Toller was born in 1893 into a Jewish family in Samotschin (Szamocin), Province of Posen, Prussia (now Poznań, Poland).
He was the son of Ida (Kohn) and Max Toller, a pharmacist.
His parents ran a general store.
He had a sister and brother.
They grew up speaking Yiddish and German, and he later became fluent in English.

At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for military duty.
After serving for 13 months on the Western Front, he suffered a complete physical and psychological collapse.
His first drama, Transformation (Die Wandlung, 1919), was wrought from his wartime experiences.

Together with leading anarchists, such as B. Traven and Gustav Landauer, and Toller's party, the  USPD, Toller was involved in the short-lived 1919 Bavarian Soviet Republic.
The communists are against the founding of a communist republic at this point.
He served as President from April 6 to April 12.
Communists agitated against Toller and his councils and sent speakers into soldiers barracks to announce that the Council Republic did not deserve to be defended.
 He issued numerous decrees, the press was socialised, the mining industry was socialised, and the eight hour working day made legally binding.
He decreed that citizens could withdraw only 100 marks per day from the banks, and issued reassurance to the workers that these measures were directed against the major capitalists who were attempting to take money abroad.
A decree was made against exorbitant rents.
  His government members were not always well-chosen.
For instance, the Foreign Affairs Deputy Dr. Franz Lipp (who had been admitted several times to psychiatric hospitals) informed Vladimir Lenin via cable that the ousted former Minister President, Johannes Hoffmann, had fled to Bamberg and taken the key to the ministry toilet with him.
 On Palm Sunday, April 1919, the Communist Party seized power, with Eugen Leviné as their leader.
Shortly after that, the republic was defeated by right-wing forces.

The noted authors Max Weber and Thomas Mann testified on Toller's behalf when he was tried for his part in the revolution.
He was sentenced to five years in prison and served his sentence in the prisons of Stadelheim, Neuburg, Eichstätt.
From February 1920 until his release, he was in the fortress of Niederschönenfeld, where he spent 149 days in solitary confinement and 24 days on hunger strike.

His time in prison was productive; he completed work on Transformation, which premiered in Berlin under the direction of Karlheinz Martin in September 1919.
At the time of this work's 100th performance, the Bavarian government offered Toller a pardon.
He refused it out of solidarity with other political prisoners.
Toller continued writing in prison, completing some of what would be his most celebrated works, including the dramas Masses Man (Masse Mensch), The Machine Breakers (Die Maschinenstürmer), Hinkemann, the German (Der deutsche Hinkemann), and many poems.
These works established him as an important German expressionist playwright, and they used symbols derived from the First World War and its aftermath in his society.

Not until after his release from prison in July 1925 was Toller able to see any of his plays performed.
In 1925, the most famous of his later dramas, Hoppla, We're Alive! (
Hoppla, wir Leben!),
directed by Erwin Piscator, premiered in Berlin.
It tells of a  revolutionary discharged from a mental hospital after eight years, who discovers that his former comrades have grown complacent and compromised within the system they once opposed.
In despair, he kills himself.
Toller was born in 1893 into a Jewish family in Samotschin (Szamocin), Province of Posen, Prussia (now Poznań, Poland). He was the son of Ida (Kohn) and Max Toller, a pharmacist. His parents ran a general store. He had a sister and brother. They grew up speaking Yiddish and German, and he later became fluent in English. 
At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for military duty. After serving for 13 months on the Western Front, he suffered a complete physical and psychological collapse. His first drama, Transformation (Die Wandlung, 1919), was wrought from his wartime experiences.
Together with leading anarchists, such as B. Traven and Gustav Landauer, and Toller's party, the  USPD, Toller was involved in the short-lived 1919 Bavarian Soviet Republic. The communists are against the founding of a communist republic at this point.He served as President from April 6 to April 12. Communists agitated against Toller and his councils and sent speakers into soldiers barracks to announce that the Council Republic did not deserve to be defended.  He issued numerous decrees, the press was socialised, the mining industry was socialised, and the eight hour working day made legally binding. He decreed that citizens could withdraw only 100 marks per day from the banks, and issued reassurance to the workers that these measures were directed against the major capitalists who were attempting to take money abroad. A decree was made against exorbitant rents.   His government members were not always well-chosen. For instance, the Foreign Affairs Deputy Dr. Franz Lipp (who had been admitted several times to psychiatric hospitals) informed Vladimir Lenin via cable that the ousted former Minister President, Johannes Hoffmann, had fled to Bamberg and taken the key to the ministry toilet with him.  On Palm Sunday, April 1919, the Communist Party seized power, with Eugen Leviné as their leader. Shortly after that, the republic was defeated by right-wing forces.
The noted authors Max Weber and Thomas Mann testified on Toller's behalf when he was tried for his part in the revolution. He was sentenced to five years in prison and served his sentence in the prisons of Stadelheim, Neuburg, Eichstätt. From February 1920 until his release, he was in the fortress of Niederschönenfeld, where he spent 149 days in solitary confinement and 24 days on hunger strike.
His time in prison was productive; he completed work on Transformation, which premiered in Berlin under the direction of Karlheinz Martin in September 1919. At the time of this work's 100th performance, the Bavarian government offered Toller a pardon. He refused it out of solidarity with other political prisoners. Toller continued writing in prison, completing some of what would be his most celebrated works, including the dramas Masses Man (Masse Mensch), The Machine Breakers (Die Maschinenstürmer), Hinkemann, the German (Der deutsche Hinkemann), and many poems. These works established him as an important German expressionist playwright, and they used symbols derived from the First World War and its aftermath in his society.
Not until after his release from prison in July 1925 was Toller able to see any of his plays performed. In 1925, the most famous of his later dramas, Hoppla, We're Alive! (Hoppla, wir Leben!), directed by Erwin Piscator, premiered in Berlin. It tells of a  revolutionary discharged from a mental hospital after eight years, who discovers that his former comrades have grown complacent and compromised within the system they once opposed. In despair, he kills himself.
Ernst Toller