author
Fritz von Unruh
1885–1970
Raised in a Prussian military family, he became one of the strongest antiwar voices in German Expressionist literature. His plays, poems, and novels turned the experience of war and exile into urgent, human stories.
1 Audiobook
Ein Geschlecht: Tragödie
by Fritz von Unruh
About the author
Born in Koblenz on May 10, 1885, Fritz von Unruh grew up in a world shaped by the army: his father was a general, and he himself served as an officer before leaving the military in 1912 to write full time. He went on to become a dramatist, poet, and novelist associated with German Expressionism, bringing intense feeling and moral urgency to his work.
The First World War changed him deeply. His writing became openly critical of militarism, and works such as Offiziere and Vor der Entscheidung helped establish him as an important antiwar author. Later, he also warned against dictatorship in works including Bonaparte, Berlin in Monte Carlo, and Zero.
A firm opponent of Nazism, he left Germany in 1932, lived in exile in France, and later emigrated to the United States. He returned to Germany in 1962 and died in Diez on November 28, 1970. Today he is remembered for combining poetic language with a clear moral conviction, especially in his attacks on war and authoritarian power.