Although Franz Jung did not identify with any of the literary movements of his time, his early prose works were hailed as major contributions to the literature of expressionism, and his plays and novels of the early 1920s set new standards for political theater and proletarian fiction. His literary work as a whole, however, embodies a revolutionary stance and an aesthetic which transcend the ideologies and literary styles of his age.

Jung was born on 26 November 1888 in Neisse (now Nysa) in Upper Silesia to Franz Josef Jung, a watchmaker, city councilman, amateur composer, and dramatist, and Clara Döhring Jung. After his graduation from the local gymnasium in 1907 Jung halfheartedly studied law and economics at the Universities of Leipzig, Jena, Breslau, and Munich, failing to complete a dissertation in economics. Between 1909 and 1915 he developed the unconventional life-style that he was to maintain until his death: he experienced...