Rainer Maria Rilke and architecture. I recently rekindled with two of my favorite books by German author Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926): Letters to a Young Poet and Auguste Rodin. While in college, I was introduced to other significant authors of German literature including Heinrich Boll, Berthold Brecht, Günter Grass, Thomas Mann, and Stefan Zweig, along with Swiss playwrights and novelists, Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Max Frish. Yet, Rilke’s writing has always left me with a sense of awe.