Werner Bergengruen

Albrecht Classen (University of Arizona)

Ed. by Jennifer Marston William, Purdue University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 16 Sep 1892
Died 4 Sep 1964
Activity 1920-1964

Places

Born in Latvia
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Story-writer

Resources

Bergengruen's Works

Save to Bookshelf

Until the end of the 1970s or 1980s, virtually every German high school student would have been very familiar with at last one short story, or even novel, by Werner Bergengruen. He was a mainstay of German literature, maybe not of the highest caliber, but certainly greatly respected and canonized. Moreover, many of his texts were translated into numerous different languages, which guaranteed him global popularity, perhaps particularly because of his efforts to draw on historical material in order to probe universal issues in human life, undisturbed by contemporary politics.

However, his fortune as a highly respected author has strongly faded since then, although this should not have any consequences for our critical analysis of his literary accomplishments. Some of the reasons for this

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1865 words

Citation: Classen, Albrecht. "Werner Bergengruen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 January 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14708, accessed 21 November 2024.]