Rudolf Hagelstange was acclaimed as a lyric and narrative poet during the first years after World War II and has been widely read as a novelist, short-story writer, and essayist since the 1960s. His poetry is often idealistic, advocating positive values in spite of the somber moods that life in his times often called forth. His novels and stories are fluent narratives, frequently unconventional and unexpected in their emphasis, reflecting their author's liberal approach to contemporary problems.

Hagelstange was born in Nordhausen on 14 January 1912 to Wilhelm Hagelstange, a merchant, and Helene Struchmann Hagelstange. He attended the Humanistisches Gymnasium at Nordhausen and studied German language and literature at the University of Berlin from 1931 to 1933. Hagelstange traveled in the Balkans after leaving the university and was on the staff of the Nordhäuser Zeitung from 1936 until he was called into the army in 1940. He married Karola Dittel in 1939; they...