Novellen

Novellen, in German-language literary terms, are prose narratives that sit between a short story and a novel. They are typically longer than a standard short story but shorter than a full-length novel, and they focus on a single incident or crisis whose consequences are explored in depth. The action is usually compressed in time and space, with a strong emphasis on a decisive turning point that reveals character, social values, or moral questions.

Historically, the form emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries within Romantic and early realist currents. German writers such as Jean Paul, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Theodor Storm, and Theodor Fontane used the novella to study individuals in social settings and to stage abrupt shifts in perception. In the 19th and 20th centuries, novellas became a flexible instrument for formal experimentation and thematic compression. In English-language contexts the term novella is common, while in German usage the plural novellen is the standard designation for the same category.

Typical examples include Thomas Mann’s Der Tod in Venedig, which centers on a single crisis and its implications for the protagonist, and Storm’s Der Schimmelreiter, structured around a pivotal event that tests belief and responsibility.

Relation to other forms: a novella is longer and more concentrated than a novel, but shorter and more expansive than a conventional short story or Erzählung. It shares with both a focus on a single incident and a heightened, often ironic or critical observation of life.