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Web-Special 100 German Must-Reads: David Levitz (left) and Sabine Kieselbach (Copyright: DW)
Logo DW web special 100 German Must-Reads (Copyright: DW)

The 100 Must-Reads list: All the titles at a glance!

A century of literature, from Thomas Mann's 'Buddenbrooks' (1901) to Philipp Winkler's 'Hooligan' (2016).  

Watch video 02:17

Video of the week

'The Tin Drum' by Günter Grass

AAAAAAH! A voice that can shatter glass. Curtain up for Oskar Matzerath, Günter Grass and "The Tin Drum" !  

Editorial

Reading Matter? 100 German Must-Reads!

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Malina, von Ingeborg Bachmann (DW)

DW's list of German-language novels published since 1900 that have been translated in English is the first of its kind. 

A time of upheaval
Der deutsche Schriftsteller Thomas Mann (picture-alliance/dpa)

Thomas Mann: 'Buddenbrooks'

This over 1,000-page masterpiece offers a panoramic view of society in the 19th century and exposes the collapse of a merchant family: unrecognized sons, disillusioned daughters and the loss of middle-class ideals.  

1906 - R. Musil: 'The Confusions of Young Master Törless'  

1909 - Robert Walser: 'Jakob von Gunten'  

1910 - R. M. Rilke: 'The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge'  

1912 - Else Lasker-Schüler: 'My Heart'  

1912 - Kurt Tucholsky: 'Rheinsberg'  

1918 - Heinrich Mann: 'The Loyal Subject'  

1919 - Hermann Hesse: 'Demian'  

1920 - Ernst Jünger: 'Storm of Steel'  

Watch video 02:02

'Buddenbrooks' by Thomas Mann

"Buddenbrooks" by Thomas Mann will make your family issues look harmless.  

More videos

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Buddenbrooks, von Thomas Mann (DW)

'Buddenbrooks' by Thomas Mann

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Confusions of Young Master Törless, by Robert Musil (DW)

'The Confusions of Young Master Törless' by Robert Musil

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Jakob von Gunten, by Robert Walser (DW)

'Jakob von Gunten' by Robert Walser

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, by Rainer Maria Rilke (DW)

'The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge' by R. M. Rilke

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | My Heart, by Else Lasker-Schüler (DW)

'My Heart' by Else Lasker-Schüler

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Rheinsberg, by Kurt Tucholsky (DW)

'Rheinsberg' by Kurt Tucholsky

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Loyal Subject, by Heinrich Mann (DW)

'The Loyal Subject' by Heinrich Mann

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Demian, by Hermann Hesse (DW)

'Demian' by Hermann Hesse

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Storm of Steel, by Ernst Jünger (DW)

'Storm of Steel' by Ernst Jünger

Weimar era
Kafkas Manuskripte im Literaturachiv Marbach (picture-alliance/dpa)

Franz Kafka: 'The Trial'

Joseph K. is detained on his 30th birthday. But what is he guilty of? Mysterious, surreal, prophetic: Kafka's posthumous novel is one of the most puzzling works of world literature.  

1929 - Alfred Döblin: 'Berlin Alexanderplatz'  

1929 - E. M. Remarque: 'All Quiet on the Western Front'  

1929 - Vicki Baum: 'Grand Hotel'  

1930 - Joseph Roth: 'Job'  

1931 - Erich Kästner: 'Going to the Dogs'  

1932 - Irmgard Keun: 'The Artificial Silk Girl'  

1932 - Ernst Haffner: 'Blood Brothers'  

Watch video 02:10

'The Trial' by Franz Kafka

Have you ever wondered what the term 'kafkaesque' means? Read The Trial by Franz Kafka, and you'll know.  

