Cornelius Hermann von Ayrenhoff

Ayrenhoff, Cornelius Hermann von (Vienna, 1733-1819, Vienna), entered the Austrian army as an ensign (Fähnrich) in 1751, attaining in 1794 the rank of field-marshal. Ayrenhoff began to write plays in his thirties and became a prolific author of neo-classical tragedies in the manner of Gottsched (Aurelius, 1766; Hermann und Thusnelde, 1767) and of comedies in the French style. One of these, Der Postzug (1769), was singled out for praise by Friedrich II of Prussia in De la littérature allemande. Sämtliche Werke appeared in 6 vols., 1803-7.