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Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel ''
All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (german: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit=Nothing New in the West) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma ...
'' (1928), based on his experience in the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, was an international bestseller which created a new literary genre, and was adapted into multiple films. Remarque's anti-war themes led to his condemnation by
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
propaganda minister
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...
as "unpatriotic". He was able to use his literary success to relocate to Switzerland and the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen.


Early life

Remarque was born on 22 June 1898, as Erich Paul Remark, to Peter Franz Remark and Anna Maria (), a working-class
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
family in Osnabrück. He was never close with his father, a bookbinder, but he was close with his mother and he began using the middle name Maria after World War I in her honor. Remarque was the third of four children of Peter and Anna. His siblings were his older sister Erna, older brother Theodor Arthur (who died at the age of five or six), and younger sister Elfriede. The spelling of his last name was changed to Remarque when he published ''
All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (german: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit=Nothing New in the West) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma ...
'' in honor of his French ancestors and in order to dissociate himself from his earlier novel . His grandfather had changed the spelling from Remarque to Remark in the 19th century. Research by Remarque's childhood and lifelong friend Hanns-Gerd Rabe proved that Remarque had French ancestors his great-grandfather Johann Adam Remarque, who was born in 1789, came from a French family in
Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...
. This is contrary to the falsehood perpetuated by Nazi propaganda that his real last name was Kramer ("Remark" spelled backwards) and that he was Jewish.


Military service

During World War I, Remarque was conscripted into the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
at the age of 18. On 12 June 1917, he was transferred to the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
, 2nd Company, Reserves, Field Depot of the 2nd Guards Reserve Division at Hem-Lenglet. On 26 June 1917 he was posted to the 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment, 2nd Company, Engineer Platoon Bethe, and fought in the trenches between
Torhout Torhout (; french: Thourout; vls, Toeroet) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Torhout proper, the villages of Wijnendale and Sint-Henricus, and the hamlet of De Dr ...
and Houthulst. On 31 July 1917 he was wounded by shell shrapnel in the left leg, right arm and neck, and after being medically evacuated from the field was repatriated to an army hospital in Germany, where he spent the rest of the war, recovering from his wounds, before being demobilized from the army. After the war he continued his teacher training and worked from 1 August 1919 as a primary-school teacher in Lohne, at that time in the county of Lingen, now in the county of Bentheim. From May 1920 he worked in Klein Berssen in the former County of
Hümmling The Hümmling (''Homelinghen'', from ''hömil'' = small stone) is a ground moraine landscape, up to , in the Emsland region on the North German Plain in the western part of the German state of Lower Saxony. Location The wooded Hümmling, whic ...
, now
Emsland Landkreis Emsland () is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Leer, Cloppenburg and Osnabrück, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Steinf ...
, and from August 1920 in Nahne, which has been a part of Osnabrück since 1972. On 20 November 1920 he applied for leave of absence from teaching. He worked at a number of different jobs in this phase of his life, including librarian, businessman, journalist, and editor. His first paid writing job was as a technical writer for the Continental Rubber Company, a German tire manufacturer.


