Günter Grass

Born: 1927

Writer

Günter Grass was born in Danzig, Poland, an area which back then belonged to Germany. Grass was drafted into the German Army during World War II in 1944. Just a year later, he was wounded and became a prisoner of war. Grass started studying at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art in 1948 and later moved to Berlin, where some of his works were exhibited. During that time, Grass also began writing poems and drama, which he himself labeled as “poetic and absurd theater.”

Grass’ typical style of picturesque language and writing is prevalent in his most famous work ”Die Blechtrommel” (The Tin Drum), adapted as a movie in 1979. In this novel he used real historic events as the setting and combined them with his own grotesque-picturesque way of writing. He was one of the first German authors to depict the events of World War II in his fiction. Other works of his are: “Katz und Maus” (Cat and Mouse), “Hundejahre” (Dog Years), “Der Butt” (The Flounder) and “Die Rättin” (The Rat). In 1999, he was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature.

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