Goethe and Grass: Two Literary Giants

by Paul A. Schons

Originally published by the Germanic-American Institute in December of 1999

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Before leaving this year, it must be noted that 1999 has been the 250 anniversary of the birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main on August 28, 1749. Goethe lived in the Frankfurt residence through his youth. After he had finished his university studies he was invited by the duke, Karl August, to dwell in Weimar, where he resided and worked until his death in 1832.

Goethe is clearly the outstanding writer in the history of German literature. His best known work is, no doubt, the play, Faust. The legend of Faust had been about for centuries by the time Goethe put the legend into the form of a classic drama which encompasses much of human experience and shows an intense drive to increase the scope of humanity. Goethe created his Faust as a great professor with an endless thirst for knowledge who was ready to sell his soul to the devil to achieve his goals of human achievement and the fullest experience of life. The story then follows Faust through a lifetime of adventures as he is led and tempted by the devil, Mephistopheles.

Another of the Goethe works which is very widely known is the famous poem, Erlkönig, in which Goethe pairs a father and a child in the experience of life and death within the framework of mystery and myth. The poem was set to music by Franz Schubert and is doubly enjoyable in that form.

The most popular of the youthful works of Goethe during his lifetime was Die Leiden des jungen Werthers of 1774 (The Sorrows of Young Werther). The novel was quickly translated into all of the major European languages and was for years a best seller throughout Europe. Werther, the highly emotional story of passions and love, is considered a highlight of Goethe’s Sturm und Drang (Strorm and Stress) period of youthful writing. Two plays from that period which also came to be standards of the period are Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand (Götz of Berlichingen with the Iron Hand), the story of one of the last of the free medieval knights and Egmont, the story of a Dutch freedom fighter.

In his classic period Goethe wrote the Wilhelm Meister stories, Torquato Tasso, and the play giving voice to a high sense of compassion and ethics, Iphigenie auf Tauris. But along with his Faust it is through his poetry that Goethe remains with us most vividly 250 years after his birth.

Günter Grass (1927 - )

Günter Grass, now 72, will be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on December 10, 1999. Grass was born in Danzig in 1927. (Danzig is now a part Poland and called Gdansk.) Grass’ best known novel, Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) relates in strange and anguished symbols Grass’ experiences as a young man growing up in the confusion of the “Polish Corridor” years, the terror of the following Nazi years and the total destruction and loss of identity after World War II.

Die Blechtrommel was developed as a film by the noted director Völker Schlöndorf. The film won the American Academy Award in 1979 for the “Best Foreign Language Film”.

Grass published the novel, Katz und Maus (Cat and Mouse) in 1961. His Hundejahre (Dog Years) appeared in 1963. He joined the Vietnam protests in 1969 with Örtlich Betäubt (Local Anesthetic). He continued to write Der Butt (The Flounder) in 1977, Die Rättin (The She Rat) in 1986 and Unkenrufe (The Call of the Toad) in 1992. In 1995, after the German reunification, he published Ein Weites Feld (A Broad Field). In that novel Grass gave voice to the view of many liberal West Germans that the reunification was a mistake. The work became an instant best seller, but the intense controversy surrounding his views caused significant damage to his reputation. Shortly before the announcement of the Nobel Prize in October this year, Grass had published his latest book commenting on the twentieth century, Mein Jahrhundert (My Century).

In addition to his literary activities Grass has been active in liberal politics. He was most active as an ardent campaigner for the SPD (Social Democratic Party) which was successful in electing its chancellor candidate, Willy Brandt. In that context Grass wrote a number of Brandt’s speeches.

Grass’ most recent engagement in politics came only days after it had been announced that he would win the Nobel Prize. He publicly addressed Oskar Lafontaine who had been a long time leader of the SPD but recently had been criticizing the policies of his party’s chancellor, Schröder. To Lafontiane Grass said publicly, “Halt’s Maul! Trink Deinen Rotwein, fahr in die Ferien, such Dir eine sinnvolle Beschäftigung!” (Shut your mouth! Drink your red wine, go on vacation, find something worthwhile to do!”)

The Swedish Nobel Academy took note of the controversial character of Günter Grass and in that role noted that he poses the great questions of the history of our century. The Academy also voiced its confidence that the novel, Die Blechtrommel, will be among the lasting works of the 20th century.