Erich Kästner

Erich Kästner (1899-1974), German poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist, best known for his satirical verse and books for children. Kästner was born in Dresden, Germany. Following a year of military service during World War I (1914-1918), he completed his studies leading to a Ph.D. degree in 1925. While still a student, Kästner began his career as a journalist, and until the advent of the Hitler regime he was a constant contributor of prose and poetry to many German newspapers and magazines.

Kästner’s strikingly original poems were collected in Herz auf Taille (Heart on Waist, 1927), Lärm im Spiegel (Noise in the Mirror, 1928), Ein Mann gibt Auskunft (A Man Gives Information, 1930), and Gesang zwischen den Stühlen (Song Between the Chairs, 1932). His novel Fabian (1931) describes the predicament of the postwar “lost generation” in Germany. Completely different in tone, yet also masterpieces of their kind, are his light novels. Of these, the first, Emil und die Detektive (1928; Emil and the Detectives, 1930) remains perennially popular. This work and Drei Männer im Schnee (Three Men in the Snow, 1934) were both made into successful motion pictures in the 1930s.

Aside from his immensely popular books for children, Kästner's rapid rise to fame and wide popularity rested chiefly on his early satirical verse. This verse constituted a perceptive and astute commentary on the situation in German society that culminated in the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler and the rise of National Socialism (Nazism). Following the burning of his books in 1933 by supporters of Hitler, Kästner remained in Germany but was not permitted to publish his writings.

After World War II (1939-1945) Kästner resumed his career as a journalist and writer, publishing a selection of prewar poems, Bei Durchsicht meiner Bücher (On Examination of My Books, 1946); chansons and prose, Der tägliche Kram (The Daily Stuff, 1948); epigrams, Kurz und bündig (Short and to the Point, 1948, 1950); and lyric poems, Die dreizehn Monate (The Thirteen Months, 1955). His most notable dramatic work of this period, Die Schule der Diktatoren (The Dictators’ School, 1956), depicts with grim reality the fall of man, which Kästner had earlier foretold. Als ich ein kleiner Junge War (1957; When I Was a Little Boy, 1959) is a brief autobiographical work about his childhood.

Kästner’s Gesammelte Schriften (Collected Works), in seven volumes, appeared in 1959. Later books included the book of verse Von Damen und anderen Weibern (Of Ladies and Other Women, 1963) and the children's book Der Kleine Mann (1963; The Little Man, 1966).