Lohenstein, Daniel Casper von (Nimptsch, Silesia, 1635-83, Breslau), dramatist and novelist, had as his surname Casper, adopting Lohenstein when his father, an imperial tax collector, was ennobled in 1670. He was educated in Breslau, Leipzig, and Tübingen and in 1657, after extensive travels abroad, began practice as a lawyer in Breslau and made a wealthy marriage. Shortly before the family's ennoblement he was appointed senior administrator (Syndikus, 1676 Obersyndikus) of the city, and in 1676 also Kaiserlicher Rat.
Lohenstein was a busy administrator, whose writing was a part-time activity. Of his six verse tragedies, which have recently been convincingly re-dated by P. Béhar, two have oriental themes and the remainder draw on ancient history. Ibrahim (1653, 1689 as Ibrahim Bassa), believed to have been written when he was only 15 or 16, deals with the downfall of the hero, whose death takes place unnecessarily, since his master Soliman repents of the order for execution only to find that it has been carried out. In Cleopatra (1660) the heroine betrays Antony, then finds herself betrayed; she kills herself to escape humiliating captivity. Agrippina and Epicharis, both published in 1657-8, revolve around Nero in a tangle of conspiracy and passion, at the end of which both the empress and the freed slave die stoically. Epicharis is notable for its scenes of interrogation and torture enacted on the stage. Ibrahim Sultan (1663), composed on the betrothal of the Emperor Leopold I, elevates the virtues of the House of Habsburg by contrasting them with the vices of the Turkish court. Lohenstein's last play, Sophonisbe (1666, published 1680), set in Numidia in Roman times, portrays a woman who will stoop to anything to survive but finally meets her end with noble equanimity.
Towards the end of his life Lohenstein wrote an immensely long novel, Arminius. Published in 1689 after his death, it is a complex political and patriotic tale in which the primitive Germans are favourably contrasted with the corrupt, civilized Romans. Replete with learning, it is the work of an industrious polymath, and it has been suggested that Lohenstein intended it as an encyclopedic repository of knowledge. Under the guise of an historical novel it provides an allegorical analysis of the political situation of his own day and of the rivalry between the Holy Roman Empire (see Deutsches Reich, Altes) and the France of Louis XIV.
Lohenstein's tragic style displays baroque ornateness to an exceptionally high degree. He also wrote some fine poetry (Blumen, 1680).
The plays (3 vols.) were published as Türkische Trauerspiele, Römische Trauerspiele, and Afrikanische Trauerspiele, posthumously in 1689-90 (repr. with introd. by E. M. Szarota, 1973).