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DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Trial, by Franz Kafka (DW)

'The Trial' by Franz Kafka

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Berlin Alexanderplatz, by Alfred Döblin (DW)

'Berlin Alexanderplatz' by Alfred Döblin

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich-Maria Remarque (DW)

'All Quiet on the Western Front' by Erich Maria Remarque

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Grand Hotel, by Vicki Baum (DW)

'Grand Hotel' by Vicki Baum

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Job, by Joseph Roth (DW)

'Job' by Joseph Roth

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Going to the Dogs, by Erich Kästner (DW)

'Going to the Dogs' by Erich Kästner

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Artificial Silk Girl, by Irmgard Keun (DW)

'The Artificial Silk Girl' by Irmgard Keun

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Blood Brothers, by Ernst Haffner (DW)

'Blood Brothers' by Ernst Haffner

Disaster and catastrophe
Lion Feuchtwanger (picture-alliance/akg-images)

Lion Feuchtwanger: 'The Oppermanns'

The three Oppermann brothers and their sister lead comfortable, upper-class lives in Berlin. For a long while, they choose to ignore the rising tide of anti-Semitism — until it's too late.  

1934 - Bertolt Brecht: 'Threepenny Novel'  

1935 - Elias Canetti: 'Auto-da-Fé'  

1936 - Klaus Mann: 'Mephisto'  

1939 - Stefan Zweig: 'Beware of Pity'  

1942 - Anna Seghers: 'The Seventh Cross'  

1946 - Ernst Lothar: 'The Vienna Melody'  

1947 - Hans Fallada: 'Alone in Berlin'  

1948 - Ilse Aichinger: 'The Greater Hope'  

Watch video 02:03

'The Oppermanns' by Lion Feuchtwanger

After 1945 many Germans pleaded ignorance of the Holocaust. But many authors saw this disaster coming!  

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DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Oppermanns, by Lion Feuchtwanger (DW)

'The Oppermanns' by Lion Feuchtwanger

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Threepenny Novel, by Bertolt Brecht (DW)

'Threepenny Novel' by Bertolt Brecht

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Auto-da-Fé, by Elias Canetti (DW)

'Auto-da-Fé' by Elias Canetti

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Mephisto, by Klaus Mann (DW)

'Mephisto' by Klaus Mann

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Beware of Pity, by Stefan Zweig (DW)

'Beware of Pity' by Stefan Zweig

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Seventh Cross, by Anna Seghers (DW)

'The Seventh Cross' by Anna Seghers

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Vienna Melody, by Ernst Lothar (DW)

'The Vienna Melody' by Ernst Lothar

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Alone in Berlin, by Hans Fallada (DW)

'Alone in Berlin' by Hans Fallada

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Greater Hope, by Ilse Aichinger (DW)

'The Greater Hope' by Ilse Aichinger

Rising from the ruins
Wolfgang Koeppen, Schriftsteller 1971 (picture-alliance/dpa/R. Scheidemann)

Wolfgang Koeppen: 'Death in Rome'

Nearly a decade after World War II, the ghosts of Germany's past return to haunt the streets of Rome. Wolfgang Koeppen's novel captures the German psyche at that time like no other.  

1956 - Heimito von Doderer: 'The Demons'  

1956 - Gert Ledig: 'Payback'  

1957 - Max Frisch: 'Homo Faber'  

1959 - Günter Grass: 'The Tin Drum'  

1959 - Anonymous: 'A Woman in Berlin'  

Watch video 02:17

'Death in Rome' by Wolfgang Koeppen

Every big family has a black sheep. Or two. But what if the black sheep are the good guys?  

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DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Death in Rome, by Wolfgang Koeppen (DW)

'Death in Rome' by Wolfgang Koeppen

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Demons, by Heimito von Doderer (DW)

'The Demons' by Heimito von Doderer

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Payback, by Gert Ledig (DW)

'Payback' by Gert Ledig

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Homo Faber, by Max Frisch (DW)

'Homo Faber' by Max Frisch

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | A Woman in Berlin, by Anonymous (DW)

'A Woman in Berlin' by Anonymous

Separate worlds
Szene aus dem Film Die Wand (Studio Canal Germany)

Marlen Haushofer: 'The Wall'

What remains of a person who lives in complete isolation — confined entirely to the wild? This bold idea is what Marlen Haushofer chose to depict in her novel about the existential loneliness of the modern individual.  

