Over the years, famous authors from Germany have shaped not only the country’s literature but also influenced today’s novelists. In this article, you’ll learn more about these influential German writers and how they contributed to the literary movement in Germany.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived a full life of creativity. Incredibly, it took Goethe fifty years to complete his magnum masterpiece, Faust.
It is a two-act play based on the ancient narrative of a man who sold his heart to the devil. But Faust isn’t just about a man making a deal with the devil; it’s also a commentary on modern man’s alienation from and inability to understand the world around him.
Aside from Faust, German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is also known for The Sorrows of Young Werther.
Thomas Mann
Nobel laureate and social critic Thomas Mann was born in Lubeck in 1875. His writing career began in Munich, where he lived. Later, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn in 1919. Throughout the Nazi period, Mann was a vocal opponent of Hitler and the Nazi Party.
Mann’s famous work is The Magic Mountain, which won him the Nobel Prize in 1929.
Klaus Mann
Thomas Mann’s son, Klaus Mann, was among the famous authors from Germany. Like his father, he is an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime.
His early play “Anja and Esther” demonstrated his skill at depicting ardent romantic attraction. Soon after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, Klaus escaped to Amsterdam, where he contributed to the anti-Nazi publication Die Sammlung.
Regrettably, Klaus had to deal with financial issues and criticisms of his book Mephisto. In 1949, Klaus died because of a sleeping drug overdose.
Friedrich Hölderlin
John Chrysostom Friedrich Hölderlin was a literary master who affected Hegel and Schelling while they were young philosophers. But it wasn’t all roses; he struggled financially and had a scandalous love affair that contributed to his mental breakdown.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche is a German philosopher and cultural critic whose attacks on European ethics, religion, and philosophy caused a stir in the middle of the 1800s.
He advocated challenging long-held beliefs and adopting innovative principles. His ideas greatly inspired several 20th-century philosophers, notably Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, and Jean-Paul Sartre.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one of Friedrich Nietzsche’s most famous works.
Hermann Hesse
Swiss author, artist, and poet Hermann Hesse was born in 1877 in Calw. Many young Germans of his generation related to the themes of meaning and wholeness in his works, such as Siddhartha (1922) and Steppenwolf (1927). Another great book to read is The Glass Bead Game.
He was well-known and influential in Germany, but his international fame began much later.
In 1964, the prestigious Calwer Hermann-Hesse-Preis (or Calwer Hermann Hesse Prize) was established in honor of the late author.
Walter Moers
Walter Moers is not only a famous author from Germany but also a cartoonist, painter, and sculptor.
His comic strips, such as “The Little Asshole” and “Adolf,” caused a stir and ultimately led to his being labeled a persona non grata by the political right in Germany.
Moers’ fantastic and one-of-a-kind writings often combine lightheartedness and elements of children’s literature with a more serious and adult undercurrent.
His Zamonia books and graphic novels have become international bestsellers and have been translated into different languages.
Andreas Eschbach
Andreas Eschbach has been writing since he was 12. Since then, he has had many short stories and novels published. His background in aerospace engineering and software development gives him a unique point of view when he writes.
His book, The Carpet Makers, is a sci-fi novel about a mysterious society that weaves life stories into carpets.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke, a famous author from Germany, is known for his groundbreaking work in lyrical poetry and profound insights into the human condition.
Although struggling with despair and writer’s block for 13 years, Rilke produced his masterwork, The Duino Elegies, in 1922.
Günter Grass
The life of Nobel Prize winner and author Günter Grass was full of contrasts. He was a prolific writer and publisher despite participating in the Nazi Youth and the Waffen-SS during World War II.
He wrote about his past sins in his autobiography, Beim Häuten der Zwiebel, and was criticized for doing so. But that didn’t stop him from writing two more autobiographical books and telling the world about his life.
Heinrich Böll
In addition to being a literary genius, did you know that the famous author from Germany, Heinrich Böll, also served in World War II? Born in 1917, Böll served on multiple fronts during World War I, where he solidified his antiwar, nonconformist beliefs.
After the war, he turned to writing and became a prominent figure on the German left. To further solidify Böll’s place in literary history, he received the Literature’s Nobel Prize in 1972.
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht’s talents extended much beyond those of a dramatist or poet. He forged new territory and encountered many unexpected challenges throughout his adventurous life.
He became well-known in the 1920s and 1930s for his epic theater style. But things weren’t always peachy; in 1933, with the rise of the Nazis, he was compelled to leave Germany.
Brecht penned classics like Mother Courage and Her Children during his eight years in exile.
Friedrich Schiller
Although Friedrich Schiller is best known as a playwright (his works include “Don Carlos” and “William Tell”), he was also an esteemed philosopher and professor of aesthetics.
Schiller wrote on weighty topics like individual liberty, fairness, and morality. His death at such a young age, at 45, was tragic, yet his legacy lives on in modern German literature.
Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine was an exceptionally talented individual. In addition to establishing his reputation as a poet with The Book of Songs, a collection of bittersweet love songs, he also dabbled in prose with Travel Pictures.
Erich Maria Remarque
The multitalented Remarque, born in 1898, held jobs as diverse as a teacher, race car driver, and gravestone carver. Yet, it was his writing that made him famous.
Around 40 million copies of All Quiet on the Western Front were purchased in Germany during the first year of publication.
Alfred Döblin
Alfred Döblin was forced to leave Germany because of his Jewish origin and socialist beliefs. Still, he continued to pursue his love of writing in France and the United States.
His most well-known work, Berlin Alexanderplatz, is about a Berlin proletarian’s attempts at self-improvement. Döblin’s use of vernacular and Berlin slang generated an engaging rhythm that encapsulates the fracturing social order of the period.
Michael Ende
With over 35 million copies sold and translations into more than 40 languages, Ende is one of the twentieth century’s most well-known and widely-read German authors. His odd blend of reality and fiction enthralled readers of all ages.
The Neverending Story and Momo are some of Ende’s best works.
