The 111 Greatest Works of German Literature
This selection of literature from Germany is based on the continuing research carried out for The Greatest Literature of All Time list and is additionally informed by the views of local readers, writers, critics and scholars.
It encompasses the greatest works of German authors in all forms, genres, cultures and periods.
Note, "German literature" here refers to works of authors associated with the country of Germany and its predecessors. Works of other German-language writers may be found on Greatest lists for their own countries and regions.
This list focuses on major creative works—such as novels, novellas, plays and collections—although some short or nonfiction writing of literary significance may also be included.
Latest update: April 3, 2024
c.1145
King Rother
Anonymous, Germany
Epic poem
c.1200
Nibelungenlied
Anonymous, Germany
Epic poem, also known as The Song of the Nibelungs, originally Der Nibelunge nôt
c.1200–1210
Parzival
by Wolfram von Eschenbach, Germany
Epic poem
1210
Tristan und Isolde
by Gottfied von Strassburg, Germany
Epic poem
1494
Ship of Fools
by Sebastian Brant, Germany
Poetry collection, originally Das Narrenschiff
1668
Simplicius Simplicissimus
by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, Germany
Novel, also known as The Adventurous Simplicissimus: Being the Description of the Life of a Strange Vagabond Named Melchoir Sternfels Von Fuchshaim, originally Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch
1767
Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness
by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Germany
Play
1774
The Sorrows of Young Werther
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
1779
Nathan the Wise
by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Germany
Play
1781
The Robbers
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1782
"The Eriking"
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Poem
1785–1790
Anton Reiser
by Karl Philipp Moritz, Germany
Novel
1787
Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1787–1789
The Ghost-Seer
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Novel
1795–1796
William Meister's Apprenticeship
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Novel
1796–1797
Siebenkäs
by Jean Paul, Germany
Novel
1797–1799
Hyperion
by Friedrich Hölderlin, Germany
Novel
1797–1806
Hymns and Fragments
by Friedrich Hölderlin, Germany
Poetry collection
1800
Henry of Ofterdingen
by Novalis, Germany
Novel
Mary Stuart
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1804
William Tell
by Friedrich Schiller, Germany
Play
1808
The Broken Jug
by Heinrich von Kleist, Germany
Play
1808–1832
Faust
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Play
1809
Elective Affinities
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Novel, also known as Kindred by Choice, originally Die Wahlverwandtschaften
1811
Treasure Chest of Rhenish Tales
by Johann Peter Hebel, Germany
Story collection
Michael Kohlhaas
by Heinrich von Kleist, Germany
Novella
1812
Poems
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany
Poetry collection
1812–1857
Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Germany
Story collection, also known as Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales or Children's and Household Tales, includes stories "Cinderella", "Little Red Cap", "Hansel and Gretel", "Rapunzel", "Snow White", "Rumpelstiltskin", "Tom Thumb", and others.
Take "The Frog Prince". It's about a beautiful princess who kisses a frog to turn it into a handsome prince, right? Wrong. The princess is a petulant, promise-breaking brat who tries to get rid of the frog by smashing.... Critique • Quotes • Text • Buy
1817
The Story of the Just Casper and Fair Annie
by Clemens Brentano, Germany
Novella
1819
Mademoiselle de Scuderi
by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Germany
Novella, also known as The Serapion Brethren
1819–1821
The Life and Opinions of Tomcat Murr
by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Germany
Novel, also known as The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr together with a fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler on Random Sheets of Waste Paper, originally Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler in zufälligen Makulaturblättern
1821
The Prince of Homburg
by Heinrich von Kleist, Germany
Play, also known as Prince Friedrich of Homburg
1826
Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing
by Joseph von Eichendorff, Germany
Novella
1827
Book of Songs
by Heinrich Heine, Germany
Poetry collection
1835
"The Hermit"
by Joseph von Eichendorff, Germany
Poem
1842
The Jews' Beech Tree
by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Germany
1844
Germany. A Winter's Tale
by Heinrich Heine, Germany
Epic poem
1851
Immensee
by Theodor Storm, Germany
1870
Venus in Furs
by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Germany
Novella
1879
Woyzeck
by Georg Büchner, Germany
Play
1883–1885
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
by Friedrich Nietzsche, Germany
Novel
1887
Flagman Thiel
by Gerhart Hauptmann, Germany
Novella
1895
Effi Briest
