Wildenbruch was born at
Beirut in
Lebanon, the son of the
Prussian consul-general,
Ludwig von Wildenbruch, who was himself an illegitimate son of
Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. Having passed his early years at
Athens and
Constantinople, where his father was attached to the Prussian legation, he came in 1857 to the
Kingdom of Prussia, received his early schooling at the Padagogium at
Halle and the Französische Gymnasium in
Berlin, and, after passing through the cadet school, became, in 1863, an officer in the
Prussian Army. Two years later Wildenbruch abandoned his military career, but was recalled to the colors in 1866 for the
Austro-Prussian War. He next studied law at the
University of Berlin, and again served in the army during the
Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). In 1876 Wildenbruch was attached to the foreign office, which he finally quit in 1900 with the title of counsellor of legation. He achieved his first literary successes with the epics
Vionville (1874) and
Sedan (1875). After publishing a volume of
poems,
Lieder und Balladen (1877), he produced, in 1882, the
tragedy Die Karolinger. Wildenbruch married Maria Karoline von Weber, daughter of the engineer
Max Maria von Weber and niece to
Carl Maria von Weber, in 1885. The couple had no children. Wildenbruch's dramas include the tragedy
Harold (1882);
Die Quitzows (1888);
Der Generalfeldoberst (1889);
Die Haubenlerche (1891);
Heinrich und Heinrichs Geschlecht (1895);
Die Tochter des Erasmus (1900); and
König Laurin (1902). He also wrote several volumes of short stories (
Novellen, 1883;
Neue Novellen, 1885;
Tiefe Wasser, 1897, and others). He was twice (in 1884 and 1896) awarded the , and was, in 1892, made a doctor of philosophy
honoris causa by the
University of Jena. He died at Berlin in 1909. ==References==