The Greatest Literature of Germany
The selection of the Greatest Literature of Germany is based on the same extensive research and surveys carried out over the past two decades for our Greatest Literature of All Time list—with special attention paid to the evaluation by German readers, writers and critics.
Within the German context, we have endeavoured to cover all possible genres, cultures and periods.
As with other national lists, we are being as strict as possible in our choices. That is, we are considering works only from the country of Germany and its predecessor states, republics and confederations—not works written in German by authors who reside and write mainly in other parts of the world.
This list focuses on major creative works—such as novels, plays, epic poetry and story collections—although some shorter or nonfiction writing of literary significance may also be included.
Latest update: April 3, 2024
The 111 greatest works of German literature
In chronological order
c.1145
King Rother
Anonymous,
Germany,
long poem
c.1200
The Nibelungenlied
Anonymous,
Germany,
long poem
c.1200–1210
Parzival
Wolfram von Eschenbach,
Germany,
long poem
1210
Tristan und Isolde
Gottfied von Strassburg,
Germany,
long poem
1494
Ship of Fools
Sebastian Brant,
Germany,
poetry collection
1668
Simplicius Simplicissimus
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen,
Germany,
novel
1767
Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing,
Germany,
play
1779
Nathan the Wise
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing,
Germany,
play
1781
The Robbers
Friedrich Schiller,
Germany,
play
1782
The Eriking
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Germany,
poem
1785–1790
Anton Reiser
Karl Philipp Moritz,
Germany,
novel
1787
Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien
Friedrich Schiller,
Germany,
play
1787–1789
The Ghost-Seer
Friedrich Schiller,
Germany,
novel
1795–1796
William Meister's Apprenticeship
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Germany,
novel
1796–1797
Siebenkäs
Jean Paul,
Germany,
novel
1797–1799
Hyperion
Friedrich Hölderlin,
Germany,
novel
1797–1806
Hymns and Fragments
Friedrich Hölderlin,
Germany,
poetry collection
1800
Henry of Ofterdingen
Novalis,
Germany,
novel
Mary Stuart
Friedrich Schiller,
Germany,
play
1804
William Tell
Friedrich Schiller,
Germany,
play
1808
The Broken Jug
Heinrich von Kleist,
Germany,
play
1808–1832
Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Germany,
play
1809
Elective Affinities
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Germany,
novel
1811
Treasure Chest of Rhenish Tales
Johann Peter Hebel,
Germany,
story collection
Michael Kohlhaas
Heinrich von Kleist,
Germany,
novella
1812
Poems
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Germany,
poetry collection
1812–1857
Germany,
story collection
Includes "Cinderella", "Little Red Cap", "Hansel and Gretel", "Rapunzel", "Snow White", "Rumpelstiltskin", "Tom Thumb", and others
1817
The Story of the Just Casper and Fair Annie
Clemens Brentano,
Germany,
novella
1819
Mademoiselle de Scuderi
E.T.A. Hoffmann,
Germany,
novella
1819–1821
The Life and Opinions of Tomcat Murr
E.T.A. Hoffmann,
Germany,
novel
1821
The Prince of Homburg
Heinrich von Kleist,
Germany,
play
1826
Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing
Joseph von Eichendorff,
Germany,
novella
1827
Book of Songs
Heinrich Heine,
Germany,
poetry collection
1835
The Hermit
Joseph von Eichendorff,
Germany,
poem
1842
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff,
Germany,
novella
1844
Germany, A Winter's Tale
Heinrich Heine,
Germany,
long poem
1870
Venus in Furs
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch,
Germany,
novella
1879
Woyzeck
Georg Büchner,
Germany,
play
1883–1885
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Friedrich Nietzsche,
