"Es ist alles lächerlich, wenn man an den Tod denkt" (Everything is ridiculous, when one thinks of Death) was his comment when he received a minor Austrian national award in 1968, which resulted in one of the many public scandals he caused over the years and which became part of his fame. His novel "Holzfällen" (1984), for instance, could not be published for years due to a defamation claim by a former friend. Many of his plays—above all "Heldenplatz" (1988)—were met with criticism from many Austrians, who claimed they sullied Austria's reputation. One of the more controversial lines called Austria "a brutal and stupid nation ... a mindless, cultureless sewer which spreads its penetrating stench all over Europe." "Heldenplatz", as well as the other plays Bernhard wrote in these years, were staged at Vienna's famous Burgtheater by the controversial director .