He studied literature, art history, philosophy, and psychology at universities in Berlin, Hamburg, and Kiel.

He earned his doctorate at the University of Kiel, defending a dissertation on the German writer Theodor Fontane.

With the assistance of Mildred Fish Harnack, an American active in the Red Orchestra anti-Nazi resistance group, Tau emigrated to Norway in 1935.

He was noted for his contribution to promoting literary exchange between Germany and Norway, especially in the context of reconciliation after World War II.

[2] Media related to Max Tau at Wikimedia Commons