German · 1917–1985
Heinrich Böll won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Literature for writing "which through its combination of a broad perspective on his time and a sensitive skill in characterization has contributed to a renewal of German literature." The German author wrote about ordinary people surviving war and its aftermath, from soldiers on trains to widows navigating the economic miracle. "The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum" attacked media sensationalism. Böll became the conscience of postwar Germany.