German author Guenter Grass dies

Guenter Grass, German Nobel literature prize winner and author of The Tin Drum, has died aged 87.

His publisher said he passed away at a clinic in Luebeck on Monday morning.

Born in what was then Danzig, Grass served in the German military in World War Two and published his breakthrough anti-Nazi novel, The Tin Drum, in 1959.

Later in life he became a vocal opponent of German reunification in 1990, and argued afterwards that it had been carried out too hastily.

Grass’s work was “a formidable reflection of our country and a permanent part of its literary and cultural heritage,” German President Joachim Gauck said in a statement (in German).

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was “deeply dismayed” to hear of the author’s death, the German foreign ministry tweeted.

Writer Salman Rushdie described Grass as “a true giant, inspiration, and friend”.

BBC