Even though Ödön von Horváth was born into nobility while his father was a diplomat in Hungary - and was able to split his time between Munich, Berlin, Murnau, Salzburg and Vienna -, he took an interest in the so-called »little people« throughout his life. Under the influence of the worldwide economic crisis, as well as emerging fascism, he wrote about the life of the petit bourgeoisie and the proletariat, as well as the disadvantages faced by women. He wrote folk plays and sociocritical novels, including classics such as Glaube Liebe Hoffnung, Italienische Nacht and Jugend ohne Gott, which can now be found on stages and in cinemas across Germany, thanks to their unwavering relevance and ever present hope, bitter disappointment and comedy. Ödön von Horváth was able to flee the Nazis and their censorship, and had planned out his life in America, but was killed by a falling branch on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in 1938.
