Der Wehrwolf [note 1] is a novel by German journalist and writer Hermann Löns, first published in 1910.[1]

Der Wehrwolf
Title page of the first edition
AuthorHermann Löns
TranslatorRobert Kvinnesland
LanguageGerman
GenreHistorical fiction
Publication date
1910
Publication placeGermany
Published in English
2006
Media typePrint
Pages244 (first edition)
ISBN9781594160264
OCLC7319253
833.8
LC ClassPT2623.O36 W4 1922 (German edition)
PT2623.O36 W413 2006 (translation)
TextDer Wehrwolf at Project Gutenberg

Plot summary

edit

The Thirty Years' War is at its height while the peasantry suffers under countless marauders. The protagonist Harm Wulf, a peasant, lost his family in the first years of war; he becomes the defending Wulf (wehrender Wulf) by defending a hill fort and its surrounding carr with peasants hiding from the pillaging hordes. Harm Wulf gathers allies until 121 men are in the Alliance of the Wehrwolf. After peace is restored, Harm Wulf is a grim old man.

Reception

edit

Published in 1910, Der Wehrwolf became a bestseller in Germany with its nationalist content. Near the end of the Second World War, young Luftwaffenhelfers and children were encouraged to read the novel to promote guerrilla warfare against the Allies (to act like a We(h)rwolf).[2]

See also

edit
  • Wolfsangel, an emblem used by the protagonist of the book

Notes

edit
  1. ^ A portmanteau combining the German words for "defence" and "wolf"; usually translated into English as Warwolf

References

edit
  1. ^ "The Warwolf: A Peasant Chronicle of the Thirty Years War". Goodreads. Retrieved 18 January 2015. The first English translation of one of Germany's enduring works of historical fiction, originally published in 1910.
  2. ^ Beevor, Antony (2002). The Fall of Berlin 1945. Penguin. p. 173. ISBN 0-14-200280-1.