DW's Best 100 German Books
In 2018 Deutsche Welle aimed to create an 'ultimate list' of interesting German-language novels and stories published since 1900 that have been translated into English. This is not a best-of list and there is no ranking. It's a presentation of good books written by writers you may already know — or should definitely get to know. Some books are new; others are being rediscovered. These novels and stories traverse both "heavy" and "light" literature, and ultimately give the reader new insights into Germany, Austria, Switzerland — and even Europe.
- 1
The Trial
Franz Kafka · 1925 · 21 lists
- 2
All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Maria Remarque · 1929 · 11 lists
- 3
Austerlitz
W.G. Sebald · 2001 · 11 lists
- 4
Buddenbrooks
Thomas Mann · 1909 · 11 lists
- 5
The Tin Drum
Günter Grass · 1959 · 9 lists
- 6
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Alfred Döblin · 1929 · 6 lists
- 7
Perfume
Patrick Süskind · 1985 · 5 lists
- 8
Anniversaries
Uwe Johnson · 1995 · 4 lists
- 9
The Confusions of Young Törless
Robert Musil · 1906 · 4 lists
- 10
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
Heinrich Böll · 1974 · 4 lists
- 11
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge
Rainer Maria Rilke · 1910 · 4 lists
- 12
Jakob von Gunten
Robert Walser · 1969 · 3 lists
- 13
Measuring the World
Daniel Kehlmann · 2008 · 3 lists
- 14
Storm of Steel
Ernst Jünger · 1920 · 3 lists
- 15
The Piano Teacher
Elfriede Jelinek · 1988 · 3 lists
- 16
The Reader
Bernhard Schlink · 1925 · 3 lists
- 17
Auto-da-Fé
Elias Canetti · 1984 · 2 lists
- 18
Death in Rome
Wolfgang Koeppen · 1967 · 2 lists
- 19
Demian
Hermann Hesse · 1919 · 2 lists
- 20
Homo Faber
Max Frisch · 1957 · 2 lists
- 21
Inkheart
Cornelia Funke · 2008 · 2 lists
- 22
Jacob the Liar
Jurek Becker · 2012 · 2 lists
- 23
Kruso
Lutz Seiler · 2016 · 2 lists
- 24
Life is a Caravanserai
Emine Özdamar · 2000 · 2 lists
- 25
The Artificial Silk Girl
Irmgard Keun · 1932 · 2 lists
- 26
The Blind Side of the Heart
Julia Franck · 1915 · 2 lists
- 27
The Loyal Subject
Heinrich Mann · 1717 · 2 lists
- 28
The Seventh Cross
Anna Seghers · 2010 · 2 lists
- 29
The Swarm
Frank Schatzing · 2016 · 2 lists
- 30
Threepenny Novel
Bertolt Brecht · 1910 · 2 lists
- 31
Visitation
Jenny Erpenbeck · 1961 · 2 lists
- 32
Woodcutters
Thomas Bernhard · 2010 · 2 lists
- 33
A Minute's Silence
Siegfried Lenz · 1925 · 1 list
- 34
A Whole Life
Robert Seethaler · 2015 · 1 list
- 35
- 36
Agnes
Peter Stamm · 1847 · 1 list
- 37
All Russians Love Birch Trees
Olga Grjasnowa · 2014 · 1 list
- 38
Alone in Berlin
Hans Fallada · 2010 · 1 list
- 39
Altes Land
Dörte Hansen · 2015 · 1 list
- 40
An Exclusive Love
Johanna Adorján · 2011 · 1 list
- 41
Animal Triste
Monika Maron · 1996 · 1 list
- 42
Apostoloff
Sibylle Lewitscharoff · 2010 · 1 list
- 43
Atlas of an Anxious Man
