Zacharias Werner's romantic play Der vierundzwanzigste Februar was enormously successful with audiences even as critics devalued it to the extent that it later became almost a synonym for bad taste in literary discourse. Nevertheless, after its premiere in 1810, it became the prototype for the popular but short-lived Schicksalsdrama. Werner's play is almost forgotten today. This essay elaborates on Werner's temporal dramaturgy in respect to its overall stage atmosphere and scenography, its symbolization of temporal objects, and its timing. Additionally, Werner's carefully constructed parallel scenes effectively stage the dynamics of time and temporal tension. My objective here is to investigate the theatrical and performative potential of Werner's Schicksalsdrama, giving more consideration to Werner's outstanding stage crafty mind and his talent as a theatrical dramatist than to his rather obvious literary shortcomings. Consequently, this article looks into the reasons for his stage success rather than judging his play from modern standards of literary quality and canon.