Austrian playwright and novelist who won acclaim for his realistic plays of peasant life.

After working for a time as an actor, Anzengruber published an anti-clerical drama, Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld (1870; “The Pastor of Kirchfeld”), which was a great success. Except for the melancholy Der Meineidbauer (1872; “The Farmer Forsworn”), most of his plays were gay and witty comedies set among the people of small towns; they include Die Kreuzelschreiber (1872; “The Cross Makers”), Der G'wissenswurm (1874; “The Worm of Conscience”), and Doppelselbstmord (1876; “Double Suicide”). He wrote a problem play, Das vierte Gebot (1878; “The Fourth Commandment”), and also novels: Der Schandfleck (1877, revised 1884; “The Stain”), Der Sternsteinhof (1884; “The Sternstein Farm”), and other tales of village life.