Writing career

Remarque had made his first attempts at writing at the age of 16. Among them were essays, poems, and the beginnings of a novel that was finished later and published in 1920 as '' The Dream Room'' (). Between 1923 and 1926 he also scripted a comic series, , drawn by Hermann Schütz, published in the magazine Echo Continental, a publication by the rubber and tire company Continental AG. After coming back from the war, the atrocities of war along with his mother’s death caused him a great deal of mental trauma and grief. In later years as a professional writer, he started using "Maria" as his middle name instead of "Paul", to commemorate his mother. When he published ''All Quiet on the Western Front'', he had his surname reverted to an earlier spelling from Remark to Remarque to dissociate himself from his novel .Afterword by Brian Murdoch, translator of 1996 English edition of In 1927, he published the novel ''
Station at the Horizon ''Station at the Horizon'' (german: Station am Horizont) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the search for love of a veteran and an former race car driver, Kai, who is torn between Barbara, a ...
'' (). It was serialised in the sports journal for which Remarque was working. (It was first published in book form in 1998.) ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' () (1929), his career-defining work, was also written in 1927. Remarque was at first unable to find a publisher for it. Its text described the experiences of German soldiers during World War I. On publication it became an international bestseller and a landmark work in twentieth-century literature. It inspired a new genre of veterans writing about conflict, and the commercial publication of a wide variety of war memoirs. It also inspired dramatic representations of the war in theatre and cinema, in Germany as well as in countries that had fought in the conflict against the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States. Riding on the tail of the success of ''All Quiet on the Western Front'', a number of similar works followed from Remarque. In simple, emotive language, they described wartime and the postwar years in Germany. In 1931, after finishing ''
The Road Back ''The Road Back'', also translated as ''The Way Back'', (german: Der Weg zurück) is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque, commonly regarded as a sequel to his 1929 novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front''. It was first serialized in th ...
'' (), he bought a villa in Ronco, Switzerland with the substantial financial wealth that his published works had brought him. He planned to live both there and in France. On 10 May 1933, at the initiative of the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
propaganda minister
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...
, Remarque's writing was publicly declared as "unpatriotic" and was banned in Germany. Copies were removed from all libraries and restricted from being sold or published anywhere in the country. Germany was rapidly descending into a totalitarian society, leading to mass arrests of elements of the population of which the new governing order disapproved. Remarque left Germany to live at his villa in Switzerland. His French background as well as his Catholic faith were also publicly attacked by the Nazis. They continued to decry his writings in his absence, proclaiming that anyone who would change the spelling of his name from the German "Remark" to the French "Remarque" could not be a true German. The Nazis further made the false claim that Remarque had not seen active service during World War I. In 1938, Remarque's German citizenship was revoked. In 1939, he and his ex-wife were remarried to prevent her repatriation to Germany. Just before the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
in Europe, they left Porto Ronco, Switzerland for the United States. They became naturalised citizens of the United States in 1947. Remarque continued to write about the German experience after WWI. His next novel, '' Three Comrades'' (), spans the years of the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
, from the hyperinflation of 1923 to the end of the decade. His fourth novel, '' Flotsam'' (in German titled , or ''Love Thy Neighbour''), first appeared in a serial version in English translation in ''Collier's'' magazine in 1939. He spent another year revising the text for its book publication in 1941, both in English and German. His next work, the novel '' Arch of Triumph'', was first published in 1945 in English, and the next year in German as . Another instant bestseller, it reached worldwide sales of nearly five million. His final novel was '' Shadows in Paradise''. He wrote it while living at 320 East 57th Street in New York City. The apartment building "played a prominent role in his novel". In 1943, the Nazis arrested his youngest sister, german:
Elfriede Scholz Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during Worl ...
, who had stayed behind in Germany with her husband and two children. After a trial at the notorious (Hitler's extra-constitutional " People's Court"), she was found guilty of "undermining morale" for stating that she considered the war lost. Court President Roland Freisler declared, "" ("Your brother is unfortunately beyond our reach you, however, will not escape us.") Scholz was beheaded on 16 December 1943. Remarque later said that his sister had been involved in anti-Nazi resistance activities. In exile, Remarque was unaware of his sister Elfriede's fate until after the war. He would dedicate his 1952 novel '' Spark of Life'' () to her. The dedication was omitted in the German version of the book, reportedly because he was still seen as a traitor by some Germans.


Later years

In 1948, Remarque returned to Switzerland, where he spent the remainder of his life. There was a gap of seven years a long silence for Remarque between ''Arch of Triumph'' and his next work, '' Spark of Life'' (), which appeared both in German and in English in 1952. While he was writing ''The Spark of Life'' he was also working on a novel (''Time to Live and Time to Die''). It was published first in English translation in 1954 with the not-quite-literal title ''A Time to Love and a Time to Die''. In 1958, Douglas Sirk directed the film ''
A Time to Love and a Time to Die ''A Time to Love and a Time to Die'' is a 1958 Eastmancolor CinemaScope drama war film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring John Gavin and Liselotte Pulver. Based on the book by German author Erich Maria Remarque and set on the Eastern Front a ...
'' in Germany, based on Remarque's novel. Remarque made a cameo appearance in the film in the role of the Professor. In 1955, Remarque wrote the screenplay for an Austrian film ''The Last Act'' (), about Hitler's final days in the bunker of the
Reich Chancellery The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared ...
in Berlin, which was based on the book ''Ten Days to Die'' (1950) by Michael Musmanno. In 1956, Remarque wrote a drama ''Full Circle'' () for the stage, which played in both Germany and on Broadway. An English translation was published in 1974. '' Heaven Has No Favorites'' was serialised (as ''Borrowed Life'') in 1959 before appearing as a book in 1961 and was made into the 1977 film '' Bobby Deerfield''. ''
The Night in Lisbon ''The Night in Lisbon'' (german: Die Nacht von Lissabon) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque published in 1962. It revolves around the plight of two German refugees in the opening months of World War II. One of the refugees relates their story d ...
'' (), published in 1962, is the last work Remarque finished. The novel sold about 900,000 copies in Germany.


