Cornelia Kempf

Cornelia Kempf is a German author of historical fiction whose novels bring the worlds of antiquity and the Middle Ages vividly to life.

Her fascination with history led her to begin researching her first novel, Morituri, in 1996. In 2001, the manuscript reached the Top 10 in an international authors’ competition in Los Angeles and was published in Germany in 2005.

A year later, she turned from ancient Rome to the medieval world with Die Gärten von Damaskus (The Gardens of Damascus). Set against the backdrop of the Third Crusade, the novel tells the story of a Muslim princess and a Christian knight whose lives become entwined in Damascus during the final years of Saladin’s reign. The novel is now available to international readers as The Gardens of Damascus.

In 2006, Cornelia Kempf received the Cultural Recognition Award of the City of Königsbrunn, Germany, for her literary work.

She later devoted herself to one of her most ambitious projects, the two-volume historical epic Der Löwe des Kaisers, set in the age of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Henry the Lion.

Meticulous historical research lies at the heart of her novels. Rather than treating history merely as a backdrop, she is particularly interested in the people who lived within it — their loyalties, beliefs, conflicts, and the choices they were forced to make.

Cornelia Kempf lives near Augsburg in Bavaria, Germany, and continues to write historical fiction set in the ancient and medieval worlds.