Martin Kessel
German writer (1901–1990)

Martin Kessel (14 April 1901 – 14 April 1990) was a German writer. In 1954, he was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize by the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. He was born in Plauen and died in Berlin. The New York based literary website complete review has labeled Kessel as one of the almost forgotten authors who "has long bobbed near that surface separating recognition from oblivion, threatening several times to sink from sight".
Writing
Mr. Brecher's Fiasco is considered Kessel's masterpiece. The novel which was first published in German in 1932 was praised by the University of Wisconsin Press as "one of the great modern novels about the urban heart of Germany" in "a time of hope and hyperinflation, sexual liberation and repression, industrialization and unemployment, and constant political instability — with the shadow of fascism looming ever larger.
Awards
Kleist Prize Honorable Mention
Georg Büchner Prize 1954
Fontane Prize 1961
Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste 1962
References
External links
Martin Kessel's author page at Schöffling & Co.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Martin Kessel” as german writer (1901–1990). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as german writer (1901–1990). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q126875. VIAF identifies the subject as 41963620. The Library of Congress control number is n87800683. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1901, 1990, 1954 and 1932.
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This entry incorporates text from “Martin Kessel” 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.