author
Gorch Fock
1880–1916
A seafaring writer from Hamburg, he brought the speech, work, and rhythms of northern German coastal life into literature. His best-known work, Seefahrt ist not!, and his early death in World War I helped turn him into a lasting cultural figure.
3 Audiobooks
Deutsche Humoristen, 8. Band (von 8)
by Otto Julius Bierbaum, Gorch Fock, Rudolf Presber, Wilhelm Schäfer, Karl Schönherr, Ludwig Thoma
Schiff vor Anker: Erzählungen
by Gorch Fock
Seefahrt ist not!
by Gorch Fock
About the author
Born Johann Wilhelm Kinau on August 22, 1880, on the Elbe island of Finkenwerder near Hamburg, he wrote under the name Gorch Fock. He grew up in a fishing community, and that world shaped his fiction and poems, which often drew on Low German language and the lives of sailors and working people.
Before becoming known as a writer, he trained for business work and later served in the German navy. His writing gained recognition for its close connection to northern coastal culture, and Seefahrt ist not! is usually named as his most famous book.
He died on May 31, 1916, during the Battle of Jutland. Even with a short life, he left a strong enough impression that the famous German sailing ship Gorch Fock was later named in his honor.