The Most Famous

Writers from Germany

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This page contains a list of the greatest Germans Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 389 of which were born in Germany. This makes Germany the birth place of the 4th most number of Writers behind United Kingdom and France.

Top 10 German Writers

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Germans Writers of all time. This list of famous Germans Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Germans Writers.

  1. #1
    Photo of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    1749 - 1832

    HPI 90.96188 langs
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is most famous for his novel, Faust. The novel tells the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil in...Read moreShow less

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is most famous for his novel, Faust. The novel tells the story of a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for power and knowledge.

  2. #2
    Photo of Anne Frank

    Anne Frank

    1929 - 1945

    HPI 85.31127 langs

    Anne Frank is most famous for her diary, which she wrote while she was in hiding with her family from the Nazis during World War II.

  3. #3
    Photo of Hermann Hesse

    Hermann Hesse

    1877 - 1962

    HPI 85.13114 langs

    Hermann Hesse is most famous for his book, "Demian: The Story of a Youth," which was published in 1919.

  4. #4
    Photo of Friedrich Schiller

    Friedrich Schiller

    1759 - 1805

    HPI 84.57114 langs

    Friedrich Schiller is most famous for his poem "Ode to Joy" which he wrote for the play "The Ninth Symphony."

  5. #5
    Photo of Bertolt Brecht

    Bertolt Brecht

    1898 - 1956

    HPI 83.64107 langs
    Bertolt Brecht is most famous for his theories of theater and the alienation effect. Brecht believed that theater should be a tool for...Read moreShow less

    Bertolt Brecht is most famous for his theories of theater and the alienation effect. Brecht believed that theater should be a tool for social change and not just entertainment. He coined the term "alienation effect" to describe the process of making the audience aware of the artificiality of the play.

  6. #6
    Photo of Thomas Mann

    Thomas Mann

    1875 - 1955

    HPI 83.34119 langs

    Thomas Mann is most famous for his novel "The Magic Mountain."

  7. #7
    Photo of Heinrich Heine

    Heinrich Heine

    1797 - 1856

    HPI 81.9697 langs
    Heinrich Heine was a German poet who wrote in the Romantic style. He is most famous for his lyric poetry, which includes "Die Lorelei" and...Read moreShow less

    Heinrich Heine was a German poet who wrote in the Romantic style. He is most famous for his lyric poetry, which includes "Die Lorelei" and "Ich grolle nicht."

  8. #8
    Photo of Erich Maria Remarque

    Erich Maria Remarque

    1898 - 1970

    HPI 81.9493 langs
    Erich Maria Remarque is most famous for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The novel tells the story of a group of German soldiers...Read moreShow less

    Erich Maria Remarque is most famous for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The novel tells the story of a group of German soldiers fighting in World War I.

  9. #9
    Photo of Charles Bukowski

    Charles Bukowski

    1920 - 1994

    HPI 80.2377 langs

    Charles Bukowski is most famous for his autobiographical novels and poetry about the life of a low-income, working-class man.

  10. #10
    Photo of Novalis

    Novalis

    1772 - 1801

    HPI 79.0871 langs

    Novalis is most famous for his unfinished novel, Heinrich von Ofterdingen.

People by Birth Decade

Browse notable Germans Writers grouped by birth decade. Each decade shows the top 10 by HPI; expand to see everyone.

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Overlapping Lives

Which Writers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Writers since 1700.

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