Grimmelshausen's best-known work,
Simplicissimus, was published in 1668 (dated 1669), its sequel, the
Continuatio, in 1669. Alone among the products of the German baroque, it speaks directly to the modern reader with its narrative verve, its portrayal of a turbulent historical epoch, and its psychological character analysis. The novel's historical theme is the Thirty Years' War (see separate entry) , its battlefields spreading across Germany; the overt aim is to warn the younger generation, twenty years on, against another war. Grimmelshausen's religious moral beyond this is contained more in narrations than in exhortations.
The protagonist's childhood is spent on his (supposed) parents' farm. When the farm is sacked by soldiers and the inhabitants tortured, he escapes into the forest. He
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Citation: White, Alfred D.. "Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 June 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14758, accessed 23 November 2024.]
