History Creator / TheodorFontane

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: ''L'Adultera'' was based on a headline-making incident from real life. Some of Fontane's ballads also reflect sensational events from real life, e. g. ''Das Trauerspiel von Afghanistan'' Lord Elphinstone's disastrous retreat during the First Afghan War and ''Die Brück' am Tay'' the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879 (the same one [[GiftedlyBad William McGonagall]] [[SoBadItsGood wrote about so terribly]]).

* TheGayNineties
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: ''L'Adultera'' was based on a headline-making incident from real life. Some of Fontane's ballads also reflect sensational events from real life, e. g. ''Das Trauerspiel von Afghanistan'' Lord Elphinstone's disastrous retreat during the First Afghan War and ''Die Brück' am Tay'' the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Most of his works are set in northeastern Germany, mainly Brandenburg, and in social circles similar to the ones he himself lived in

Heinrich Theodor Fontane (1819 - 1898) is generally considered the greatest German novelist of the 19th century, mostly for ''Literature/EffiBriest'' and ''Literature/DerStechlin''. The scion of a Huguenot family in Neuruppin in Brandenburg, he was first trained to be follow in his father's footsteps as an apothecary. After participating in [[UsefulNotes/RevolutionsOf1848 the failed Revolution of 1848]] he decided to become a professional writer, working for a time as a government-sponsored journalist in Britain. Returning to Prussia after the death of Frederick William IV, he first came to greater public attention as a travel writer and war correspondent, writing the ''Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg'' (five volumes, describing towns, castles and places in the province of Brandenburg) and non-fiction books about the wars of 1864, 1866 and [[UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar 1870/71]]. From 1851 to 1870 he was under contract to the ultra-conservative ''Neue Preußische Zeitung'', which numbered [[UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck Otto von Bismarck]] among its founders. He then became a theatre critic for the ''Vossische Zeitung''.

Heinrich Theodor Fontane (1819 - 1898) is generally considered the greatest German novelist of the 19th century, mostly for ''Literature/EffiBriest'' and ''Literature/DerStechlin''. The scion of a Huguenot family in Neuruppin in Brandenburg, he was first trained to be follow in his father's footsteps as an apothecary. After participating in the failed Revolution of 1848 he decided to become a professional writer, working for a time as a government-sponsored journalist in Britain. Returning to Prussia after the death of Frederick William IV, he first came to greater public attention as a travel writer and war correspondent, writing the ''Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg'' (five volumes, describing towns, castles and places in the province of Brandenburg) and non-fiction books about the wars of 1864, 1866 and [[UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar 1870/71]]. From 1851 to 1870 he was under contract to the ultra-conservative ''Neue Preußische Zeitung'', which numbered [[UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck Otto von Bismarck]] among its founders. He then became a theatre critic for the ''Vossische Zeitung''.

* UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}: Many of Fontane's novels are set in the Prussian and German capital.
* UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat: Is mentioned quite a bit in some novels and in the ''Wanderungen'', but even more quotably in various ballads.
* [[FrancoPrussianWar The Franco-German War]]: Fontane was taken prisoner by the French while in France as a war correspondent and only released after a diplomatic intervention by Bismarck. Of course he wrote a book about this episode.

* UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany: Novels set in the present obviously are mostly set there.

* UsefulNotes/PrussiansInPickelhauben: Fontane himself had served in the Kaiser Franz Guard Grenadiers. Many characters in his novels are either active or retired members of the Prussian military, and the short novel ''Die Poggenpuhls'' is all about an impoverished officers' family.

!!Tropes associated with Theodor Fontane include:

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: ''L'Adultera'' and ''Literature/EffiBriest'' were based on two headline-making incidents from real life, as was the by-election subplot in ''Literature/DerStechlin''. Some of Fontane's ballads also reflect sensational events from real life, e. g. ''Das Trauerspiel von Afghanistan'' Lord Elphinstone's disastrous retreat during the First Afghan War and ''Die Brück' am Tay'' the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879.

In 1878 Theodor Fontane published his first novel, ''Before the Storm'', set in the winter of 1812/13 during the UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars. Others followed, some set in the past, but most in the analytically observed present, which to this day makes Fontane one of the "go-to authors" for readers wanting to learn about German and Prussian society in the second half of the 19th century. Fontane also wrote poetry, especially ballads, many of which are among the most frequently quoted in German literature.

* UsefulNotes/PrussiansInPickelhauben

* UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany: Novels set in the present obviously are set there.

* MeaningfulName: Quite a number of characters have these.

Theodor Fontane (1819 - 1898) is generally considered the greatest German novelist of the 19th century, mostly for ''Literature/EffiBriest'' and ''Literature/DerStechlin''. The scion of a Huguenot family in Neuruppin in Brandenburg, he was first trained to be follow in his father's footsteps as an apothecary. After participating in the failed Revolution of 1848 he decided to become a professional writer, working for a time as a government-sponsored journalist in Britain. Returning to Prussia after the death of Frederick William IV, he first came to greater public attention as a travel writer and war correspondent, writing the ''Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg'' (five volumes, describing towns, castles and places in the province of Brandenburg) and non-fiction books about the wars of 1864, 1866 and [[UsefulNotes/FrancoPrussianWar 1870/71]]. From 1851 to 1870 he was under contract to the ultra-conservative ''Neue Preußische Zeitung'', which numbered UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck among its founders. He then became a theatre critic for the ''Vossische Zeitung''.

In 1878 Fontane published his first novel, ''Before the Storm'', set in the winter of 1812/13 during the UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars.