The Kinship of Heinrich von Kleist and Otto Ludwig

An even half-century ago, Moritz Heydrich, in giving to the world the posthumous writings of Otto Ludwig, expressed his belief that Ludwig was more closely akin to Heinrich von Kleist than to any other German dramatist, and that this kinship was based principally on an inner relationship of both poets to the German “Sturm und Drang.”1 In the years that have intervened, no one has proceeded further than to a brief and sporadic reference in the direction suggested by Heydrich. And yet Ludwig, no less than Hebbel,2 may claim poetic consanguinity with Kleist; if Hebbel is primarily the heir and continuator of Kleist's dramatic art,3 Ludwig may be said to share with Kleist a tragic idiosyncrasy of genius. In the internal as well as the external fate of their lives, they represent a phase of the tragedy of greatness which has been described as peculiarly German.