How did the first performance of The Robbers affect Friedrich Schiller’s career?

The first performance of The Robbers on January 13, 1782, was a milestone in the history of the German theatre, but it also triggered a period of significant personal and professional turmoil for Friedrich Schiller.

Because Schiller traveled to Mannheim to attend the premiere without the permission of his sovereign, Duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg, the Duke punished him with a fortnight of detention and issued a prohibition against him writing any more plays. This oppressive situation forced Schiller to flee Stuttgart at night to escape his service as a medical officer.

Following his flight, Schiller faced a period of instability, living as a refugee and struggling with financial difficulties after his subsequent works were initially rejected by the theatre director Heribert Baron von Dalberg. Ultimately, however, the success of the play established his reputation as a dramatist, eventually leading to an appointment as a resident playwright at the Mannheim theatre.