The present study investigates, updates, summarizes, and expands the hitherto scant scholarly apparatus on the life and work of Karl Emil Franzos (1848-1904). This prolific Jewish writer of late 19th-century German fiction who lived in Vienna and Berlin was also an investigative and much-traveled journalist, an editor and publisher of highly respected magazines, and a literary scholar of both depth and impact. He shared many personal and professional characteristics with his contemporary Theodor Herzl. In contrast to the latter, Franzos was an avowed fee of Zionism. Consequently, the focus of the study is on his strong commitment to Jewish assimilation. Special attention is also paid to the history of German and European Jewry, with which the reception of his work has been intertwined.