1963 - Christa Wolf: 'They Divided the Sky'  

1969 - Jurek Becker: 'Jakob the Liar'  

1970-1983 - Uwe Johnson: 'Anniversaries'  

1971 - Ingeborg Bachmann: 'Malina'  

1972 - Peter Handke: 'Short Letter, Long Farewell'  

1973 - Ulrich Plenzdorf: 'The New Sorrows of Young W.'  

1974 - Heinrich Böll: 'The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum'  

1977 - Edgar Hilsenrath: 'The Nazi and the Barber'  

1978 - Martin Walser: 'Runaway Horse'  

1979 - Gregor von Rezzori: 'Memoirs of an Anti-Semite'  

1982 - Peter Schneider: 'The Wall Jumper'  

Watch video 01:56

'The Wall' by Marlen Haushofer

Imagine being trapped behind an invisible wall, in a forest of all places. Perhaps you're the last person on earth?  

More videos

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Wall, by Marlen Haushofer (DW)

'The Wall' by Marlen Haushofer

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | They Divided the Sky, by Christa Wolf (DW)

'They Divided the Sky' by Christa Wolf

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Jakob The Liar, by Jurek Becker (DW)

'Jakob The Liar' by Jurek Becker

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Anniversaries, by Uwe Johnson (DW)

'Anniversaries' by Uwe Johnson

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Malina, by Ingeborg Bachmann (DW)

'Malina' by Ingeborg Bachmann

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Short Letter, Long Farewell, by Peter Handke (DW)

'Short Letter, Long Farewell' by Peter Handke

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The New Sorrows of Young W., by Ulrich Plenzdorf (DW)

'The New Sorrows of Young W.' by Ulrich Plenzdorf

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, by Heinrich Böll (DW)

'The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum' by Heinrich Böll

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Nazi and the Barber, by Edgar Hilsenrath (DW)

'The Nazi and the Barber' by Edgar Hilsenrath

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Runaway Horse, by Martin Walser (DW)

'Runaway Horse' by Martin Walser

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Memoirs of an Anti-Semite, by Gregor von Rezzori (DW)

'Memoirs of an Anti-Semite' by Gregor von Rezzori

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Wall Jumper, von Peter Schneider (DW)

'The Wall Jumper' by Peter Schneider

Stories and histories
A blurred picture of a person with wires clipped onto their head (picture-alliance/Klaus Rose)

Rainald Goetz: 'Insane'

Goetz's psychiatric novel hurts. Patients, caretakers, doctors: All are part of the same madness in "Insane." Written in 1983, his first novel takes the reader on a literary horror trip.  

1983 - Sten Nadolny: 'The Discovery of Slowness'  

1983 - Elfriede Jelinek: 'The Piano Teacher'  

1984 - Thomas Bernhard: 'Woodcutters'  

1984 - Jörg Fauser: 'Raw Material'  

1985 - Patrick Süskind: 'Perfume — The Story of a Murderer'  

1990 - Gert Hofmann: 'The Film Explainer'  

1990 - Birgit Vanderbeke: 'The Mussel Feast'  

1992 - A. Schrobsdorff: 'You Are Not Like Other Mothers'  

1992 - Emine Sevgi Özdamar: 'Life is a Caravanserai'  

1992 - Robert Schneider: 'Brother of Sleep'  

Watch video 01:55

'Insane' by Rainald Goetz

"You can have my brain," said Rainald Goetz, and cut himself during a reading on TV. A definitely "Insane" way to fame!  

