German literature

German literature comprises literary texts written in German, including works from Germany, Austria, parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol, and the German diaspora. Modern literature is mostly written in Standard German, though some currents are influenced by dialects. Its history includes Old and Middle High German, Baroque literature, Enlightenment writing, Sturm und Drang, Weimar Classicism, Romanticism, Biedermeier, and literature shaped by censorship and exile under the Nazi regime.

Language

German

Baroque period

1600 to 1720

Nobel Prize in Literature

14 German-language authors, as of 2023