German literature, the greatest works – why it's worth reading them

Many of the greatest works of German literature do not enjoy widespread popularity among today's readers. In fact, they are often least popular with precisely those readers who have to, or should, read them.

And quite often, these people don't even understand why on earth they should waste even a second of their time on the greatest works of German literature…

Admittedly, fans of suspenseful crime fiction are absolutely right to brand a work like Adalbert Stifter's "Rock Crystal" as a real bore. It is truly unbearable for readers with a modern sense of time when the author explains Christmas to us in 735 words (for non-readers: depending on the typesetting, two to several book pages) and, in the same text, also explains why we like Christmas.

Leisurely crime novel readers also describe this great work of German literature as boring; they would never have read such a long text as "Christmas in 735 Words", they would have put it down after 20 words, they "aren't stupid" (of course they never actually read it).

Others aren't stupid either, and that's why they've not only never read this text, but also all the other great works of German literature.

Excursus: An Overview of German Literary Periods

The Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, Classicism, Expressionism, Biedermeier – each literary period has its own historical background and characteristics. To help you keep track of German literary history, YouTuber Lisa has briefly summarized all the literary periods in the following video.

Middle Ages marks the beginning . The literary period of the Middle Ages is characterized by religion, heroic sagas, and tales of chivalry. Minnesang, a sung form of love poetry, often deals with unrequited love.

The literary period of the Middle Ages was followed by the literary period of the Renaissance . During the Renaissance, classical culture was rediscovered. The Reformation and Martin Luther's translation of the Bible into German also fall within the Renaissance period.

The Renaissance literary period was succeeded by the Baroque . Baroque literature explored the beauty of the moment, transience, and death. The following literary period, the Enlightenment, was a time of reason and critique of religion, society, and the state. Parallel to the Enlightenment, the movements of Sentimentalism and Sturm und Drang (Storm .

One of the most important representatives of the Sturm und Drang movement is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who, together with Friedrich Schiller, shaped the subsequent literary period of Weimar Classicism . The Classical period was followed by the Romantic . The Romantics criticized the consequences of the onset of industrialization. The central theme of Romanticism was the escape from reality.

The following literary period, the Biedermeier era, primarily focused on peace, order, and modesty. The Vormärz and Young Germany . The writers of these literary periods championed social justice and drew attention to injustices.

In the literary period of Realism, the problems of the bourgeoisie and the lower social classes brought about by industrialization are addressed and realistically depicted. Naturalism . In the literary period of Naturalism, authors write about socially critical topics such as alcoholism and poverty; they do not shy away from the negative or ugly aspects of life. Unlike Realism, however, they describe these circumstances dispassionately.

The literary period of Modernism encompasses various movements. Modernist writers reacted against Realism and instead focused on their own subjective experiences. Expressionist clearly opposed Naturalism. In this literary period, artists essentially turned their inner selves outward, writing about negative themes.

The avant-garde, on the other hand, distanced themselves from all previous movements and literary periods. They ignored rules and created their own forms. Literature of the Weimar Republic and New Objectivity became more sober again. The writers depicted the world in simple words, just as it is.

Literature during the Nazi era is characterized by persecution, prohibition, and censorship.

After the end of World War II, the literary period of post-war literature/rubble literature . This literature paints a realistic picture of the devastated post-war Germany. With the founding of the two German states, the literary periods of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) began. Everything else you should know about literary periods, their backgrounds, and their relationships to one another can be found in this video:

The most important works of German literature

The most important works of our literature truly loom before those who are only reluctantly willing to learn (prototype: pupil), like the mountain in "Rock Crystal", an unclimbable mountain covered with mud, snow and stones, about which they have not the slightest idea how to successfully overcome it (and why they should).

Some people who are only reluctantly willing to learn quickly shy away from this challenge – not reading (and not thinking) is simply much more convenient, and besides, one usually has something better to do.

Whether students or adults, many of these people, who were only forced to be educated, were able to successfully keep most of the works of our most important literature out of their lives during their school years, and many of these people later notice a need to catch up.

Either through their German grade or during a conversation later in life, these people realize that something is missing, that they can't participate in many discussions. They might even have to endure slightly disdainful glances if they've never heard of a particular writer or work…

For these people, who may now be more eager to learn, this article could be inspiring in that they might decide to give German literature a small chance.

Because in the worst-case scenario, this is what happens to them: They're having a lively conversation with someone who truly impresses them. And when the conversation turns to a great work of German literature, and the successful non-reader proudly explains why it's boring, why he hasn't read it, and anyway, "he's not stupid"—he hears, to his astonishment, that according to his cool role model, he is indeed stupid, in front of the assembled, already jeering crowd.

As an added bonus, he then gets a detailed explanation of just how stupid it is to fall for a large corporation that manages to sell its mediocre, cheap goods for a lot of money with a snappy slogan…

Sometimes thoughts arise as to whether one should have read certain works, why one should have read these works, and if so, how one can best "breathe in" the uninteresting stuff.

The most important works of our literature can undoubtedly be quite boring – but only if the person conveying them fails to establish a connection to our present day.

The best way to make such a piece of literature even better is to have it read aloud by an untrained reader who has absolutely no desire to present himself and his reading skills in public, i.e., by a student forced to give a reading unprepared; then a work like Adalbert Stifter's "Rock Crystal" becomes one of the most boring books in the world.

It could be done differently: if someone recited who loves the German language but isn't awestruck by it. And who sometimes transforms (too) long sentences into a kind of playful, auditory wordworm, or at other times delivers them in such a way that the countless monstrous sentences merge into a soundscape with a meditative rhythm, delivering phrases like "where the sun stands most obliquely against our climes" with verve and a touch of irony, emphasizing wondrous expressions like "magical gifts ." Students could learn this too, if they approached it with some enjoyment and preparation; that's what you call linguistic proficiency.

Overall, there are good reasons why we used to read – or rather, had to read – the most important works of our literature in school, and the reason is not that the content should be taught and memorized.

The reason lies more in the fact that our lives consist of communication with other people, and people who have learned communication are much more likely to get what they want, and that communication has to do with reading, reading as many different books as possible, from all eras and all genres, including the classics.

Of course, one can often learn a great deal from the content; someone who has never read the “Great Pellaprat” will also order pudding as “Mousse au Chocolat” in a restaurant; someone who has never read at least a few of the classics will never be able to express themselves exceptionally well in German; someone who has never studied Kama Sutra

In short, it has something to do with the saying: “Those who can read have a clear advantage.”

And these classics don't have to be boring either; as is so often the case, a little background knowledge can generate real interest, and with this, both long-deceased writers and their works suddenly become quite exciting – which, incidentally, is one of the reasons why literature continues to be read for very long periods of time.

You could try to tackle one of the “most boring works” in the world, Adalbert Stifter’s “Bergkristall”, in the article “German Literature, the Greatest Works: Adalbert Stifter’s Bergkristall” , which is supplemented by the article “German Literature, the Greatest Works: A Critical Examination of Language in Adalbert Stifter’s Bergkristall” .

Reading a work often becomes more enjoyable after looking at the life of its author, as can be read in the article “German Literature, the greatest works: After looking at the author's life, they are more fun” .