Karl Schönherr was born in Axam in the Tyrol in 1867 and died in Vienna in 1943. Both a doctor and author, he studied philosophy and medicine in Vienna and Innsbruck, where he became part of the broad-minded group, ‘Jung-Tirol’, which published the papers, ‘Der Scherer’ and ‘Der Föhn’. Alongside his work as a doctor, he started out writing light and humorous pieces, though later on in his authorship he moved on to write plays of a more serious nature. His naturalistic dramas are usually laden with symbolic and expressive elements, strongly connected with the Tyrol, its history, dialect and Volksstück tradition. With plays like GLAUBE UND HEIMAT (1910) and DER WEIBSTEUFEL (1914) he soon became a well known name throughout Europe. A compilation of his works came out in three volumes between 1967 and 1974.
