ROSEGGER, PETER. - Austrian writer, b. at Alpl (Styria) on 31 July 1843, d. at Krieglach (Styria) on 26 June 1918.
An itinerant tailor, then a writer. Influenced by Anzengruber and Stifter, R. began with lyrics and tales in the Styrian dialect. The success of folkloric descriptions of his native region (Die Alpler, 1872) induced him to write popular tales with pedagogical tendencies (Die Schriften des Waldschulmeisters, 1875). The principal subjects of his numerous novels, tales, and popular dramas, some of them historical in content, are the struggle between industrialization and peasants (Jakob der Letzte, 1888), culture and nature (Martin der Mann, 1891), town and countryside (Erdsegen, 1900), and the Tyrolean war of liberation (Peter Mayr, der Wirt an der Mahr, 1893). R.’s pedagogical ethos later found expression in pious works and in religious renewal without strictly confessional ties (Mein Himmelreich, 1901; INRI - Frohe Botschaft eines armen Sünders, 1904). Religious feeling, a sense of humor, love of nature and homeland contributed to the diffusion throughout the German-speaking world especially of R.’s autobiographical writings (Waldheimat, 1877; Mein Weltleben, 1898).
Horst Rüdiger