CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Anselm Kristlein trilogy

2000 novel by Martin Walser

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ106912305
Source-derived summary

The Anselm Kristlein trilogy (German: Anselm-Kristlein-Trilogie) is three novels by the German writer Martin Walser. The trilogy consists of the novels Halbzeit (1960), The Unicorn (German: Das Einhorn) (1966, English 1971) and Der Sturz (1973), with a combined length of over 1500 pages.

The largely autobiographical novels centre on Anselm Kristlein as he makes a career as a salesman, advertising worker and eventually author. They concern life and consciousness in post-war West Germany. Kristlein appears as a detached dreamer but not an outsider, because no such thing can exist in the way the novels portray society akin to natural history.

The trilogy has been described as Walser's magnum opus. The Unicorn was the basis for the 1978 film The Unicorn and Der Sturz for the 1979 film Der Sturz.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Anselm Kristlein trilogy” is 2000 novel by Martin Walser. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Anselm, Kristlein and trilogy, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1960, 1966, 1971, 1973—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2000. For this dossier, Anselm, Kristlein and trilogy is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “2000 novel by Martin Walser” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q106912305. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1966, 1971 and 1973.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Anselm Kristlein trilogy”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Anselm Kristlein trilogy primary sources, Anselm Kristlein trilogy archive and Anselm research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Anselm Kristlein trilogy”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Anselm Kristlein trilogy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.