Willibald Alexis

Born Georg Wilhelm Heinrich Häring in Breslau in 1798, he later wrote under the pen name Willibald Alexis. He grew up in Berlin, served as a volunteer in the 1815 campaign against Napoleon, and studied law in Berlin and Breslau before leaving that path for literature.

He first drew attention with Walladmor (1824), a literary hoax presented as a translation of Walter Scott, whose work strongly influenced him. Alexis went on to become best known for historical novels set in Brandenburg and Prussia, including Cabanis, Der Roland von Berlin, and Der falsche Woldemar. Critics have often described him as one of the founders of the historical novel in German.

Later in life he suffered from poor health and eventually withdrew from public literary life. He died in Arnstadt in 1871, but his reputation endured through novels that combined careful interest in history with an accessible, lively narrative style.