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DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Insane, by Rainald Goetz (DW)

'Insane' by Rainald Goetz

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Discovery of Slowness, by Sten Nadolny (DW)

'The Discovery of Slowness' by Sten Nadolny

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Piano Teacher, by Elfriede Jelinek (DW)

'The Piano Teacher' by Elfriede Jelinek

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Woodcutters, by Thomas Bernhard (DW)

'Woodcutters' by Thomas Bernhard

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Raw Material, by Jörg Fauser (DW)

'Raw Material' by Jörg Fauser

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Perfume, by Patrick Süskind (DW)

'Perfume' by Patrick Süskind

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Film Explainer, by Gert Hofmann (DW)

'The Film Explainer' by Gert Hofmann

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Mussel Feast, by Birgit Vanderbeke (DW)

'The Mussel Feast' by Birgit Vanderbeke

'You are Not Like Other Mothers' by Angelika Schrobsdorff

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | 'Life is a Caravanserai (…), by Emine Sevgi Özdamar (DW)

'Life is a Caravanserai'  by Emine Sevgi Özdamar

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Brother of Sleep, by Robert Schneider (DW)

'Brother of Sleep' by Robert Schneider

Guest columns & interviews
Bildkombo: Schriftstellerinnen (DW)

Translator Katy Derbyshire: 'Where are the women?'

Translator Katy Derbyshire on the gender imbalance in publishing to this day — and the long struggle of women writers to be noticed at all.  

USA Cat and Mouse von Günther Grass in Buchhandlung von New York (Imago/Levine-Roberts)

How German literature came into the world and where it stands today

From the literature of the Middle Ages to the influence of foreign cultures: a journey through German literature and its traces in the world. 

Eugen Ruge (Imago/gezett)

'Great literature is regional': German author Eugen Ruge in interview

Ruge tells DW why he thinks his novel "In Times of Fading Light" didn't come off to international readers as "German." 

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The burdens of the past
A man grabbing a Stasi file (picture-alliance/dpa/S.Pilick)

Wolfgang Hilbig: 'I'

Hilbig's novel can be read as a satire about the Stasi and the GDR's literary scene. But it is also a commentary about life in an atmosphere where it is no longer possible to differentiate between victim and perpetrator.  

1995 - Bernhard Schlink: 'The Reader'  

1996 - Monika Maron: 'Animal Triste'  

1996 - Uwe Timm: 'Midsummer Night'  

1998 - Peter Stamm: 'Agnes'  

1998 - Hans-Ulrich Treichel: 'Lost'  

1999 - Veza Canetti: 'The Tortoises'  

1999 - Inka Parei: 'The Shadow-Boxing Woman'  

2000 - Elke Schmitter: 'Mrs. Sartoris'  

2000 - Stefan Heym: 'The Architects'  

2001 - W. G. Sebald: 'Austerlitz'  

Watch video 02:16

'I' by Wolfgang Hilbig

In communist East Germany, almost everyone spied on everyone else, as Wolfgang Hilbig describes in his espionage novel.  

More videos

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | I, Wolfgang Hilbig (DW)

'I' by Wolfgang Hilbig

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink (DW)

'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Animal Triste, by Monika Maron (DW)

'Animal Triste' by Monika Maron 

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Midsummer Night, by Uwe Timm (DW)

'Midsummer Night' by Uwe Timm.

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Agnes, by Peter Stamm (DW)

'Agnes' by Peter Stamm

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Lost, by Hans-Ulrich Treichel (DW)

'Lost' by Hans-Ulrich Treichel

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Tortoises, by Veza Canetti (DW)

'The Tortoises' by Veza Canetti

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Shadow-Boxing Woman, by Inka Parei (DW)

'The Shadow-Boxing Woman' by Inka Parei

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Mrs Sartoris, by Elke Schmitter (DW)

'Mrs Sartoris' by Elke Schmitter

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Architects, by Stefan Heym (DW)

'The Architects' by Stefan Heym

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Austerlitz, by W.G. Sebald (DW)

'Austerlitz' by W.G. Sebald

Strange worlds
Sven Regener (Charlotte Goltermann)

Sven Regener: 'Berlin Blues'

Featuring a world of melancholy urban neurotics and bon vivants in Berlin's Kreuzberg of the 1980s, Sven Regener has created an authentic, amusing snapshot of the time. The novel's main character has long been cult.  

