Meet the Author
Heinrich Böll
German · 1917–1985 · Novelist and short story writer
The moral conscience of postwar Germany, sifting through the rubble for what decency survived.
3 StoryBites Editions
Why read Heinrich Böll?
Böll writes about ordinary Germans living with guilt, ruin, and hypocrisy after the Nazi era and the war. He's compassionate toward the powerless and sharp toward institutions, church, state, press, that betray them. Read him to understand how a nation tried to reckon with its own conscience.
A life in six dates
- 1917Born in Cologne, Germany
- 1959Publishes Billiards at Half-Past Nine
- 1971Publishes Group Portrait with Lady
- 1972Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
- 1974Publishes The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
- 1985Dies in Kreuzau, Germany
The StoryBites Editions
Context that actually matters
Postwar GermanyHis 'rubble literature' faced the moral wreckage the war left behind.
Catholic critiqueA believer, he still lashed the church's compromises and cruelty.
Media and the stateHe exposed how press and power can destroy an ordinary person's life.