by Theodor Fontane, Germany
Novel
1898
The Stechlin
by Theodor Fontane, Germany
Novel, originally Der Stechlin
1901
Buddenbrooks
by Thomas Mann, Germany
Novel
If we have to pick one aspect that might make Buddenbrooks the first important novel of the twentieth century, it could be its moral ambiguity. The story of the Buddenbrook family is told over four generations.... Critique • Quotes • Translations • Buy
1905
Professor Unrat
by Heinrich Mann, Germany
Novel
1906
Spring Awakening
by Frank Wedekind, Germany
Play
1912
Death in Venice
by Thomas Mann, Germany
Novel, originally Tod in Venedig
The argument over Death in Venice is usually about whether the theme is homosexual desire. Which is too bad really. When I first read Thomas Mann's short novel as a young man myself, I was adamant.... Critique • Quotes • Translations • At the movies • Buy
1918
The Loyal Subject
by Heinrich Mann, Germany
Novel
1920
The Storm of Steel
by Ernst Jünger, Germany
Memoir
1924
Purgatory in Ingolstadt
by Marieluise Fleißer, Germany
Play
1925
Jud Süß
by Lion Feuchtwanger, Germany
Novel
1926
Metropolis
by Thea von Harbou, Germany
Novel
1927
The Case of Sergeant Grischa
by Arnold Zweig, Germany
Novel
1928
The Three-Penny Opera
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
Pioneers in Ingolstadt
by Marieluise Fleißer, Germany
Play
1929
Berlin Alexanderplatz
by Alfred Döblin, Germany
Novel
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque, Germany
Novel, originally Im Westen nichts Neues
All Quiet on the Western Front is the kind of book you've heard about forever as a Great Book, one you've always meant to read some day, and yet it sounds so heavy and depressing and so...so worthwhile...that.... Critique • Quotes • At the movies • Buy
1930
Success: Three Years in the Life of a Province
by Lion Feuchtwanger, Germany
Novel
1932–1942
Josephus trilogy
by Lion Feuchtwanger, Germany
Novel series
1933
The Artificial Silk Girl
by Irmgard Keun, Germany
Novel
1939
Mother Courage and her Children
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
1941
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
1942
The Seventh Cross
by Anna Seghers, Germany
Novel
1943
The Good Person of Szechwan
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
The Life of Galileo
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
1944
Transit
by Anna Seghers, Germany
Novel
1945
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
1947
The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank, Germany
Memoir, also known as The Diary of Anne Frank, originally Het Achterhuis. Dagboekbrieven 14 Juni 1942–1 Augustus 1944
1948
Mr Puntila and His Man Matti
by Bertolt Brecht, Germany
Play
1951
And Where Were You, Adam
by Heinrich Böll, Germany
Novel
1953
The Hothouse
by Wolfgang Koeppen, Germany
Novel
1954
Death in Rome
by Wolfgang Koeppen, Germany
Novel
1955
Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo
by Lion Feuchtwanger, Germany
Novel
1956
A Legacy
by Sybille Bedford, Germany
Novel
1957
The Glass Bees
by Ernst Jünger, Germany
Novel
1959
Billiards at Half Past Nine
by Heinrich Böll, Germany
Novel, originally Billard um halb zehn
The Tin Drum
by Günter Grass, Germany
Novel, originally Die Blechtrommel
1960
Halftime
by Martin Walser, Germany
Novel
1961
Cat and Mouse
by Günter Grass, Germany
Novella
1963
The Clown
by Heinrich Böll, Germany
Novel
Dog Years
by Günter Grass, Germany
Novel
1968
The German Lesson
by Siegfried Lenz, Germany
Novel
The Quest for Christa T.
by Christa Wolf, Germany
Novel, originally Nachdenken über Christa T.
1969
Jacob the Liar
by Jurek Becker, Germany
Novel
1970–1983
Anniversaries
by Uwe Johnson, Germany
Novel series, originally Jahrestage. Aus dem Leben von Gesine Cresspahl
1971
Group Portrait with a Lady
by Heinrich Böll, Germany
Novel
1972
The New Sufferings of Young W.
by Ulrich Plenzdorf, Germany
Novel
1974
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
by Heinrich Böll, Germany
Novella, originally Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum
1976
Patterns of Childhood
by Christa Wolf, Germany
Novel
1976
The Neverending Story
by Michael Ende, Germany
Novel
1981
Couples, Passersby
by Botho Strauß, Germany
Story collection
1984
The Young Man
by Botho Strauß, Germany
Novel
1985
The Parable of the Blind
by Gert Hofmann, Germany
Novel
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
by Patrick Suskind, Germany
Novel, originally Das Parfum
1987
The Pigeon
by Patrick Süskind, Germany
Novella
1990
Vertigo
by W.G. Sebald, Germany
Novel
1993
The Emigrants
by W.G. Sebald, Germany
Novel, originally Die Ausgewanderten
The Invention of Curried Sausage
by Uwe Timm, Germany
Novella
1995
The Reader
by Bernhard Schlink, Germany
Novel, originally Der Vorleser
The Rings of Saturn
by W.G. Sebald, Germany
Novel
1997
Alberta Receives a Lover
by Birgit Vanderbeke, Germany
Novel
2001
Austerlitz
by W.G. Sebald, Germany
Novel
2004
The Swarm
by Frank Schätzing, Germany
Novel
2005
Measuring the World
by Daniel Kehlmann, Germany
Novel
2007
The Blind Side of the Heart
by Julia Franck, Germany
Novel, also known as The Blindness of the Heart
2008
Visitation
by Jenny Erpenbeck, Germany
Novel
