Bernhard "Bernie" Gunther


Bernie Gunther is a fictional character created by British author Philip Kerr. He is the protagonist of the fourteen books of the eponymous serie, set in Germany, France, latin America and elsewhere during the 1920s, the 1930s, the Second World War and the Cold War. Veteran of the World War I, he was a kommissar at the Berlin kriminalpolizei during the Weimar republic. He resigned when the nazis came to power in 1933 and became a private investigator. Despite his opinions, he had to work for notorious historical figures of the nazi era. He had to escape Germany after World War II.
The character of Bernie Gunther, a "true berliner", disillusioned, "sardonic, tough-talking, and cynical" as well as the thorough description of locations and ambiences made one of the most achieved creation in the historical detective fictions of the decades 1990-2010.

Fictional biography

Bernhard Gunther was born on 7 July 1896 in Berlin.
As soldier during the World War I, he was a veteran of the Battle of Amiens. He then became a kommissar at the Berlin kriminalpolizei, working under orders of Bernhard Weiss.

The Bernie Gunther saga

Chronological orderTitlePublication dateISBNSet in:Historical figures featuring :Awards
1928Metropolis.2019Berlin.Bernhard Weiss-
1934 If The Dead Rise Not 2009Berlin 2009 :
CWA Historical Dagger,
RBA Prize for Crime Writing,
Barry Award
1936March Violets1989BerlinGoering, Himmler, Heydrich, Arthur Nebe, and Walther Funk1993 :
Prix Mystère de la critique,
Prix du roman d'aventures
1938The Pale Criminal1990BerlinArthur Nebe, Otto Rahn, Julius Streicher2010 : Prix des lecteurs du Livre de poche
1939 Prussian Blue2017Berchtesgaden and French RivieraErich Mielke, Martin Bormann, Gerdy Troost
1941Prague Fatale2011Berlin, PragueReinhard Heydrich-
1943 A Man Without Breath2013Berlin, Katyn, SmolenskJoseph Goebbels2014 : Palle-Rosenkrantz Prize
1943 The Lady From Zagreb2015Berlin, Zurich, Croatia and French RivieraJoseph Goebbels, Dalia Dresner based on Pola Negri/Hedy Lamarr-
1947-1948A German Requiem1991Berlin and ViennaArthur Nebe
1949 The One From the Other2006Dachau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Vienna and Mandatory PalestineAdolf Eichmann2009 : Prix Le Point du polar européen
1950A Quiet Flame2008Buenos AiresJosef Mengele-
1954 If The Dead Rise Not2009HavanaMeyer LanskySee 1934
1954 (with flashbacks from 1931, 1941, 1940, & 1945/46.Field Grey2010Berlin and HavanaErich Mielke
1956The Other Side of Silence2016French RivieraW. Somerset Maugham, Anthony Blunt, Erich Mielke
1957Greeks Bearing Gifts.2018Munich and GreeceAlois Brunner-