Author. He is considered the leading exponent of Realism in 19th Century German Literature. Most of his novels deal with the decline of the Prussian nobility and the rise of the middle class, through seemingly mundane episodes written in an understated, poetic style. "Effie Briest" (1894), about the tragic failure of an arranged marriage, is his masterpiece. Fontane was born in Neuruppin, Germany, to parents of French Huguenot descent. Trained as a pharmacist, he practiced this profession for about a decade before becoming a freelance journalist in Berlin. From 1849 to 1851 he lived in London as an attache to the Prussian Intelligence Agency and much of his early work is based on British history, including the biography "James Monmouth" (1854). As a newspaper correspondent during the Franco-Prussian War (1870 to 1871) he was mistakenly arrested by the French as a spy and held prisoner for three months. Fontane did not turn to fiction until he was nearly 60, after which he produced roughly a novel a year for the rest of his life. His other major works include two volumes of poetry, "Gedichte" (1851) and "Ballads" (1861), the novels "A Woman Taken in Adultery" (1882), "Trials and Tribulations" (1888), and "Frau Jenny Treibel" (1893), and an autobiography, "My Childhood Days" (1894). He also wrote travel books, political essays, and theatre criticism. "Effie Briest" has been filmed several times, notably by director Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1974.
Author. He is considered the leading exponent of Realism in 19th Century German Literature. Most of his novels deal with the decline of the Prussian nobility and the rise of the middle class, through seemingly mundane episodes written in an understated, poetic style. "Effie Briest" (1894), about the tragic failure of an arranged marriage, is his masterpiece. Fontane was born in Neuruppin, Germany, to parents of French Huguenot descent. Trained as a pharmacist, he practiced this profession for about a decade before becoming a freelance journalist in Berlin. From 1849 to 1851 he lived in London as an attache to the Prussian Intelligence Agency and much of his early work is based on British history, including the biography "James Monmouth" (1854). As a newspaper correspondent during the Franco-Prussian War (1870 to 1871) he was mistakenly arrested by the French as a spy and held prisoner for three months. Fontane did not turn to fiction until he was nearly 60, after which he produced roughly a novel a year for the rest of his life. His other major works include two volumes of poetry, "Gedichte" (1851) and "Ballads" (1861), the novels "A Woman Taken in Adultery" (1882), "Trials and Tribulations" (1888), and "Frau Jenny Treibel" (1893), and an autobiography, "My Childhood Days" (1894). He also wrote travel books, political essays, and theatre criticism. "Effie Briest" has been filmed several times, notably by director Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1974.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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