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Hans Erich Nossack

ハンス・エーリッヒ・ノサック

Hans Erich Nossack

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1901-01-30 （Hamburg, Germany）
Died
1977-11-02 age 76
Nationality
Germany
Languages
German
Residence History
Hamburg (residence/activity)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Novelist, Essayist
Active Years
1920-1977

Awards

Georg Büchner Prize
1961
Organization: Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The End: Hamburg 1943

1943 Essay / Reportage

An eyewitness essay written shortly after the Allied bombing of Hamburg in World War II. It provides a sober, vivid account of the city's destruction and survivors' experiences. An English translation was published in 2006.

wardestructionmemoryurban experience
Translations
  • English translation (2006, University of Chicago Press)

Spätestens im November

1955 Novel

A 1950s novel focusing on human relationships and the passage of time.

timehuman relationships

Der jüngere Bruder

1958 Novel

A story that probes family relationships and the individual's inner life.

familyinteriority

Ein glücklicher Mensch

1975 Novel / Essayistic elements

A late work that includes explorations of personal happiness and the meaning of life.

happinessmeaning of life

Bibliography

  • The End: Hamburg 1943
  • Spätestens im November (1955)
  • Der jüngere Bruder (1958)
  • Ein glücklicher Mensch (1975)

Translations of Works

  • The End: Hamburg 1943 — English translation (2006)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
calm, observational prosedetailed description and introspective narration
Recurring Motifs
destruction and renewalmemoryurban landscapes

Legacy

A German writer known for his testimonial work documenting urban destruction during WWII. Awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1961, he is valued for his important eyewitness accounts of war and memory.

Academic Societies

  • Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (awarding organization)

In Popular Culture

  • W. G. Sebald referenced Nossack's importance as a witness in On the Natural History of Destruction.

Quotes

  • Indeed, it seems that no German writer, with the exception of Nossack, was ready or able to put any concrete facts down on paper about the progress or repercussions of this gigantic, long-term campaign of destruction.
    Source: W. G. Sebald, On the Natural History of Destruction (2011)

Trivia

  • The End: Hamburg 1943 was first published in English in 2006 by the University of Chicago Press.
  • He received the Georg Büchner Prize in 1961.