774-1829), German dramatic poet, nephew of Gottfried August Burger, (g.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 Kater (1809) and Der Blitz (1814, publ. 1818), after French models. With his tragedies, however, Der neunund-zwanzigste Februar (1812), and especially Die Sckuld (1813; publ. 1816), Miillner became the representative of the so-called Schicksakdramatiker, 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 (1820), were less important. Notwithstanding his literary success, Milliner 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 nth of June 1829.
Milliner'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. Schiltz, Milliners Leben, Charakter und Geist (1830); J. Minor, Die Schicksalstragodie in ihren Hauptvertretern (1883), and the same author's volume, " Das Schicksalsdrama " (1884), in Kurschner's Deutsche Nationalliteratur, vol. 151.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
