Friedrich Schiller, born Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller, was an influential German poet, historian, dramatist, and playwright during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Schiller became one of the most universally acclaimed figures in German literature thanks to his works that expounded the themes of human freedom and the need for justice. His early works were characterized by the overthrow of corruption and tyranny, but his later works became renowned for their realistic and classical subjects, often featuring how humans uphold the principle of rising above squalor and corruption to achieve solemnity by peaceful means. Schiller's influence has virtually 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 10 November 1759 to Johann Kaspar Schiller and Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweiß in Marbach, Württemberg. Her father was an officer and surgeon in Duke Charles Eugene's army and was often unable to visit his family due to his enlistment in the Seven Years' War. At the young age of seven, Schiller aspired to have a career in the clergy. However, Duke Carl Eugen insisted that Schiller enroll at the elite Karlsschule, a 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 his graduation in 1780, Schiller completed and self-published his first play, Die Räuber, attracting the attention of Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg, the director of the National Theater in Mannheim. Because of the game… middle of the paper… ten year gap in philosophical and historical studies has shown new qualities that were not present before. His later works embodied his newly developed aesthetic theories on his claim of "naive" artworks and "sentimental" artworks. “Naive” works are moral while “sentimental” works have a moral. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most vital classical playwright. Die Räuber launched Schiller into a reputation as a bold and original thinker. From then on, it has had and continues to have a lasting impact on culture, continuing to do so into the 21st century. This influence is exemplified in the works of those who followed him, in particular, in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Gustav Jung, Friedrich Hegel, and Karl Marx. Even today his works are part of the German literary curriculum and the monuments erected in his honor endure.