Günter Grass died of a lung infection on Monday, April 13, in the northern German city of Lübeck, the Steidl publishing house announced.

His life, full of ups and downs, moments of triumph and turmoil, began on October 16, 1927. Günter Grass grew up in a rather humble home: His parents ran a grocery store in Gdansk (then known as Danzig), but their customers were so poor that they couldn't always pay the bills. The Catholic family lived in a very small apartment.

"A childhood between the Holy Spirit and Hitler," is how biographer Michael Jürgs sums up the environment in which Grass spent his childhood. At the age of just 17, he witnessed the horrors of World War II as a member of the Hitler Youth. He later joined the Waffen-SS, a Nazi special forces unit. It would be decades until he would be able to talk openly about these experiences - which later caused a scandal. During his years as a teenager and a young man, he focused on how to survive the war.

A scene from the film version of Grass' breakthrough novel, "The Tin Drum"

Beginnings of a bestselling author



1952: the Federal Republic of Germany was still in its infancy, and so was the intellectual development of Grass. He was interested in art, studied sculpture and graphic design, joined a jazz band, and traveled a lot. In 1956, he settled down in Paris for some time, where he lived a rather modest life together with his first wife.

That's where his brilliant career as an author began. Grass produced his first novel "The Tin Drum" in 1959, sparking an uproar in the rather conservative society of the former West Germany before it became a huge international success. The book was translated into numerous languages and adapted into a movie. Exactly four decades later, its writer received the Nobel Prize for Literature.



Creative and productive

Günter Grass wrote dramas, poems, and especially fiction, the list of his works is very long, among them "Cat and Mouse" and "Dog Years," which, together with "The Tin Drum" were part of his famous "Gdansk Trilogy;" "Local Anesthetic," "The Flounder," "The Rat," "The Call of the Toad," and "Crabwalk." Most of his works dealt with political conditions and social upheaval, like the sinking of a refugee ship in the Baltic Sea in 1945, the role of intellectuals in the uprising in former East Germany in 1953, the student protests of 1968, federal election campaigns and political relations between the East and West.

As a native of Danzig, reconciliation between Germany and Poland always remained a particularly important topic to Grass. Despite some critics lamenting that Grass' books were too heavy and political in nature, all of his works became very successful and sparked heated debates among literary circles in Germany. Yet none of them ever managed to match the enthusiasm created by the drumming Oskar Matzerath of Grass' very first novel, "The Tin Drum."

Morality and politics

Günter Grass was a multi-talented artist, not only a novelist and poet, but also a sculptor and designer who occasionally also designed the covers of his own books. Considered by some as a moral authority and by others as a radical leftist, his political views divided the nation. Since 1961, he committed himself to the Social Democrats (SPD) without being a party member, and he supported Willy Brandt in his election campaign in 1969. Later on, he did join the SPD - only to give up his membership a few years later in a row over alterations of the right to asylum.

Grass always remained a very critical observer, an independent leftist who, making use of his reputation, interfered in political issues now and then. He spoke out against the deportation of Kurds, for the compensation of former forced laborers during the Nazi era, for human rights, for persecuted writers and against wars.

In 2006, he saw himself forced to admit that, during the Second World War, he himself had not been altogether innocent. His former membership in the notorious Waffen-SS, mentioned in his 2006 autobiography "Peeling the Onion," caused a stir both in Germany and abroad, besmirching his reputation as a moral authority. Suddenly he who had always advocated stringently dealing with Germany's Nazi past was accused of being a hypocrite.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Mourning Günter Grass The Nobel Prize laureate died on April 13, 2015, at the age of 87. He was one of Germany's most significant post-war authors. As a politically active intellectual, he tended to polarize the public, kicking off polemical debates on German guilt, Nazism and current political topics.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Growing up in East Prussia Grass was born on October 16, 1927 in what was then East Prussia. He grew up in humble circumstances in Danzig (now Gdansk in Poland). As a child, he served as an altar boy and became a member of the Hitler Youth. He published his first stories in their magazine, "Hitlerjugend."

