author
Leonhard Frank
1882–1961
A sharp, humane voice of German Expressionism, this novelist and playwright wrote with deep sympathy for outsiders and a fierce distrust of war, cruelty, and social hypocrisy. His stories often turn moral shock into gripping drama.
5 Audiobooks
Der Mensch ist gut
by Leonhard Frank
Kindheit
by Leonhard Frank
Der Bürger
by Leonhard Frank
Die Ursache: Erzählung
by Leonhard Frank
Die Räuberbande
by Leonhard Frank
About the author
Born in Würzburg on September 4, 1882, Leonhard Frank came from a poor working-class family and first trained in practical trades before studying painting and graphic art in Munich. He turned to writing and broke through with The Robber Band in 1914, beginning a career that made him one of the notable socially minded German writers of the early 20th century.
Frank is usually described as a German Expressionist writer, but what stands out most is the emotional force of his work: compact, direct prose, strong dramatic situations, and a steady concern for compassion, justice, and the damage done by bourgeois respectability and violence. Among his best-known works are Carl and Anna and The Robber Band, and several of his books were translated and adapted for the screen or stage.
A committed pacifist, he went into exile during periods of political upheaval, including the Nazi era, and later returned to Germany. He died in Munich on August 18, 1961, leaving behind novels, plays, and stories that still feel urgent in their defense of human dignity.