Bertolt Brecht

About Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) was a massively influential German playwright, poet, and theatre director, renowned for developing the epic theatre style. His dramatic work, characterized by techniques like alienation (Verfremdungseffekt), aimed to provoke critical thought in the audience regarding social and political issues, making him a key figure in 20th-century dramatic arts and political theatre. This lasting impact is reflected in his high Historical Popularity Index (HPI) rank of #587 among approximately 15,000 historical figures cataloged by the Pantheon project.

Despite this historical significance, Brecht’s modern internet attention appears modest. In 2025, his annualized Wikipedia pageviews totaled 485K, resulting in an Attention Gap score of approximately 1x, suggesting his online presence is roughly in line with his historical ranking. To contextualize this, contemporary writer Isaac Asimov (#920 importance) draws 1.7M views, more than triple Brecht’s traffic, even though Asimov is ranked significantly lower in overall historical influence.

Furthermore, the data suggests a slight cooling of interest, with his Year-over-Year change being -1.3% and his Q1 vs Q3 Momentum dropping by -11%, indicating a modest decline in recent online engagement.