Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Bayer, Robert
BAYER, Robert, an Austrian writer, generally known by his nom de guerre of Robert Byr, was born at Bregenz in the Tyrol, April 15, 1835, and received his education in the Military Academy at Wiener-Neustadt, which he left on his appointment as lieutenant in the Count Radetzky's Hussar Regiment. In 1859 he was advanced to the rank of captain, and during the Italian campaign he was placed on the general staff. After the conclusion of peace, Bayer began his literary career by the publication of his "Sketches of Military Life," ("Kantonierungsbildern," 1860). In 1862 he retired from active service and settled in his native town, where he still continues to reside. Bayer is chiefly known to fame as a novelist; his tragedy "Lady Gloster" (1872), being his only essay in dramatic composition. Military life he has described in his first work, already mentioned, in "Austrian Garrisons" ("Oesterreichische Garnisonen," 1863), and "In Quarters" ("Auf der Station," 1866). His "In the years Nine and Thirteen" ("Anno Neun and Dreizehn," 1865), contain biographical sketches of actors in the German War of Independence. To another class of works belong the following novels: "The Home of a German Count" ("Ein deutsches Grafenhaus," 1866); "With a Brazen Face" ("Mit eherner Stirn," 1868); "The Struggle for Life" ("Der Kampf ums Dasein," 1869); "Sphinx," 1870; "Nomaden," 1871; "Ruin" ("Trümmer," 1871); "Quatuor," a collection of tales, 1875; "Ghosts" ("Larven," 1876); and "A Secret Despatch" ("Eine geheime Depesche," 1880); and "Sesam," 1880.