"Wir begannen nicht im Jahre Null!" Bestseller, Autoren, Leser in Deutschland vor und nach 1945

Abstract

There was no 'zero hour' (Stunde Null) in German literature, though nazification and denazification had serious impact on the book market. The paper shows this by looking at bestselling books in East and West Germany before and after 1945. Entertaining books and factual novels were among the most successful books in the Third Reich. Freed of their political time reference, many of the texts from the Nazi era lived on after the end of the war. Both genres consequently left a long-term mark on the book market. Some authors like Karl Aloys Schenzinger were close to the National Socialist Party, others like Ehm Welk were critical to the regime.

Keywords

• zero hour
• nazification
• denazification
• mass literature
• indexing
• entertainment