Fritz von Unruh was a German Expressionist

Expressionism

Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...

 dramatist, poet, and novelist.

Biography

Unruh was born in Koblenz

Koblenz

Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

, Germany. A general's son, he was an officer in the German army until 1912, when he left to pursue his writing career. Two of his earliest important works, the play Offiziere ("Officers"; 1911) and the poem Vor der Entscheidung ("Before the Decision"; 1914) established his anti-war beliefs and his belief that the social order must be based not on authority, but on the integrity and responsibility of the individual towards humanity. Unruh's works were anti-militaristic and called for world peace and brotherhood. Some of his more notable works include Der Opfergang ("Way of Sacrifice"), a powerful anti-war piece written during the siege of Verdun

Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...

 and published in 1919, Ein Geschlecht ("A Family"; 1916) and its sequel Platz (1920), and Heinrich von Andernach (1925).

Unruh was a staunch opponent of the Nazi

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 Party and wrote several works warning of the consequences of Nazi dictatorship, including Bonaparte (1927), Berlin in Monte Carlo (1931), and Zero (1932). He left Germany for France in 1932, later immigrating to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He finally returned to Germany in 1962 and died in the town of Dietz

Dietz

Dietz is a surname, and may refer to:* August Dietz , a philatelist, editor and publisher* Cyrus E. Dietz , Illinois Supreme Court Justice* Danny Dietz , United States Navy SEAL and recipient of the Navy Cross...

 at age 85.

Honors and awards

• 1914 Kleist Prize
  Kleist Prize
  The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Republic, but was discontinued in 1933.In 1985 the prize...
  
   for Louis Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen
• 1923 Grillparzer Prize
• 1947 Wilhelm Raabe Prize
• 1948 Goethe Prize
  Goethe Prize
  The Goethe Prize of Frankfurt-am-Main is a German literary award of high prestige named after Johann Wolfgang Goethe. It was initially an annual award, but became triennial...
  
   of the City Frankfurt am Main Stadt Frankfurt am Main
• 1955 Goethe Award
• 1966 Carl von Ossietzky Medal

Dramas

• Jürgen Wullenweber, 1908
• Offiziere, 1911
• Louis Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen, 1913
• Ein Geschlecht, Tragödie, 1917
• Platz, 1920 (Fortsetzung von Ein Geschlecht)
• Stürme, Schauspiel, 1922
• Rosengarten, 1923
• Bonaparte, Schauspiel, 1927
• Phaea, Komödie, 1930
• Zero, Komödie, 1932
• Gandha, 1935
• Charlotte Corday, 1936
• Miss Rollschuh, 1941
• Der Befreiungsminister, 1948
• Wilhelmus, 1953
• Duell an der Havel, Schauspiel, 1954
• Bismarck oder Warum steht der Soldat da?, 1955
• Odysseus auf Ogygia, Schauspiel, 1968

Novels

• Opfergang, 1918
• Der nie verlor, 1948
• Die Heilige, 1952
• Fürchtet nichts, 1952
• Der Sohn des Generals, 1957

Lectures

• " Vaterland und Freiheit. Eine Ansprache an die deutsche Jugend",1923
• " Politeia", hrsg. von Ernst Adolf Dreyer, 1933
• " Europa erwache!", gehalten am Europa-Tag in Basel, 1936
• " Friede auf Erden! Peace o Earth!", Frankfurt/M., 1948
• " Rede an die Deutschen", Geleitwort von Eugen Kogon, 1948
• " Seid wachsam", Goethe-Rede, Frankfurt/M., 1948
• " Universitätsrede", in: Was da ist. Kunst und Literatur in Frankfurt/M.,1952
• " Schillerrede", hrsg. von der Fritz von Unruh-Gesellschaft, Gießen, 1955
• " Mächtig seid ihr nicht in Waffen", Begleitwort von Albert Einstein, 1957
• " Mahnruf zum Frieden", in: Konkret 7(1961), 1960
• " Wir wollen Frieden", Geleitwort von Hanns Martin Elster, 1961
• " Sport und Politik", Appell an die Jugend in aller Welt, 1961
• " Die Lebendigen rufe ich ", mit Beitrag von Johannes Urzidil, 1962
• " Rede an die Frankfurter Jugend", hrsg. vom DGB, Kreisausschuss Frankfurt/M., 1964

Collections

• Vor der Entscheidung, 1914
• Flügel der Nike. Buch einer Reise, 1925
• Meine Begegnungen mit Trotzki, 1963
• Friede in USA? Ein Traum, 1967