Born October 16, 1927 in Danzig (today Gdansk, Poland)
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| 1944 | |
Luftwaffenhelfer (i.e. first responder during and after bombing attacks, translator’s note) and soldier; internment in an American POW camp in Bavaria |
| 1946 | Release from POW camp; farm worker and work in a potash mine in Hildesheim | |
| 1947 - 1948 | Course of training as a stone mason | |
| 1948 - 1952 | Studied graphics and sculpture at the Düsseldorf Academy | |
| 1953 - 1956 | Studied sculpture under the sculptor Karl Hartung at the Berlin University of the Arts | |
| 1956 - 1957 | First exhibition of sculptures and graphics in Stuttgart and Berlin; debut as lyric poet and dramatist | |
| 1960 | Literature Award of the Association of German Critics | |
| 1962 | French literary award, Le meilleur livre étranger (i.e., best foreign book) for The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) | |
| 1965 | Georg Büchner Award; honorary doctorate from Kenyon College, USA | |
| 1968 | Fontane Award; Carl von Ossietzky Medal of Honour | |
| 1976 | Honorary doctorate from Harvard University, USA | |
| 1978 | Premio Letterario Viareggio (i.e. literary award of the city of Viareggio), Italy | |
| 1980 | Wein Award for literature | |
| 1983 - 1986 | President of the Berlin Academy of the Arts | |
| 1985 | Donation of house in Wewelsfleth to the State of Berlin; the "Alfred Döblin House" is used by young writers | |
| 1990 | Honorary doctorate from the University of Poznań | |
| 1993 | Honorary citizen of Gdansk (formerly German, Danzig)) | |
| 1994 | Thomas Mann Award for Literature (formerly Grand Literary Award) of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts | |
| 1996 | Sonning Award, Denmark | |
| 1997 | Founds "Foundation for the Benefit of the Roma People“ | |
| 1999 | Nobel Prize for Literature; Prince of Asturia Award | |
| 2005 | Founds writers’ group, "Lübeck 05" | |
| Honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin | ||
| 2007 | Ernst Toller Award | |
| Günter Grass lives in Lübeck |
