Germanic Literature & Cinema

Gale Group, 2003.
Look up authors using the Person Search tool on the main page and then selecting the Biographies heading from the horizontal choices at the top of the result list. The database organizes entries into biography, literature criticism, biographies, reviews and news, primary sources and literary works, and multimedia.

Gale Group, 2003-
Similar to Gale’s Literature Resource Centre, and just as good, this database is a great starting place for literary biography. While some of the entries overlap with the Literature Resource Centre, many do not, so looking at both resources is worthwhile.

Edited by A. Closs and others.
London: Cresset, 1969.
Historical, biographical, bibliographic, and critical information on 20th-century German authors and literature.

By Karl August Kutzbach.
Bonn: Bouvier, 1950-.
A bio-bibliographic dictionary with approximately a thousand entries on 20th- century German writers. While dated, the Neues Handbuch remains useful because it not only lets users look up an author by name, but also by the form of writing, region, philosophical outlook, etc.

By B. Lutz.
2nd edition. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler, 1994.
This indexed biographical dictionary provides detailed articles on German authors. Includes bibliographical references and index.

By Paul Merker and Wolfgang Stammler.
Berlin: De Gruyter, 1955-1988. 5 volumes.
The articles in this dictionary of German literature focus on genres, literary periods, national and regional literatures, and general terminology. Extensive bibliographies.

By Harald Steinhagen and Benno von Wiese.
Berlin: E. Schmidt, 1984.
Deutsche Dichter des 17 provides detailed articles and bibliographies on selected 17th-century German poets and writers. Includes a detailed timeline and index.

By Benno von Wiese.
Berlin: E. Schmidt, 1977.
Lengthy articles and bibliographies of primary and secondary sources on 18th-century German authors. Includes index and timeline at the end of the volume.

By Benno von Wiese.
Berlin: E. Schmidt, 1969.
Detailed essays on selected 19th-century German authors. Includes further readings and index.

By Heinz Ludwig Arnold.
München: Edition Text + Kritik, 1999-
Biographical and bibliographic information on 20th-century German and Swiss-German authors. Also available as a CDROM at Robarts Reference.

Edited by Manfred Brauneck.
Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1991.
An author dictionary providing over 1,000 entries on writers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Each entry provides a biographical sketch, criticism of the writer's work, and a listing of the author's writings. There is also a general bibliography of criticism arranged by topic.

By Günter Albrecht and others.
Hildesheim: Olms, 1992-1999. 2 volumes.
A bio-bibliographic sourcebook with about 1,400 entries on writers from German-speaking countries. The first volume covers writers from Medieval times to the close of the 19th century. The second covers the 20th century and gives good coverage of East German writers. Includes bibliography.