Günter Grass obituary

1927: Born in Baltic port of Danzig (now Polish city of Gdansk)

1944: Joins Waffen-SS – combat arm of Hitler’s SS paramilitary force

1945-6: Prisoner of war

1948-56: Studies sculpture and painting in Düsseldorf and Berlin

1959: Achieves worldwide fame with publication of The Tin Drum – first novel in anti-Nazi trilogy

1961: Involves himself in politics, supporting Social Democrat Party

1990: Opposes reunification, fearing united Germany would revert to aggressive nation-state

1999: Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature

2006: Reputation as moral authority suffers after revealing SS past in personal memoir

2012: Poem, What Must Be Said, sparks controversy for strong criticism of Israel

2015: Dies aged 87 in Lübeck

Picture: Associated Press

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