2002 - Zsuzsa Bánk: 'The Swimmer'  

2003 - Cornelia Funke: 'Inkheart'  

2004 - Pascal Mercier: 'Night Train to Lisbon'  

2004 - Frank Schätzing: 'The Swarm'  

2004 - Ralf Rothmann: 'Young Light'  

2004 - Terezia Mora: 'Day In Day Out'  

2005 - Daniel Kehlmann: 'Measuring the World'  

2006 - S. Stanišić: 'How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone'  

2006 - Iliya Troyanov: 'The Collector of Worlds'  

Watch video 01:27

'Berlin Blues' by Sven Regener

Sven Regener's novel "Berlin Blues gives readers a taste of what life was like before the fall of the Berlin Wall.  

More videos

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Berlin Blues, by Sven Regener (DW)

'Berlin Blues' by Sven Regener

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Swimmer, by Zsusza Bánk (DW)

'The Swimmer' by Zsusza Bánk

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke (DW)

'Inkheart' by Cornelia Funke

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Night Train to Lisbon, by Pascal Mercier (DW)

'Night Train to Lisbon' by Pascal Mercier

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Swarm, by Frank Schätzing (DW)

'The Swarm' by Frank Schätzing

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Young Light, by Ralf Rothmann (DW)

'Young Light' by Ralf Rothmann

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Day In Day Out, by Terézia Mora (DW)

'Day In Day Out' by Terézia Mora.

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Measuring the World, by Daniel Kehlmann (DW)

'Measuring the World' by Daniel Kehlmann

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | 'How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone, by Saša Stanišić (DW)

'How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone' by Saša Stanišić

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Collector of Worlds, by Iliya Troyanov (DW)

'The Collector of Worlds' by Iliya Troyanov

Looking back, looking forward
Deutschland Julia Franck (picture-alliance/dpa/U. Baumgarten)

Julia Franck: 'The Blind Side of the Heart'

This book spanning over half a century depicts the portrait of a passionate young woman who blazes her own trail, but ends up paying a high price for it.  

2007 - Volker Kutscher: 'Babylon Berlin'  

2008 - Alina Bronsky: 'Broken Glass Park'  

2008 - Jenny Erpenbeck: 'Visitation'  

2008 - Siegfried Lenz: 'A Minute's Silence'  

2008 - Uwe Tellkamp: 'The Tower'  

2009 - Juli Zeh: 'The Method'  

2009 - Johanna Adorján: 'An Exclusive Love'  

2009 - Herta Müller: 'The Hunger Angel'  

Watch video 02:05

'The Blind Side of the Heart' by Julia Franck

What would drive a mother to abandon her only child? "The Blind Side of the Heart" by Julia Franck tells the story.  

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DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Blind Side of the Heart, by Julia Franck (DW)

'The Blind Side of the Heart' by Julia Franck

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Babylon Berlin, by Volker Kutscher (DW)

'Babylon Berlin' by Volker Kutscher

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Broken Glass Park, by Alina Bronsky (DW)

'Broken Glass Park' by Alina Bronsky

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Visitation, by Jenny Erpenbeck (DW)

'Visitation' by Jenny Erpenbeck

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | A Minute's Silence, by Siegfried Lenz (DW)

'A Minute's Silence' by Siegfried Lenz

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Tower, by Uwe Tellkamp (DW)

'The Tower' by Uwe Tellkamp

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Method, by Juli Zeh (DW)

'The Method' by Juli Zeh

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | An Exclusive Love, by Johanna Adorján (DW)

'An Exclusive Love' by Johanna Adorján

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Hunger Angel, by Herta Müller (DW)

'The Hunger Angel' by Herta Müller 

On the move
Deutschland Sibylle Lewitscharoff (picture-alliance/dpa/A. Burgi)

Sibylle Lewitscharoff: 'Apostotoloff'

This prize-winning novel combines diverse moods, storylines and narrative genres: a German-Bulgarian funeral grotesque, a road novel, and a blackly humorous family drama centered around unfulfilled fatherly love.  

