Les Burgraves

Les Burgraves (French pronunciation: [le byʁɡʁav]) is a historical play by Victor Hugo, first performed by the Comédie-Française on 7 March 1843.

[1][2] It takes place along the Rhine and features the return of Emperor Barbarossa.

[3] It was the subject of an orchestral overture by the composer Guillaume Lekeu in 1890.

The play is associated thematically with Hugo's Le Rhin, an essayistic book about the Rhine; both were inspired by a trip along the river Hugo took with Juliette Drouet.

[4] Les Burgraves was published with a preface indicating that its depiction of a united Germany was part of a larger vision of a united Europe in which France would play a central role.