Theodor Fontane

Effi Briest

Young Effi is destroyed by the rigid codes of honour of Prussian society.

💡 Did you know? The novel is regarded as the German counterpart to „Madame Bovary“ and „Anna Karenina“.

Realism

His subtle, ironic dialogue is seen as a high point of the era.

💡 Did you know? His famous motto of composure runs: „That is a wide field.“

pharmacist

Only in his late fifties did he turn fully to writing novels.

💡 Did you know? Before that he long worked as a journalist and theatre critic.

Herr von Ribbeck auf Ribbeck im Havelland

The squire gives pears to children and keeps doing so beyond his death.

💡 Did you know? The ballad is one of the best-known German poems of all.

The Stechlin

„At the end an old man dies and two young people marry“: so Fontane summed it up himself.

💡 Did you know? The calm, late-life tone of the novel is seen as the peak of his work.

Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg

In several volumes he describes the castles, villages and stories of his homeland.

💡 Did you know? The work still shapes how Brandenburg is seen today.

in old age

„Effi Briest“ appeared when Fontane was already in his mid-seventies.

💡 Did you know? He is a shining example of a late, mature body of work.

Delusions, Confusions

A nobleman and a simple seamstress love each other and must bow to society.

💡 Did you know? Here as so often Fontane shows the quiet constraints of Prussian class thinking.

Huguenots

Their families had come to Brandenburg-Prussia from France as religious refugees.

💡 Did you know? The French-sounding name Fontane still recalls this origin today.

Île d'Oléron

Only after intercession, Bismarck's among others, was he released in December 1870.

💡 Did you know? He recorded his experiences in the book “Kriegsgefangen” (Prisoner of War).

Theodor Fontane