Friedrich Schiller, born Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller, was an influential German poet, historian, playwright, and playwright in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Schiller became one of the most universally acclaimed figures in German literature due to his works which presented themes of human freedom and the need for justice. His early plays were characterized by the overthrow of corruption and tyranny, but his later works became famous for their realistic and classical subjects, often featuring how humans uphold the principle of rising above sordidness and corruption in order to achieve solemnity by peaceful means. Schiller's influence has all but disappeared from the English-speaking world, but in Germany his works are revered as a crown of literary triumph alongside those of his contemporary Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Schiller was born on November 10, 1759 to Johann Kaspar. Schiller and Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweiß in Marbach, Württemberg. His father was an officer and surgeon in Duke Karl Eugen's army and was often unable to visit his family due to his involvement in the Seven Years' War. From the age of seven, Schiller aspired to a career in the clergy. However, Duke Karl Eugen insisted that Schiller enroll at the Karlsschule, an elite military academy, to study medicine. Although he was able to differentiate himself from his classmates and achieve academic excellence, Schiller found school oppressive and secretly studied literature. A year after graduating in 1780, Schiller completed and self-published his first play, Die Räuber, attracting the attention of Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg, director of the National Theater in Mannheim. Thanks to the piece... middle of article ...... this ten year gap of philosophical and historical studies has shown new qualities that were not present before. His later pieces embodied his newly developed aesthetic theories about his claim to "naïve" works of art and "sentimental" works of art. “Naive” works are moral while “sentimental” works have a morality. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. Die Räuber propelled Schiller into the reputation of a daring and original thinker. Since then, it has had and continues to have a lasting impact on culture well into the 21st century. This influence is illustrated in the works of those who succeeded him, notably those of Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Gustav Jung, Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx. To this day, his works remain part of the German literary curriculum and monuments erected in his honor endure..