Günter Grass

Günter Grass

(1927 – 2015)

Biographical Sketch

Günter Wilhelm Grass (Danzig, [then] Germany / [today] Gdańsk, Poland, October 16, 1927 – Lübeck, Germany, April 13, 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. In the decades before his death, he was widely regarded as Germany’s most famous living writer.

Grass was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). In 1945, he came to West Germany as a homeless refugee, though in his fiction he frequently returned to the Danzig of his childhood. He came to be best known for his first novel, The Tin Drum (1959), a key text in European magic realism and the first part of his Danzig Trilogy, which also includes Cat and Mouse and Dog Years. His works are frequently considered to have a left-wing political dimension, and Grass was an active supporter of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

On 12 August 2006, in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about his then forthcoming book Peeling the Onion, Grass made the controversial revelation that he had been a member of the Waffen-SS. Before this interview, Grass had been seen as someone who had been a typical member of the “Flakhelfer generation,” one of those too young to see much fighting or to be involved with the Nazi regime in any way beyond its youth organizations. As he had, moreover, for many decades been an outspoken left-leaning critic of Germany’s treatment of its Nazi past, his statement caused a great stir in the press. However, many also came to Grass’ defense based upon the fact that the involuntary Waffen-SS membership was very early in Grass’ life, starting when he was drafted shortly after his seventeenth birthday, and also precisely because he had always been publicly critical of Germany’s Nazi past, unlike many of his conservative critics.

Grass received dozens of international awards. The Tin Drum was adapted into a film, which won both the 1979 Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1999 Grass achieved the highest literary honour: the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy, upon awarding him the Nobel Prize in Literature, noted him as a writer “whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history”. His literature is commonly categorised as part of the artistic movement of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, roughly translated as “coming to terms with the [Nazi] past.” He received the Georg Büchner Prize in 1965 and was elected in 1993 an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 1995, he received the Hermann Kesten Prize. In 2012 he received the award ‘2012 European of the Year’ from the European Movement Denmark (Europabevægelsen), honoring his political debates in European affairs.

Major Awards and Honors

Nobel Prize for Literature

1999

Georg-Büchner-Preis (Germany)

1965

Hermann Kesten Prize (German PEN Centre)

1995

Hans Fallada Prize (Germany)

1996

Premios Príncipe de Asturias (Spain)

1999: Premio en Letras

Royal Society of Literature (Great Britain)

1993: Honorary Fellow

Premio Internazionale Viareggio-Versilia (Italy)

1978

Premio Grinzane Cavour (Italy)

1992: International Award

Premio Letterario Internazionale Mondello (Italy)

1977: Literature

European Movement Denmark

2012: European of the Year

Bibliography

Novels and Novellas

Danzig-Trilogie
(Danzig Trilogy)
- Die Blechtrommel (1959)
  (The Tin Drum)
- Katz und Maus (1961)
  (Cat and Mouse)
- Hundejahre (1963)
  (Dog Years)
Die Ballerina (1963)
Poum; order, Die Vergangenheit fliegt mit (1965)
Örtlich betäubt (1969)
(Local Anaesthetic)
Aus dem Tagebuch einer Schnecke (1972)
(From the Diary of a Snail)
Mariazuehren (1973)
(Inmarypraise)
Der Butt (1977)
(The Flounder)
Das Treffen in Telgte (1979)
(The Meeting at Telgte)
Kopfgeburten oder Die Deutschen sterben aus (1980)
(Headbirth, or, The Germans are Dying Out)
Die Rättin (1986)
(The Rat)
Werkausgabe in 10 Bänden (1987)
Unkenrufe (1992)
(The Call of the Toad)
Ein weites Feld (1995)
(Too Far Afield)
Werkausgabe in 16 Bänden (1997)
Mein Jahrhundert (1999)
(My Century)
Im Krebsgang (2002)
(Crabwalk)

Collections

Meine grüne Wiese (1989)
– Stories and drawings.
Wenn ich Pilze und Federn sammle: Ein Lesebuch (2005)
– Anthology: excerpts from Grass’s novels, stories, poetry and drawings.
Vonne Endlichkait (2015)
(Of All That Ends)
– Prose, poetry and drawings.
Die Artur-Knoff-Geschichten (2019)
– Short stories; posthumous collection of stories originally published under the name Artur Knoff.

