Arno Holz was a highly visible literary personality of his time, and his work was remarkably diverse. In his verse he revived the baroque literary style of three centuries earlier, and from the middle 1880s he made a name for himself as a lyrical poet. Turning from poetry to prose and drama, he put into practice the aesthetic theories of naturalism, a movement dedicated to reducing the subjective element in art. Collaboration with Johannes Schlaf gave way to bitter hostility and jealousy regarding the importance of their respective roles. All his life Holz raged against critics and against authors he perceived as rivals.

Holz identified with Berlin. Although born in Rastenburg, East Prussia, on 26 April 1863 as the fourth of ten children, Arno Holz grew up in Berlin; his parents, Hermann Holz--a pharmacist--and Franziska Werner Holz, moved there when he was twelve. He attended the Humboldtgymnasium and then, from...