When I was a child, I was living in a small village in Eastern Germany. The says after school felt extremely long, so I started reading not just the recommended Literary works from school but also read other examples from the same or similar authors from the respective time periods.
Authors that I noticed worthwhile reading
One of the German authors that I loved reading was Goethe. I started with "The Sorrows of Young Werther" which was said to be the first Briefroman in the history of German literature. (Turned out to be wrong and actually "History of Mrs. Sternheim from Sophie of La Roches was the first, published 3 years earlier in 1771 which I did not read yet.
Another book I read and adored was Faust - The first part of a tragedy by Goethe because it shows on the one hand, the deep impact on men in the 19th century but up to the present day to be someone in society, show their full potential and leave something behind like a legacy while on the other hand, it opens up the whole world of racism, sexism, prejudices, extremism, magical creatures, aphorisms and so on and so forth. Goethe's Faust is loaded. People have criticized it as being old and bound to its time but it is an awesome piece of literature and no matter if you are anbout to criticize or value it, you should read it first to form your own opinion about it.
Another author I really enjoyed reading was Fontane. "Effie Briest" and "Mrs. Jenny Treibel" are awesome examples of the struggles women and societies had to overcome dealing with rapid industrialization during the 'founding years' in the end of the 18th century. Germany was late starting the industrialization compared to the 'motherland' England and had some robkems catching up. The urbanization and class struggles, the new age and progress in all parts of society and the breaking point of old-fashioned role-models of thinking about the changed approach to gender, upper and lower classes and the meaning of education and breaking boundaries are the very topics itself of Fontane which I enjoyed very much reading.
One German author worth mentioning here as well is Günther Grass. His "Tin Drum" is part of 'Danzig's Triology' and follows the inmate of a mental ward refusing to grow up while wandering through a Europe of war and decay, reflecting with the help of magical realism the German traume of 1939 to 1945. The book is long and was called by students 'the mountain' because barely any made through the first book and came across the tragic of describing the very decay of Germany and Europe with words that are most beautiful and make this book a bitter-sweet synphony of art.
If you are looking for a more contemporary writer, Walter Moers is definitely an experience. Mostly known by my parent generation for his extremely offensive books about "the little asshole", as a more mature writer, Moers produced phantasy about the "13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear" and hen bit by bit explored the different people and 'cultures' living on the continent Zamonien. These books are a fantastic journey about the meaning of friendship, the world falling apart but still remaining positive as an individual, having courage and looking backwards and ahead with your chin up and making experiences that must not mean to end but always holds the pleasure of a new beginning in it.
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