Ernst Jünger (German pronunciation: [ɛʁnst ˈjʏŋɐ]; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir Storm of Steel.
The son of a successful businessman and chemist, Jünger rebelled against an affluent upbringing and sought adventure in the Wandervogel German youth movement, before running away to briefly serve in the French Foreign Legion, which was an illegal act in Germany. However, he escaped prosecution due to his father’s efforts and was able to enlist in the German Army on the outbreak of World War I in 1914. During an ill-fated offensive in 1918 Jünger was badly wounded and was awarded the Pour le Mérite, a rare decoration for one of his rank. Since new awards of the military class ceased with the end of the Prussian monarchy in November 1918, Jünger, who died in 1998, was the last living recipient of the military class award.
He wrote against liberal values, democracy, and the Weimar Republic, but rejected the advances of the Nazis who were rising to power. During World War II Jünger served as an army captain in occupied Paris, but by 1943 he had turned decisively against Nazi totalitarianism, a change manifested in his work “Der Friede” (The Peace). Jünger was dismissed from the army in 1944 after he was indirectly implicated with fellow officers who had plotted to assassinate Hitler. A few months later, his son died in combat in Italy after having been sentenced to a penal battalion for political reasons.
Books in order of publication in English and German:
Non-fiction
1920, In Stahlgewittern (In Storms of Steel)
1922, Der Kampf als inneres Erlebnis (War as an Inner Experience)
1924, Das Wäldchen 125 (Copse 125)
1925, Feuer und Blut (Fire and Blood [de])
1929, Das abenteuerliche Herz. Aufzeichnungen bei Tag und Nacht (The Adventurous Heart: Recordings by Day and Night)
1932, Der Arbeiter. Herrschaft und Gestalt (The Worker: Dominion and Form)
1934, Blätter und Steine (Leaves and Stones)
1938, Das abenteuerliche Herz. Figuren und Capricios (The Adventurous Heart: Figures and Capriccios)
1942, Gärten und Straßen (Gardens and Roads)
1943, Myrdun. Briefe aus Norwegen
1943, Der Friede. Ein Wort an die Jugend Europas und an die Jugend der Welt (The Peace)
1947, Atlantische Fahrt
1947, Sprache und Körperbau
1948, Ein Inselfrühling
1949, Strahlungen
1951, Am Kieselstrand
1951, Über die Linie
1951, Der Waldgang (The Forest Passage)
1953, Der gordische Knoten
1954, Das Sanduhrbuch
1955, Am Sarazenturm
1956, Rivarol
1958, Jahre der Okkupation
1959, An der Zeitmauer
1960, Der Weltstaat
1963, Typus, Name, Gestalt
1966, Grenzgänge. Essays. Reden. Träume
1967, Subtile Jagden
1969, Sgraffiti
1970, Ad hoc
1970, Annäherungen. Drogen und Rausch
1974, Zahlen und Götter. Philemon und Baucis. Zwei Essays
1980, Siebzig verweht I
1981, Siebzig verweht II
1983, Maxima – Minima, Adnoten zum ‘Arbeiter’
1984, Autor und Autorschaft
1987, Zwei Mal Halley
1990, Die Schere
1993, Prognosen
1993, Siebzig verweht III
1995, Siebzig verweht IV
1997, Siebzig verweht V
Novels
1939, Auf den Marmorklippen (On the Marble Cliffs)
1949, Heliopolis. Rückblick auf eine Stadt (Heliopolis)
1957, Gläserne Bienen (The Glass Bees)
1973, Die Zwille
1977, Eumeswil
1985, Eine gefährliche Begegnung (A Dangerous Encounter)
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