Günter Grass: Life in pictures The Nazi era Grass volunteered for military service in order to escape the narrowness of his family. In 1944, the 17-year-old was drafted into the Nazi special forces unit, known as the Waffen-SS. Towards the end of the war, he was captured by the Americans as a prisoner of war.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Training to become an artist After the war he began training as a stonemason and studied graphics and sculpture in Dusseldorf. He also spent some time in Berlin and Paris. His sculptures and graphics were shown in some exhibitions. He continued to work as an artist throughout his entire life and designed the covers for his own books.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Joining the club In the 1950s, Grass increasingly turned to literature. In 1955, the "Group 47," an influential group of writers, took notice of his work. In one of their meetings he read two chapters from his yet unpublished novel "The Tin Drum."

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Breakthrough as an author His international breakthrough occurred in 1959 following the publication of "The Tin Drum." In 1979, it was turned into a movie by Volker Schlöndorff (pictured). With "Cat and Mouse" (1961) and "Dog Years" (1963), Grass completed his "Gdansk Trilogy" focusing on German guilt and the Third Reich. He never stopped appealing to Germans to grapple with the crimes of National Socialism.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Political commitment Grass was also politically active and was an outspoken proponent of German-Polish reconciliation. In the1960s, he worked as a campaigner for the Social Democrats (SPD), although he was a party member only from 1982 to 1992. He continued to support the SPD throughout his life.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Grass under fire In 1995, Germany’s most renowned and controversial literary critic, the late Marcel Reich-Ranicki, tore Grass' novel "Too far Afield" apart. The political novel, which paints a panorama of German history between 1848 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, sparked heated debate on Grass' alleged falsification of history.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures The Nobel Prize Four years later, Grass was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. According to the committee, he was honored for "portraying the forgotten face of history in brisk black fables, and for the fact that 'The Tin Drum' will forever remain one of the most significant literary works of the twentieth century."

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Sensational success with German history In 2002, Grass was crowned by success once again: His novella "Crabwalk," featuring the sinking of the "Wilhelm Gustloff" in 1945 and the expulsion of ethnic Germans from the East, was a sensational hit. Critics lauded Grass for tackling such a difficult issue and praised the thrilling scenes in the novel.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Loss of credibility? His autobiographical novel "Peeling the Onion" sparked a debate in Germany in 2006. In the book, Grass admitted for the first time that he had joined the Nazi special unit, Waffen-SS in 1944. Critics then questioned his moral integrity and credibility.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Criticism of Israel On his 80th birthday in 2007, Grass was once again recognized as a great author. But another storm of criticism soon followed suit when a poem of his, which was critical of Israel’s politics, was published by the daily "Süddeutsche Zeitung" in April 2012. The poem came under attack for its allegedly bad style, and Grass was accused of political ignorance and anti-Semitism.

Günter Grass: Life in pictures Opinionated and contentious In December 2013, Grass became one of the 562 signatories of "Writers Against Mass Surveillance" calling on people to protest against the surveillance practices of US intelligence services. Until his death, Grass remained a fierce intellectual. Author: Johanna Zahn / ad



A rift seemed to grow between the writer and the public, a moral authority holding up a mirror to the Germans was no longer needed. Grass caused yet another international uproar in April 2012 after publishing a text entitled "What must be said." The text, which he labeled a poem, contained thinly veiled criticism of Israeli policy with Grass warning of an Israeli nuclear strike against Iran and calling the state of Israel, its nuclear capabilities and its occupation policy a threat to world peace.The pamphlet sparked outrage. Grass, accused of anti-Semitism, became persona non grata in Israel. Nevertheless, he remained a role model throughout his lifetime - not least for his younger fellow writers. Author and critic Uwe Tellkamp considered him "one of the strongest narrative powers in German literature," while fellow author Moritz Rinke casually referred to him as "perhaps the most interesting and most versatile dinosaur."