Germany,
novel
1887
Flagman Thiel
Gerhart Hauptmann,
Germany,
novella
1895
Effi Briest
Theodor Fontane,
Germany,
novel
1898
The Stechlin
Theodor Fontane,
Germany,
novel
1905
Professor Unrat
Heinrich Mann,
Germany,
novel
1906
Spring Awakening
Frank Wedekind,
Germany,
play
1912
Germany,
novella
1918
The Loyal Subject
Heinrich Mann,
Germany,
novel
1920
The Storm of Steel
Ernst Jünger,
Germany,
memoir
1924
Purgatory in Ingolstadt
Marieluise Fleißer,
Germany,
play
The Magic Mountain
Thomas Mann,
Germany,
novel
1925
Jud Süß
Lion Feuchtwanger,
Germany,
novel
1926
Metropolis
Thea von Harbou,
Germany,
novel
1927
The Case of Sergeant Grischa
Arnold Zweig,
Germany,
novel
1928
The Three-Penny Opera
Bertolt Brecht,
Germany,
play
Pioneers in Ingolstadt
Marieluise Fleißer,
Germany,
play
1929
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Alfred Döblin,
Germany,
novel
1930
Success: Three Years in the Life of a Province
Lion Feuchtwanger,
Germany,
novel
1932–1942
Josephus trilogy
Lion Feuchtwanger,
Germany,
novel series
1933
The Artificial Silk Girl
Irmgard Keun,
Germany,
novel
1939
Mother Courage and her Children
Bertolt Brecht,
Germany,
play
1941
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The
Bertolt Brecht,
Germany,
play
1942
The Seventh Cross
Anna Seghers,
Germany,
novel
1943
The Good Person of Szechwan
Bertolt Brecht,
Germany,
play
The Life of Galileo
Bertolt Brecht,
Germany,
play
1944
Transit
Anna Seghers,
Germany,
novel
1945
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Bertolt Brecht,
Germany,
play
1947
The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank,
Germany,
memoir
1948
Mr Puntila and His Man Matti
Bertolt Brecht,
Germany,
play
1951
And Where Were You, Adam
Heinrich Böll,
Germany,
novel
1952
The Black Swan
Thomas Mann,
Germany,
novella
1953
The Hothouse
Wolfgang Koeppen,
Germany,
novel
1954
Death in Rome
Wolfgang Koeppen,
Germany,
novel
1955
Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo
Lion Feuchtwanger,
Germany,
novel
1956
A Legacy
Sybille Bedford,
Germany,
novel
1957
The Glass Bees
Ernst Jünger,
Germany,
novel
1959
Billiards at Half Past Nine
Heinrich Böll,
Germany,
novel
The Tin Drum
Günter Grass,
Germany,
novel
1960
Halftime
Martin Walser,
Germany,
novel
1961
Cat and Mouse
Günter Grass,
Germany,
novella
1963
The Clown
Heinrich Böll,
Germany,
novel
Dog Years
Günter Grass,
Germany,
novel
1968
The German Lesson
Siegfried Lenz,
Germany,
novel
The Quest for Christa T.
Christa Wolf,
Germany,
novel
1969
Jacob the Liar
Jurek Becker,
Germany,
novel
1970–1983
Anniversaries
Uwe Johnson,
Germany,
novel
1971
Group Portrait with a Lady
Heinrich Böll,
Germany,
novel
1972
The New Sufferings of Young W.
Ulrich Plenzdorf,
Germany,
novel
1974
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
Heinrich Böll,
Germany,
novella
1976
Patterns of Childhood
Christa Wolf,
Germany,
novel
1976
The Neverending Story
Michael Ende,
Germany,
novel
1981
Couples, Passersby
Botho Strauß,
Germany,
story collection
1984
The Young Man
Botho Strauß,
Germany,
novel
1985
The Parable of the Blind
Gert Hofmann,
Germany,
novel
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Patrick Suskind,
Germany,
novel
1987
The Pigeon
Patrick Süskind,
Germany,
novella
1990
Vertigo
W.G. Sebald,
Germany,
novel
1993
The Emigrants
W.G. Sebald,
Germany,
novel
The Invention of Curried Sausage
Uwe Timm,
Germany,
novella
1995
The Reader
Bernhard Schlink,
Germany,
novel
The Rings of Saturn
W.G. Sebald,
Germany,
novel
1997
Alberta Receives a Lover
Birgit Vanderbeke,
Germany,
novel
2001
Austerlitz
W.G. Sebald,
Germany,
novel
2004
The Swarm
Frank Schätzing,
Germany,
novel
2005
Measuring the World
Daniel Kehlmann,
Germany,
novel
2007
The Blind Side of the Heart
Julia Franck,
Germany,
novel
2008
Visitation
Jenny Erpenbeck,
Germany,
novel
