The unique boundaries of the short story have attracted a majority of the prominent writers in the German language since the genre attained its modern form and became widely read around the turn of the 19th century. This collection, featuring stories by eight of the form's most successful practitioners, includes Arthur Schnitzler's Lieutenant Gustl, considered to be the first purely interior monologue in European literature; Heinrich von Kleist's Earthquake in Chile, a highly charged narrative in which nature and public opinion precipitate acts of incredible violence; as well as important works by Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Gerhart Hauptmann, Rainer Maria Rilke, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and Clemens Brentano. Required reading for students of world literature, this volume will be a welcome addition to the collection of any literary connoisseur.