Bernhard Kellermann
A visionary German novelist whose prescient 1913 science fiction epic imagined a world connected by a vast transcontinental tunnel.
1879–1951 (age 72)·German author and poet·Birthday: March 4·The Gilded Age
Biography
Bernhard Kellermann began his literary journey as an impressionist painter of words, but it was his turn to speculative fiction that etched his name into cultural history. His 1913 novel 'The Tunnel' was a monumental success, a techno-thriller before its time that envisioned the construction of a transatlantic railway tunnel between Europe and America. The book captured the era's feverish faith in technology and its latent anxieties, selling millions of copies and being adapted into multiple films. While later works like 'The Ninth of November' critiqued the Nazi regime, leading to a publishing ban, Kellermann's legacy remains anchored in that single, powerful vision of a mechanized future. He survived the war and spent his final years in East Germany, a writer whose imagination once bridged continents.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Bernhard was born in 1879, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bernhard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1879
Bernhard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1879Born
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1884Started school
President: Chester A. Arthur
1892Became a teenager
President: Benjamin Harrison
1895Could drive
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1897Could vote
President: William McKinley
1900Turned 21
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1909Turned 30
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1919Turned 40
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1929Turned 50
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1939Turned 60
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1949Turned 70
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1951Died at 72
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
Key Achievements
- Authored the bestselling 1913 science fiction novel 'Der Tunnel' (The Tunnel), which sold over a million copies.
- Served as a war correspondent during World War I, publishing reports from the front.
- Served as vice-president of the East German 'Cultural Association' after the Second World War.
Did You Know?
His novel 'The Tunnel' was adapted into several films, including a 1915 German silent movie and a 1933 British production.
His books were banned and burned by the Nazis after he published an anti-fascist novel in 1938.
Before becoming a novelist, he studied German literature, painting, and architecture.
“The machine is the new fate of humanity.”
