The family of Treusch von Buttlar at Willershausen, around 1730/40, served as an inspiration and background to his drama.
One source of The Robbers was Christian Schubart's Zur Geschichte des menschlichen Herzens [Concerning the History of the Human Heart] (1775) as well as the real-life story about the case of two Treusch von Buttlar brothers. The older good brother Ernst Carl and the evil younger brother Hans Hermann Wilhelm. This was one of the greatest social and legal scandals in early eighteen century Franconia.
Major Wilhelm von Buttlar married Eva Eleonora von Lentersheim at Obersteinbach castle (Obersteinbach website refers to him as Franz). Her father Erhard von Lentersheim was an epileptic and alcoholic. He was put under a guardianship. As the son-in-law, Wilhelm exercised the right of disposing of his goods to himself. Additionally, to further benefit Wilhelm because Wilhelm's mother-in-law, Louisa von Lentersheim (née von Eyb), had property of her own, Wilhelm had her strangled on December 7, 1727, by a servant. While the trial lasted for years, it did not end in conviction. Schiller also went to school with Wilhelm Philipp Johann Ludwig von Bibra (Adelsdorf) (1765–1794) at the Carlsakademie. As a close relative of the murdered mother-in-law, Wilhelm von Bibra may have spurred Schiller's interest in the incident.[4][5][6][7]