Personal life

Remarque's first marriage was to the actress Ilse Jutta Zambona in 1925. The marriage was stormy and unfaithful on both sides. Remarque and Zambona divorced in 1930, but in 1933 they fled together to Switzerland. In 1938, they remarried, to prevent her from being forced to return to Germany, and in 1939 they emigrated to the United States, where they both became naturalized citizens in 1947. They divorced again on 20 May 1957, this time for good. Ilse Remarque died on 25 June 1975. During the 1930s, Remarque had relationships with Austrian actress Hedy Lamarr, Mexican actress
Dolores del Río María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López Negrete (3 August 1904 – 11 April 1983), known professionally as Dolores del Río (), was a Mexican actress. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin Am ...
and German actress
Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
. The affair with Dietrich began in September 1937, when they met on the Lido while in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
for the
film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
, and continued until at least 1940, maintained mostly by way of letters, telegrams and telephone calls. A selection of their letters was published in 2003 in the book ("Tell Me That You Love Me") and then in the 2011 play ''Puma''. Remarque married actress Paulette Goddard in 1958.


Death

Remarque died of heart failure at the age of 72 in
Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech ...
on 25 September 1970. His body was buried in the Ronco Cemetery in Ronco,
Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
, Switzerland. Paulette Goddard, Remarque's wife, died in 1990, and her body was interred next to her husband's. She left a bequest of US$20 million to
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
to fund an institute for European studies, which is named in honour of Remarque, as well as funding "Goddard Hall" on the
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
campus in
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.


Legacy

The first director of The Remarque Institute was Professor Tony Judt. Remarque's papers are housed at NYU's Fales Library. In November 2010, efforts to raise 6.2 million
Swiss franc The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the ...
s (US$7M), to buy and save the villa of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard from almost certain demolition were underway. The intent was to transform the "Casa Monte Tabor" into a museum and home to an artist-in-residence program.


List of works

Note: the dates of English publications are those of the first publications in book form.


Novels

* (1920) ; English translation: '' The Dream Room'' * (written 1924, published 1998) * (1928) ; English translation: ''
Station at the Horizon ''Station at the Horizon'' (german: Station am Horizont) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the search for love of a veteran and an former race car driver, Kai, who is torn between Barbara, a ...
'' * (1929) ; English translation: ''
All Quiet on the Western Front ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (german: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit=Nothing New in the West) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma ...
'' (1929) * (1931) ; English translation: ''
The Road Back ''The Road Back'', also translated as ''The Way Back'', (german: Der Weg zurück) is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque, commonly regarded as a sequel to his 1929 novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front''. It was first serialized in th ...
'' (1931) * (1936) ; English translation: '' Three Comrades'' (1937) * (1939) ; English translation: '' Flotsam'' (1941) * (1945) ; English translation: '' Arch of Triumph'' (1945) (Reviewed by Dr. Albert Simard in '' Free World''Simard, Albert C.J.,
Nothing quiet...
''Arch of Triumph'', by Erich Maria Remarque. '' Free World'', March 1946, p. 72.
) * (1952) ; English translation: '' Spark of Life'' (1952) * (1954) ; English translation: ''
A Time to Love and a Time to Die ''A Time to Love and a Time to Die'' is a 1958 Eastmancolor CinemaScope drama war film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring John Gavin and Liselotte Pulver. Based on the book by German author Erich Maria Remarque and set on the Eastern Front a ...
'' (1954) * (1956) ; English translation: '' The Black Obelisk'' (1957) * (1961) (serialized as ); English translation: '' Heaven Has No Favorites'' (1961) * (1962) ; English translation: ''
The Night in Lisbon ''The Night in Lisbon'' (german: Die Nacht von Lissabon) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque published in 1962. It revolves around the plight of two German refugees in the opening months of World War II. One of the refugees relates their story d ...
'' (1964) * (1970) ; English translation: ''The Promised Land'' * (1971) ; English translation: '' Shadows in Paradise'' (1972)


Other works

* (1931) ; English translation: ''The Enemy'' (1930–1931); short stories * (1955) ; English translation: ''The Last Act''; screenplay * (1956) ; English translation: ''Full Circle'' (1974); play * (1988) ; English translation: ''The Return of Enoch J. Jones''; play * (1994) ; English translation: ''A Militant Pacifist''; interviews and essays


See also

* Exilliteratur


References


Further reading

* *


External links

*
Multilingual pages about Erich Maria Remarque
*
German Language Guide to the Remarque papers at NYU's Fales Library
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Remarque, Erich Maria 1898 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century German male writers 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German short story writers American male dramatists and playwrights American male novelists American male screenwriters American people of French descent American writers in German Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Exilliteratur writers German comics writers German male novelists German male short story writers German Army personnel of World War I German people of French descent German Roman Catholics Lost Generation writers Military personnel from Osnabrück People from Bentheim People from the Province of Hanover People who lost German citizenship People with acquired American citizenship Prussian Army personnel Roman Catholic writers War writers Writers from Osnabrück