1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Glassbrenner, Adolf

GLASSBRENNER, ADOLF (1810–1876), German humorist and satirist, was born at Berlin on the 27th of March 1810. After being for a short time in a merchant’s office, he took to journalism, and in 1831 edited Don Quixote, a periodical which was suppressed in 1833 owing to its revolutionary tendencies. He next, under the pseudonym Adolf Brennglas, published a series of pictures of Berlin life, under the titles Berlin wie es ist und—trinkt (30 parts, with illustrations, 1833–1849), and Buntes Berlin (14 parts, with illustrations, Berlin, 1837–1858), and thus became the founder of a popular satirical literature associated with modern Berlin. In 1840 he married the actress Adele Peroni (1813–1895), and removed in the following year to Neustrelitz, where his wife had obtained an engagement at the Grand ducal theatre. In 1848 Glassbrenner entered the political arena and became the leader of the democratic party in Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Expelled from that country in 1850, he settled in Hamburg, where he remained until 1858; and then he became editor of the Montagszeitung in Berlin, where he died on the 25th of September 1876.

Among Glassbrenner’s other humorous and satirical writings may be mentioned: Leben und Treiben der feinen Welt (1834); Bilder und Träume aus Wien (2 vols., 1836); Gedichte (1851, 5th ed. 1870); the comic epics, Neuer Reineke Fuchs (1846, 4th ed. 1870) and Die verkehrte Welt (1857, 6th ed. 1873); also Berliner Volksleben (3 vols., illustrated; Leipzig, 1847–1851). Glassbrenner has published some charming books for children, notably Lachende Kinder (14th ed., 1884), and Sprechende Tiere (20th ed., Hamburg, 1899).

See R. Schmidt-Cabanis, “Adolf Glassbrenner,” in Unsere Zeit (1881).