Plays and Radio Plays

Die bösen Köche (1956)
(The Wicked Cooks)
Hochwasser (1956)
(Flood)
Onkel, Onkel (1958)
(Mister, Mister)
32 Zähne (1958)
– Radio play.
Beritten hin und zurück(1959)
(Rocking Back and Forth)
Noch zehn Minuten bis Buffalo (1959)
(Only Ten Minutes to Buffalo)
Stoffreste (1959)
– Libretto for ballet.
Goldmäulchen; Eine öffentliche Diskussion (1963)
– Stage play and radio play.
Die Plebejer proben den Aufstand (1966)
(The Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising)
– Stage play and radio play.
Four Plays (1967)
- Flood
- Mister, Mister
- Only Ten Minutes to Buffalo
- The Wicked Cooks
Davor (1970)
(Max)
– Based on his novel Örtlich betäubt (Local Anesthetic).
Die Vogelscheuche (1970)
– Libretto for Aribert Reimann’s ballet.
Max (1986)

Poetry and Lyrics

Die Vorzüge der Windhühner (1956)
O Susanna: Ein Jazzbilderbuch. Blues, Balladen, Spirituals, Jazz (1959)
– Translations of lyrics, with images by Horst Geldmacher.
Gleisdreieck (1960)
Ausgefragt (1967)
(New Poems)
Poems of Günter Grass (1969)
Gesammelte Gedichte (1971)
Liebe geprüft (1974)
In the Egg and Other Poems (1977)
Gedichte (1985)
Mit Sophie in die Pilze gegangen (1987)
– Poems and drawings.
Die Gedichte 1955 – 1986 (1988)
Novemberland (1993)
(Novemberland: Selected Poems, 1956 – 1993)
Fundsachen für Nichtleser (1997)
– Poems and aquarels.
Wörter auf Abruf: 77 Gedichte
Letzte Tänze (2003)
Lyrische Beute (2004)
Dummer August (2007)
Was gesagt werden muss (2012)
Europas Schande (2012)
Eintagsfliegen (2012)
Poesiealbum 302 (2012)
Du Ja Du: Liebesgedichte (2019)
– Posthumous publication; poems selected by Katja Lange-Müller.

Memoirs and Correspondence

Briefe über die Grenze: Versuch eines Ost-West-Dialogs (1968)
– Correspondence with Pavel Kohout.
Gestern, vor 50 Jahren: Ein deutsch-japanischer Briefwechsel (1995)
– Correspondence with Kenzaburō Ōe.
Memoirs
- Beim Häuten der Zwiebel (2006)
  (Peeling the Onion)
- Die Box: Dunkelkammergeschichten (2008)
  (The Box: Tales from the Darkroom)
- Grimms Wörter. Eine Liebeserklärung (2010)
Unterwegs von Deutschland nach Deutschland. Tagebuch 1990 (2009)
(From Germany to Germany: Diary 1990)
Günter Grass – Helen Wolff: Briefe 1959 – 1994 (2003)
– Correspondence.
Uwe Johnson – Anna Grass – Günter Grass: Der Briefwechsel 961 – 1984 (2007)
– Correspondence.
Willy Brandt und Günter Grass: Der Briefwechsel (2013)
– Correspondence; editor: Martin Kölbel.

