German Music and Literature

Kraftwerk in concert

A musical journey through time

From Bach to Lena: follow us on a brief musical journey through four centuries of seminal moments in German music. 

Fans enjoy the sun at the "Hurricane Festival"

Rock and pop festivals

The stage throbs with stomping beats and heavy guitar riffs as young fans thrill to the music of this year’s top acts. Gripped by festival fever, thousands of fans are flocking to Germany to attend the more than 800 open-air events and spend a whole weekend partying to good music.

Poem by Goethe

Classical German poetry by major German authors

Every season has its beauty that is captured by great poems. Here you can listen to famous German poems for every season.

Guenter Grass reading at the Eifel Literature Festival

Post-war Literature

German literature in the aftermath of World War II started from a new beginning, with many authors attempting to find a way of describing the shocking, nihilistic experience of war and devastation – often taking their cue from foreign models or existentialist and traditional Christian trains of thought.

German singer and performer Max Raabe

German singer and performer Max Raabe

Books

More information on German literature