The Greatest German Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 465 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

View: Default Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
32 The Magic Mountain Thomas Mann 1924 German German
87 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
93 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
103 The Tin Drum Günter Grass 1959 German German
105 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
117 Doctor Faustus Thomas Mann 1947 German German
152 Steppenwolf Hermann Hesse 1927 German German
196 Communist Manifesto Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels 1848 German German
231 Berlin Alexanderplatz Alfred Döblin 1929 German German
265 Thus Spake Zarathustra Friedrich Nietzsche 1883 German German
274 Siddhartha Hermann Hesse 1922 German German
370 Austerlitz W. G. Sebald 2001 German German
373 Relativity Albert Einstein 1916 German German
376 The Sorrows of Young Werther Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1774 German German
390 Das Kapital Karl Marx 1867 German German
400 Joseph and His Brothers Thomas Mann 1933 German German
401 The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge Rainer Maria Rilke 1910 German German
406 Critique of Pure Reason Immanuel Kant 1781 German German
426 The Glass Bead Game Hermann Hesse 1943 German German
429 Household Tales Brothers Grimm 1812 German German
459 Effi Briest Theodor Fontane 1895 German German
479 Perfume Patrick Suskind 1985 German German
499 The Origins of Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt 1951 German English
520 The Duino Elegies Rainer Maria Rilke 1923 German German
587 Anniversaries Uwe Johnson 1970 German German
616 The Book Thief Markus Zusak 2005 German English
648 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
851 The Rings of Saturn W. G. Sebald 1995 German German
761 Economy and Society Max Weber 1922 German German
795 Anton Reiser Karl Philipp Moritz 1785 German German
797 The Stechlin Theodor Fontane 1898 German German
803 Being and Time Martin Heidegger 1927 German German
841 Eichmann in Jerusalem Hannah Arendt 1963 German English
873 Simplicius Simplicissimus Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen 1668 German German
874 The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr E. T. A. Hoffmann 1819 German German
875 The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Max Weber 1905 German German
876 Mein Kampf Adolf Hitler 1925 German German
878 Hyperion Friedrich Holderlin 1797 German German
886 The Life of a Good-For-Nothing Joseph von Eichendorff 1826 German German
897 The Nibelungenlied Anonymous 1200 German Middle high german
916 Elective Affinities Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1809 German German
947 Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1795 German German
1148 The Reader Bernhard Schlink 1995 German German
1177 The Case of Sergeant Grischa Arnold Zweig 1927 German German
1177 Transit Anna Seghers 1944 German German
1177 The Hothouse Wolfgang Koeppen 1953 German German
1187 Essays and Aphorisms Arthur Schopenhauer 1851 German German
1189 Jacob the Liar Jurek Becker 1969 German German
1207 The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum Heinrich Böll 1974 German German
1273 Mother Courage and Her Children Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
1280 Phenomenology of Mind G. W. F. Hegel 1807 German German
1298 On the Genealogy of Morality Friedrich Nietzsche 1887 German German
1359 Poems Paul Celan 1952 German German
1427 Demian Hermann Hesse 1919 German German
1466 Storm of Steel Ernst Jünger 1920 German German
1487 Tristan Gottfried von Strassburg 1210 German Middle high german
1525 Scenes From The Life Of A Faun Arno Schmidt 1953 German German
1530 The Neverending Story Michael Ende 1979 German German
1540 Professor Unrat Heinrich Mann 1905 German German
1546 The Egghead Republic Arno Schmidt 1957 German German
1563 Three Comrades Erich Maria Remarque 1936 German German
1580 The German Lesson Siegfried Lenz 1968 German German
1585 A Legacy Sybille Bedford 1956 German English
1602 Napoleon Emil Ludwig 1926 German German
1639 Michael Kohlhaas Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
1636 Death in Rome Wolfgang Koeppen 1954 German German
1651 Germany, a Winter Tale Heinrich Heine 1844 German German
1663 Heinrich of Ofterdingen Novalis 1802 German German
1663 Memoirs of My Nervous Illness Daniel Paul Schreber 1903 German German
1732 Dog Years Günter Grass 1963 German German
1740 The Emigrants W. G. Sebald 1992 German German
1752 Winnetou Karl May 1893 German German
1753 The Glass Bees Ernst Jünger 1957 German German
1796 Billiards at Half-Past Nine Heinrich Böll 1959 German German
1836 Halbzeit Martin Walser 1960 German German
1843 Dialectic Of Enlightenment Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer 1944 German German
1856 Cat and Mouse Günter Grass 1961 German German
1874 The Quest for Christa T. Christa Wolf 1968 German German
1894 Leviathan Arno Schmidt 1949 German German
1894 Life Of Quintus Fixlein Jean-Paul Richter 1796 German German
1925 Couples, Passersby Botho Strauß 1981 German German
1951 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
1951 Lenz Georg Buchner 1836 German German
1986 The Seventh Cross Anna Seghers 1942 German German
2039 The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology Edmund Husserl 1936 German German
2067 Momo Michael Ende 1973 German German
2186 Beethoven's Letters Ludwig van Beethoven 1866 German German
2201 Poems of Friedrich Hölderlin Friedrich Holderlin 1800 German German
2293 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Bertolt Brecht 1941 German German
2294 Philosophical Writings Novalis 1798 German German
2323 The Hunger Angel Herta Müller 2009 German German
2412 Night Visitor B. Traven 1966 German Unknown
2423 Group Portrait with Lady Heinrich Böll 1971 German German
2499 Decline of the West Oswald Spengler 1918 German German
2505 Abu Telfan, Return from the Mountains of the Moon Wilhelm Karl Raabe 1867 German German
2602 Behemoth Franz Neumann 1942 German English
2657 Patterns of Childhood Christa Wolf 1976 German German
2687 Parzival Wolfram Eschenbach 1200 German Middle high german
2688 The Tales Of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
2733 Logical Investigations Edmund Husserl 1900 German German
2751 Arch Of Triumph Erich Maria Remarque 1945 German German
2775 The Fear Of Freedom Erich Fromm 1941 German English
2783 When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Judith Kerr 1971 German English
2803 The Black Brothers Lisa Tetzner 1941 German German
2839 The World as Will and Idea Arthur Schopenhauer 1818 German German
2875 The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte Karl Marx 1852 German German
2874 The Loyal Subject Heinrich Mann 1918 German German
2872 The Artificial Silk Girl Irmgard Keun 1932 German German
2904 Siebenkäs Jean Paul 1796 German German
2904 The Waste Books Georg Christoph Lichtenberg 1770 German German
2904 The Treasure Chest Johann Peter Hebel 1811 German German
2904 Human, All Too Human Friedrich Nietzsche 1878 German German
2904 Track Ernst Bloch 1949 German Unknown
2904 Stories of Mr. Keuner Bertolt Brecht 1926 German German
2891 The Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist Friedrich Nietzsche 1888 German German
2891 And where Were You, Adam? Heinrich Böll 1951 German German
2904 Perpetual Peace Immanuel Kant 1795 German German
2904 Anti Goeze Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 1778 German German
2904 On The Aesthetic Education Of Man Friedrich Schiller 1794 German German
2949 The Courage to Be Paul Tillich 1952 German English