author
Alfred Lichtenstein
1889–1914
A sharp, unsettling voice of early German Expressionism, this Berlin-born poet wrote vivid, grotesque poems and stories before his life was cut short in World War I at just 25. His work turns city life, anxiety, and dark humor into something strangely electric.
2 Audiobooks
The Prose of Alfred Lichtenstein
by Alfred Lichtenstein
The Verse of Alfred Lichtenstein
by Alfred Lichtenstein
About the author
Born in Berlin on August 23, 1889, he became one of the young writers associated with German Expressionism. He came from a Jewish family, was the son of a manufacturer, and studied law in Erlangen.
He first drew notice for poems and short prose pieces written in a grotesque, often darkly comic style. His writing was sometimes compared with that of his friend Jakob van Hoddis, but his voice stands out for its eerie mix of absurdity, urban unease, and sudden flashes of apocalypse.
His career was very brief. He died on September 25, 1914, near Vermandovillers in the Somme during the opening months of World War I, leaving behind a small body of work that helped define the mood of Expressionist literature.