Franz Werfel

Franz Werfel (1890–1945) was a Czech-born Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet. His works include The Song of Bernadette and Jacobowsky and the Colonel.

German-language literature: Literature written in German across regions and historical periods. Werfel wrote in German and became part of its literary tradition.
The Song of Bernadette: A 1941 novel by Werfel about Bernadette Soubirous and the apparitions at Lourdes. This bestselling novel brought Werfel’s religious interest to a broad international audience.
Alma Mahler: An Austrian composer and social figure who was married to Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel. Werfel married Alma Mahler in 1929 and shared his later exile with her.
Prague School: A loose circle of German-speaking writers in Prague active around the turn of the twentieth century. Werfel’s early literary development is associated with this city’s German-speaking writers.
Bernadette Soubirous: A French Catholic saint who reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes in 1858. Her life became the subject of Werfel’s most widely read novel.
Prague: The capital of the Czech Republic, historically shaped by Czech, German, and Jewish communities. Werfel was born in Prague, then part of Austria-Hungary.
Jacobowsky and the Colonel: A 1944 play by Werfel about two refugees fleeing the German invasion of France. The play turns wartime displacement into a comic conflict over survival and identity.
Max Brod: A Czech writer and critic known for promoting Franz Kafka’s work after Kafka’s death. Brod and Werfel belonged to overlapping German-speaking literary circles in Prague.
First World War: A global conflict fought from 1914 to 1918 that dissolved empires and reshaped Europe. Military service and the war’s upheavals marked Werfel’s early adulthood.
Lourdes: A town in southwestern France associated with Marian apparitions reported by Bernadette Soubirous. Werfel’s novel helped bring the story of Lourdes to readers worldwide.

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