2009 - Esther Kinsky: 'Summer Resort'  

2010 - Wolfgang Herrndorf: 'Why We Took The Car'  

2011 - Eugen Ruge: 'In Times of Fading Light'  

2011 - Judith Schalansky: 'The Giraffe's Neck'  

2012 - Olga Grjasnowa: 'All Russians Love Birch Trees'  

2012 - Christoph Ransmayr: 'Atlas of an Anxious Man'  

Watch video 01:33

'Apostoloff' by Sibylle Lewitscharoff

Family vacations are stressful, especially when you have the characters in Sibylle Lewitscharoff's "Apostoloff" in tow.  

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DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Apostoloff, by Sibylle Lewitscharoff (DW)

'Apostoloff' by Sibylle Lewitscharoff

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Summer Resort, by Esther Kinsky (DW)

'Summer Resort' by Esther Kinsky

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Why We Took the Car, by Wolfgang Herrndorf (DW)

'Why We Took the Car' by Wolfgang Herrndorf

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | In Times of Fading Light, by Eugen Ruge (DW)

'In Times of Fading Light' by Eugen Ruge

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The Giraffe's Neck, by Judith Schalansky (DW)

'The Giraffe's Neck'  by Judith Schalansky

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | All Russians Love Birch Trees, by Olga Grjasnowa (DW)

'All Russians Love Birch Trees' by Olga Grjasnowa

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Atlas of an Anxious Man, by Christoph Ransmayr (DW)

'Atlas of an Anxious Man' by Christoph Ransmayr

Outsiders
Prostituierte Symbolbild (AFP/Getty Images)

Clemens Meyer: 'Bricks and Mortar'

A novel set in a Leipzig red light district filled with prostitution and drugs following the fall of the communist regime, it reveals how the sex trade became a booming industry in the former East Germany.  

2014 - Katja Petrowskaja: 'Maybe Esther'  

2014 - Robert Seethaler: 'A Whole Life'  

2014 - Yoko Tawada: 'Memoirs of a Polar Bear'  

2014 - Lutz Seiler: 'Kruso'  

2015 - Dörte Hansen: 'This House is Mine'  

2016 - Benedict Wells: 'The End of Loneliness'  

2016 - Philipp Winkler: 'Hooligan'  

Watch video 01:51

'Bricks and Mortar' by Clemens Meyer

Drugs, crime and prostitution flood into a town in eastern Germany after the collapse of communism.  

More videos

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Bricks and Mortar, by Clemens Meyer (DW)

'Bricks and Mortar' by Clemens Meyer

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | maybe Esther, by Katja Petrowskaja (DW)

'Maybe Esther' by Katja Petrowskaja

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | A Whole Life, by Robert Seethaler (DW)

'A Whole Life' by Robert Seethaler

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Memoirs of a Polar Bear, by Yoko Tawada (DW)

'Memoirs of a Polar Bear' by Yoko Tawada

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Kruso, by Lutz Seiler (DW)

Kruso by Lutz Seiler

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | This House is Mine, by Dörte Hansen (DW)

'This House is Mine' by Dörte Hansen

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | The End of Loneliness, by Benedict Wells (DW)

'The End of Loneliness'by Benedict Wells

DW Kultur 100 gute Bücher | 100 German must-reads | Hooligan, by Philipp Winkler (DW)

'Hooligan' by Philipp Winkler

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