Bruno Alfred Döblin (August 10, 1878 – June 26, 1957) was a German
novelist,
essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of literary movements and styles, Döblin is one of the most important figures of German literary
modernism. His complete works comprise over a dozen novels ranging in genre from
historical novels to
science fiction to novels about the modern metropolis; several dramas, radio plays, and screenplays; a true crime story; a travel account; two book-length philosophical treatises; scores of essays on politics, religion, art, and society; and numerous letters—his complete works, republished by Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag and Fischer Verlag, span more than thirty volumes. His first published novel,
Die drei Sprünge des Wang-lung (
The Three Leaps of Wang Lun), appeared in 1915 and his final novel,
Hamlet oder Die lange Nacht nimmt ein Ende (
Tales of a Long Night) was published in 1956, one year before his death.
