BÜRGER, HUGO (pen-name of Hugo Lubliner):

By: Isidore Singer, Peter Wiernik

German dramatist; born in Breslau April 22, 1846; now (1902) living at Berlin. He came to Berlin at the age of twelve, and at seventeen began to produce short dramatic works, one of which, a one-act comedy entitled "Nur Nicht Romantisch" (1865), was well received. He became the proprietor of a textile establishment, and traveled in Belgium, France, and Italy, in the interest of his business. But the great success of his three-act comedy "Der Frauenadvokat" (1873) induced him to devote himself entirely to the theater. That comedy, presented on all the German stages, and the following four-act comedy, "Die Modelle des Sheridan," were published together under the title "Theater" (Berlin, 1876).

Between the years 1876 and 1891 Lubliner wrote about fifteen comedies and dramas, and was also joint author with G. v. Moser of the comedy "Glück bei Frauen" (1884), and with P. Lindau of the drama "Susanne" (1885). A collection of his dramatic works appeared in four volumes in Berlin, 1881-82. He also published two novels, under the collective title "Berlin im Kaiserreich," of which the first, "Die Gläubiger des Glücks," went through numerous editions (6th ed., Breslau, 1886), and the second, "Die Frau von Neunzehn Jahren," also appeared in Breslau (1887). Some of his best-known dramatic works are: "Die Florentiner" (1876), "Die Adoptierten" (1877), "Gabriele" (1878), "Der Jourfix" (1882), and "Die Mitbürger" (1884). Of his later productions, "Gräfin Lambach," "Gold und Eisen," "Im Spiegel," and "Der Kommende Tag" have attracted considerable attention. Lubliner's mastery of stage effects makes his plays almost uniformly successful, while his knowledge of the world, and the ability with which he exposes the weaknesses of modern social life, have added several works of lasting value to the German repertoire.

S. P. Wi.