Erich Kästner

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Erich Kästner (February 23, 1899 - July 29, 1974) was one of the most famous German authors and children's writers of the 20th century.

Kästner was born in 1899 in Dresden, Germany, the single child of a leatherworker and a housewife. According to his autobiography When I Was a Little Boy, he did not suffer from being an only child, had many friends and was not lonely or over-indulged.

In 1914, when he was 15, World War I broke out, which he later wrote "brought the end to my childhood". Kästner was drafted in 1917, and the war has a strong influence on his anti-militarist opinions. In 1918 he completed studies to become a teacher, but changed his mind and did not enter the profession. At the age of 20 he started publishing poems.

Kästner studied German literature in Rostock, Berlin and Leipzig, and in 1925 received a doctorate for a thesis on Friedrich the Great and German literature. He then moved to Berlin and began working as a journalist.

He wrote many long time bestseller books for children like Emil and the Detectives and The Little Man and the Little Miss, but he was also a political author. He held pacifist ideals, and wrote for children because of his belief in the renewing powers of each generation of youth. He was opposed to the Nazi regime in Germany, and therefore his books were burnt under this regime. In 1960 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award for his lifetime contributions to children's literature.

Emil und die Detektive and many of his subsequent works were illustrated by Walter Trier.

A list of his works, by their German titles and publication dates, follows

Herz auf Taille, 1928
Emil und die Detektive, 1929; in English Emil and the Detectives; Hollywood film version produced in 1964 [(IMDB link)].
Lärm im Spiegel, 1929
Ein Mann gibt Auskunft, 1930
Pünktchen und Anton, 1931; in English, Anna Louise and Anton
Der 35. Mai, 1931; in English, The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas
Fabian. Die Geschichte eines Moralisten, 1932; in English, Fabian, the Story of a Moralist
Gesang zwischen den Stühlen, 1932
Das fliegende Klassenzimmer, 1933; in English, The Flying Classroom
Drei Männer im Schnee, 1934
Die verschwundene Miniatur, 1935
Georg und die Zwischenfälle, 1938
Das doppelte Lottchen, 1949; in English, Lottie and Lisa, adapted into film as The Parent Trap in 1961 and 1964.
Die Konferenz der Tiere, 1949
Die dreizehn Monate, 1955
Als ich ein kleiner Junge war 1957; in English, When I Was a Little Boy, his autobiography.

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