Early German and Austrian Detective Fiction

Often considered an Anglo-American and French phenomenon, the detective story is now known to have been German as well, at least since Adolph Mullner's 1828 novella "The Caliber" - published 13 years before Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders of the Rue Morgue". The Germanic stories, however, were neglected by German and Austrian academics with literary-canonical predilections, dismissed by self-important Anglo-American scholars, and suppressed by National Socialists. Now, scholars are re-examining noncanonical works in all genres. This study includes parts of six translated detective novels and novellas, originally published between 1828 and 1909. The selection includes one story each by Adolph Mullner, Otto Ludwig, Adolf Streckfuss, Auguste Groner, Maximilian Bottcher and Balduin Groller. Each story is preceded by a one-page biographical sketch of the author, and a general introduction covers the literary development of the genre and briefly examines the critical history and the sociohistorical value of the German-language stories.