Christoph Ransmayr · 2020 · 1 list
- 44
Babylon Berlin
Volker Kutscher · 2016 · 1 list
- 45
Berlin Blues
Sven Regener · 2003 · 1 list
- 46
Beware of Pity
Stefan Zweig · 2003 · 1 list
- 47
Blood Brothers
Ernst Haffner · 1982 · 1 list
- 48
Bricks and Mortar
Clemens Meyer · 1977 · 1 list
- 49
Broken Glass Park
Alina Bronsky · 2010 · 1 list
- 50
Brother of Sleep
Robert Schneider · 2004 · 1 list
- 51
Day In Day Out
Terézia Mora · 2007 · 1 list
- 52
Die Dämonen
Heimito von Doderer · 1956 · 1 list
- 53
Fabian: Die Geschichte eines Moralisten
Erich Kästner · 1975 · 1 list
- 54
Grand Hotel
Vicki Baum · 2005 · 1 list
- 55
Hooligan
Philipp Winkler · 1984 · 1 list
- 56
How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone
Saša Stanišić · 2008 · 1 list
- 57
Ich
Wolfgang Hilbig · 1922 · 1 list
- 58
In Times of Fading Light
Eugen Ruge · 2013 · 1 list
- 59
Insane
Rainald Goetz · 1999 · 1 list
- 60
Job
Joseph Roth · 2011 · 1 list
- 61
Lost
Hans-Ulrich Treichel · 2000 · 1 list
- 62
Malina
Ingeborg Bachmann · 1971 · 1 list
- 63
- 64
Memoirs of a Polar Bear
Yōko Tawada · 1 list
- 65
Memoirs of an Anti-Semite
Gregor von Rezzori · 1984 · 1 list
- 66
Mephisto
Klaus Mann · 2006 · 1 list
- 67
Midsummer Night
Uwe Timm · 1600 · 1 list
- 68
Mrs Sartoris
Elke Schmitter · 2003 · 1 list
- 69
- 70
Night Train to Lisbon
Pascal Mercier · 2004 · 1 list
- 71
Payback
Gert Ledig · 2014 · 1 list
- 72
Raw Material
Jörg Fauser · 2006 · 1 list
- 73
Rheinsberg: Ein Bilderbuch für Verliebte
Kurt Tucholsky · 1912 · 1 list
- 74
Runaway Horse
Martin Walser · 1975 · 1 list
- 75
Short Letter, Long Farewell
Peter Handke · 1974 · 1 list
- 76
Summer Resort
Esther Kinsky · 2011 · 1 list
- 77
The Architects
Stefan Heym · 2008 · 1 list
- 78
The Collector of Worlds
Ilija Trojanow · 2008 · 1 list
- 79
The Discovery of Slowness
Sten Nadolny · 1987 · 1 list
- 80
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells · 2014 · 1 list
- 81
The Film Explainer
Gert Hofmann · 2012 · 1 list
- 82
The Giraffe's Neck
Judith Schalansky · 1999 · 1 list
- 83
The Greater Hope
Ilse Aichinger · 2016 · 1 list
- 84
The Hunger Angel
Herta Müller · 2012 · 1 list
- 85
The Method
Juli Zeh · 1979 · 1 list
- 86
The Mussel Feast
Birgit Vanderbeke · 2013 · 1 list
- 87
The Nazi and the Barber
Edgar Hilsenrath · 2013 · 1 list
- 88
The New Sorrows of Young W.
Ulrich Plenzdorf · 2015 · 1 list
- 89
The Oppermanns
Lion Feuchtwanger · 1933 · 1 list
- 90
The Shadow-Boxing Woman
Inka Parei · 1 list
- 91
The Swimmer
Zsuzsa Bánk · 1980 · 1 list
- 92
The Tortoises
Veza Canetti · 1985 · 1 list
- 93
The Tower
Uwe Tellkamp · 1954 · 1 list
- 94
The Vienna Melody
Ernst Lothar · 1957 · 1 list
- 95
The Wall
Marlen Haushofer · 1973 · 1 list
- 96
- 97
They Divided the Sky
Christa Wolf · 2013 · 1 list
- 98
Why We Took the Car
Wolfgang Herrndorf · 2010 · 1 list
- 99
- 100
Young Light
Ralf Rothmann · 2023 · 1 list