Friedrich Griese

Who was Friedrich Griese?

Friedrich Griese was a German novelist. He was associated with the nationalist literary movement during the Third Reich.

Griese wrote mostly about peasant life in northern Germany. His most important books were written before the advent of the Nazi government in 1933, so he cannot be considered so much a proponent of Nazi ideologies as a precursor to them. He wrote his first autobiography, Mein Leben, at the height of his popularity in 1934, his second one, Leben in dieser Zeit, in 1970.

Griese's novels are nostalgic both in their interest in medieval German literature and their enthusiasm for an idealized conception of the spirit of the German peasant. In this sense they are solidly within the Blut und Boden school popular during the Third Reich. However, according to Charles Albert Schumann, he is more interested in connection to one's ancestors than in race as it was popularly conceived at the time. His best-known novels are Feuer, Winter, and Die Weissköpfe, all stories of agrarian life in 19th and 20th century Germany.

After the Second World War, Griese was briefly interned at the infamous Prisoner of War camp at Fünfeichen. However, he was, after his release, able to write, principally as a scholar of Fritz Reuter, during the postwar years. He published one novel, Der Zug der Grossen Vögel, during this period. Like most popular Third Reich authors, he is largely forgotten in contemporary Germany, and his books can only be obtained second-hand.