Simplicissimus, novel by Hans Jacob Christoph von Grimmelshausen, the first part of which was published in 1669 as Der abentheurliche Simplicissimus Teutsch (“The Adventurous Simplicissimus Teutsch”). Considered one of the most significant works of German literature, it contains a satirical and partially autobiographical picture set during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48).
Modeled on the 16th-century Spanish picaresque novel, Simplicissimus tells the story of an innocent child brought into contact with life through his experiences of the Thirty Years’ War. The book traces the development of a human soul against the background of a depraved Germany riven by war, depopulation, cruelty, and fear. Simplicissimus gives full rein to Grimmelshausen’s power of narration, eye for realistic detail, coarse humour, and social criticism.
Continuations of the novel include Die Landstörtzerin Courasche (1670; Courage, the Adventuress), which was the inspiration for Bertolt Brecht’s play Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (1941; Mother Courage and Her Children), and Das wunderbarliche Vogel-Nest (1672; “The Magical Bird’s Nest”). One section of the latter, translated as The False Messiah (1964), is a satire on gullibility and greed.