September 25 marks the 56th anniversary of the death of Erich Maria Remarque – one of the most widely read German writers of the 20th century and an author whose novels transformed the tragedy of war, the lost generation, love and exile into universal literary themes. Remarque died on September 25, 1970 in Locarno, Switzerland, at the age of 72.
Born on June 22, 1898 in Osnabrück as Erich Paul Remarque, the future writer grew up in the family of a bookbinder. World War I changed his life forever. In 1917, he was sent to the Western Front, but just a few weeks later he was seriously wounded by shrapnel and spent the rest of the war in military hospitals. It was his experiences and the stories of other wounded soldiers that later became the basis of his work.
Worldwide fame came with “On the Western Front Nothing New“. The novel appeared in the late 1920s and tells the story of a generation of young men sent from school straight into the trenches. Instead of a heroic image of war, Remarque shows the fear, hunger, senseless death and psychological devastation of the soldiers.
The book became an international phenomenon. In the first year alone, about 1.5 million copies were sold in Germany, and the novel was translated into dozens of languages. Already in 1930, Hollywood created its first major film adaptation. Decades later, the story reached millions of viewers again with the German film adaptation by director Eduard Berger in 2022.
However, success also made Remarque a target for the Nazis. After the National Socialists came to power, his works were banned and publicly burned. “All Quiet on the Western Front“ was condemned for its anti-war message, and propaganda spread false claims about the author's origins and military biography. Remarque left Germany and settled first in Switzerland, and later in the United States. In 1938, the Nazi regime stripped him of his German citizenship.
A particularly tragic page in his life was the fate of his younger sister Elfriede Scholz. She remained in Germany and was sentenced to death and executed by the Nazi regime in 1943 on charges related to her anti-war and anti-Hitler statements. Remarque learned of her death only after the war and dedicated the novel “Spark of Life“ to her memory.
“Three Comrades“, “The Arc de Triomphe“ and Love Among the Ruins
Although his name will forever be associated with “All Quiet on the Western Front“, Remarque's literary legacy is far richer. „Three Comrades“, „The Arc de Triomphe“, „The Black Obelisk“, „A Time to Live and a Time to Die“, „Life on Loan“ and „A Night in Lisbon“ establish his characteristic world - people without a secure future who try to preserve their friendship, dignity and love amidst political catastrophes and personal losses.
Remarque's characters are often emigrants, soldiers, doctors, people without a homeland or people whose past no longer exists. They drink, love, lose friends and move on, although they know how fragile everything around them is. It is this mixture of melancholy, romance and ruthless realism that makes his prose recognizable for generations.
The writer's personal life is no less dramatic. Among the women with whom his name is associated are some of the biggest stars of the era, including Marlene Dietrich. His love letters to the German actress remain one of the testimonies of their stormy relationship. His last wife was the actress Paulette Godard, also known from Charlie Chaplin's films.
Remarque spent a large part of his life away from his native Germany. After World War II, he lived between the USA and Switzerland, and his last years were mainly associated with Locarno. His life ended there on September 25, 1970.
More than half a century after his death, the novels of Erich Maria Remarque continue to find new readers. The reason is probably that against the historical backdrop of two world wars he writes about much more impermanent things - about the fear of loss, about friendship as a refuge, about love in uncertain times and about a person trying to remain human when the world around him is falling apart.
And “All Quiet on the Western Front“ continues to remind us why Remarque remains among the great anti-war voices of European literature - not through political slogans, but through the fates of those who pay the true price of war.