About the work
Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg (A Fraternal Quarrel in Habsburg) is a historical tragedy by Franz Grillparzer, on which he worked from around 1825 and which he completed around 1848. He did not publish it during his lifetime; it premiered only after his death, on 24 September 1872 at the Wiener Stadttheater.
Plot
Emperor Rudolf II comes under pressure from his ambitious brother Matthias, who seizes power with the backing of Cardinal Khlesl. Fearing moral guilt, Rudolf refuses any decisive political action and is eventually forced to cede the crown to Matthias. The appearance of the young Wallenstein at the close already points toward the coming Thirty Years' War.
Cultural significance
Hugo von Hofmannsthal called the play the most significant historical-political tragedy of the Germans, and Claudio Magris read it as embodying the Austrian virtue of wise hesitation. It is considered one of the central works of the Habsburg myth in Austrian literature.