Essays, Addresses and Other Nonfiction

Es steht zur Wahl. Rede im Bundestagswahlkampf (1965)
– Federal parliamentary election campaign speech; audio recording.
Dich singe ich, Demokratie (1965)
Über das Selbstverständliche: Reden – Aufsätze – Offene Briefe – Kommentare(1968)
(Speak Out! Speeches, Open Letters, Commentaries)
Tschechoslowakai 1968 (1968)
Über meinen Lehrer Döblin und andere Vorträge (1968)
Dokumente zur Politischen Wirkung (1971)
Der Bürger und seine Stimme: Reden, Aufsätze, Kommentare (1974)
(The Citizen and his Voice)
– Speeches and essays.
Denkzettel: Politische Reden und Aufsätze 1965 – 1976 (1978)
– Political essays and speeches.
Aufsätze zur Literatur 1957 –1977 (1980)
Ach Butt, Dein Märchen geht böse aus (1983)
Widerstand lernen: Politische Gegenreden 1980 – 1983 (1984)
– Political speeches.
On Writing and Politics (1985)
Deutscher Lastenausgleich: Wider das stumpfe Einheitsgebot (1990)
(Two States One Nation?)
Schreiben nach Auschwitz (1990)
Gegen die verstreichende Zeit: Reden, Aufsätze und Gespräche 1989-1991 (1991)
Rede vom Verlust
In: Über den Niedergang der politischen Kultur im geeinten Deutschland (1992)
(On Loss;
In: The Future of German Democracy)
The Myth of Religious Neutrality: An Essay on the Hidden Role of Religious Belief in Theories (1992)
Ein Schnäppchen Namens DDR: Letzte Reden vom Glockengeläut (1993)
Angestiftet, Partei zu ergreifen (1994)
Die Deutschen und ihre Dichter (1995)
Ein Gespräch über Deutschland (1995)
– Conversation with Martin Walser; audio recording.
Der Schriftsteller als Zeitgenosse (1996)
Ästhetik des Engagements (1996)
Rede über den Standort (1997)
Günter Grass … liest, … in Bremen, … antwortet, … zur Person (1998)
– Readings and interview; audio recording.
Der Autor als fragwürdiger Zeuge (1998)
Zweites Gespräch über Deutschland (1999)
– Conversation with Martin Walser; audio recording.
Vom Abenteuer der Aufklärung: Werkstattgespräche (1999)
– Conversations with Harro Zimmermann.
Für- und Widerworte (1999)
Fortsetzung folgt: Literatur & Geschichte (1999)
Ohne Stimme: Reden zugunsten des Volkes der Roma und Sinti (2000)
Als ich 32 Jahre alt war, wurde ich berühmt (2001)
– Acoustic collage.
Günter Grass/ Hermann Kant: “Ich mache Sie mitverantwortlich…” (2010)
– Dispute on the past of East Germany; audio recording.
Ich klage an: Die Cloppenburger Wahlkampfrede, 14. September 1965 (2011)
– 1965 federal parliamentary election campaign speech; audio recording.
Die Wut über den verlorenen Milchpfennig (2017)
– Satirical election campaign speech; posthumously-published audio recording.
In letzter Zeit: Ein Gespräch im Herbst (2017)
– Conversation with Heinrich Detering; posthumously published.

Drawings, Etchings, Aquarels, Sculpture

Zeichnungen und Schreiben. Das bildnerische Werk des Schriftstellers Günter Grass. Band I: Zeichnungen und Texte 1954 – 1977 (1982)
(Drawings and Words, Vol. I: 1954 – 1977)
Zeichnungen und Schreiben II. Radierungen und Texte 1972 – 1982 (1984)
(Etchings and Words 1972 – 1982)
In Kupfer, auf Stein: Die Radierungen und Lithographien 1972 – 1986 (1986)
Graphik und Plastik (1987)
– Exhibition catalogue.
Hundert Zeichnungen 1955-1987 (1987)
– Exhibition catalogue.
Zunge zeigen: Ein Tagebuch in Zeichnungen, Prosa und einem Gedicht (1988)
(Show Your Tongue: A Diary in Drawings)
Calcutta: Mappe mit Radierungen (1988)
Totes Holz: Ein Nachruf (1990)
– Drawings and texts.
Vier Jahrzehnte: Ein Werkstattbericht (1991)
Auf einem anderen Blatt: Zeichnungen (1999)
– Drawings.
Fünf Jahrzehnte: Ein Werkstattbericht (2001)
Der Schatten: Hans Christian Andersens Märchen – gesehen von Günter Grass (2004)
– Lithographs based on fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen.
Der Butt (2004)
(The Flounder)
– Sculpture in Sønderborg harbor, Denmark
Spiegelbilder: Farblithographie (2006)
Catalogue Raisonné: Prints/Etchings, Prints/Lithographs (2007)
– 2 volumes.

A Selection of Quotes

The Tin Drum

“You are vain and wicked – as a genius should be.”

“Even bad books are books and therefore sacred.”

Cat and Mouse

“Suppose you’re teaching math. You assume that parallel lines meet at infinity. You’ll admit that adds up to something like transcendence.”

My Century

“And when the sun goes down and the mood comes upon me, I’ll watch the play of the colors on the water, yield to the fleetly dissolving images, and turn into pure feeling, all soft and nice …”

Grimms Wörter. Eine Liebeserklärung

“Einerseits geben Wörter Sinn, andererseits sind sie tauglich, Unsinn zu stiften. Wörter können heilsam oder verletzend sein. Das Wort als Waffe. Sich spreizende, auftrumpfende, mit Bedeutung gemästete Wörter. Manche sind Zungenbrecher, andere lassen erkennen, verschleiern, leugnen ab, decken zu oder auf. Oft liegen winzige Wahrheiten unter Wortlawinen begraben. Aus Wortstreit entspringen Schimpfwörter. Flüche, Beschwörungen, Zaubersprüche bannen, rufen herbei, lassen wahre Wunder geschehen.”

Find more quotes by Günter Grass on Wikiquote and Goodreads.