Siegfried Lenz
| Siegfried Lenz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
17 March 1926 Lyck (Ełk), East Prussia |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Hamburg |
| Period | 1956–present |
| Notable work(s) |
Deutschstunde Heimatmuseum |
| Notable award(s) |
|
|
www.siegfried-lenz.de | |
Siegfried Lenz (born 17 March 1926) is a German writer, who has written novels and produced several collections of short stories, essays, and plays for radio and the theatre. He was awarded the Goethe Prize in Frankfurt-am-Main on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's birth. Lenz and his wife, Liselotte, also exchanged over 100 letters with Paul Celan and his wife, Gisèle Lestrange between 1952 and 1961.
Life
Siegfried Lenz was born in Lyck, East Prussia (now Ełk, Poland). He was a son of a customs officer. After his graduation exam in 1943, he was drafted into the German Navy (Kriegsmarine).
According to documents released in June 2007, he may have joined the Nazi party on 20 April 1944. This was released with the names of several other well known German authors and persons, like Dieter Hildebrandt and Martin Walser.[1] However, Lenz subsequently said he had been included in a collective "joining" of the Party without his knowledge. Shortly before the end of World War II, he defected to Denmark, but became a prisoner of war in Schleswig-Holstein.
After his release, he attended the University of Hamburg, where he studied philosophy, English, and Literary history. His studies were cut off early, however, as he became an intern for the daily paper Die Welt, and served as its editor from 1950 to 1951. It was there he met his future wife, Liselotte (died 5 February 2006). They were married in 1949.
In 1951, Lenz took the money he had earned from his first novel, Habichte in der Luft, and financed a trip to Kenya. During his time there, he wrote about the Mau Mau Uprising in his history Lukas, sanftmütiger Knecht. Since 1951, Lenz worked as a freelance writer in Hamburg and was a member of the literature forum "Group 47". Together with Günter Grass, he became engaged with the Social Democratic Party and aided the Ostpolitik of Willy Brandt. A champion of the movement, he was invited in 1970 to the signing of the German-Polish Treaty. In October 2011 he was made an honorary citizen of Ełk, the successor to his hometown — which became Polish as a result of the border changes promulgated in 1945 by the Potsdam Conference.
Since 2003, Lenz has been a visiting professor at the Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine University and a member of the organization for German orthography and proper speech.
Writing
Critic Gerhardt Csejka described Lenz as one of the German authors who saw it as his duty to help the German people "to pay off the enormous debts", which "the Germans together with their honoured Führer had burdened themselves." Lenz saw it as his obligation to "take preventive actions against any danger of a reoccurrence."[2]
Awards
In 1988 Lenz was awarded with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, a prize given annually at the Frankfurt Book Fair.[3] The Goethe Prize of Frankfurt am Main (Goethepreis der Stadt Frankfurt) was given to Lenz in 2000. A year later, Lenz was honored with the highest decoration of Hamburg, the honorary citizenship.[4] Since 2004 Lenz has been honorary citizen of Schleswig Holstein, since 18 October 2011 honorary citizen of his hometown Ełk (Lyck).[5] In 2010 he won International Nonino Prize from the Nonino family.
Selected bibliography
Novels
| Title | Year | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Es waren Habichte in der Luft | 1951 | Hoffmann und Campe | OCLC 4181946 |
| Duell mit dem Schatten | 1953 | Hoffmann und Campe | ISBN 978-3-455-04255-9, 1995 |
| Der Mann im Strom | 1957 | Hoffmann und Campe | OCLC 5955470, 1969 |
| Brot und Spiele | 1959 | Hoffmann und Campe | OCLC 4181935 |
| Stadtgespräch | 1963 | Hoffmann und Campe | OCLC 360361 |
| Deutschstunde The German lesson, translated E. Kaiser and E. Wilkins | 1968 | Hoffmann und Campe New Directions Publishing | OCLC 17466388 ISBN 978-0-8112-0982-3 1986. Translated to (Chinese), (Croatian), (Czech), (Danish), (Finnish), (French), (Korean), (Portuguese), (Polish), (Russian), (Slovak), (Spanish), (Italian) |
| Das Vorbild An Exemplary Life, translated by Douglas Parmée | 1973 | Hoffmann und Campe Hill and Wang | ISBN 978-3-455-04238-2 ISBN 978-0-8090-4322-4, 1976 |
| Heimatmuseum The heritage, translated K. Winston | 1978 | Hoffmann und Campe Secker & Warburg | ISBN 978-3-455-04222-1 OCLC 59188447, 1981 |
| Der Verlust | 1981 | Hoffmann und Campe | OCLC 8066291 |
| Exerzierplatz Training ground, translated G. Skelton | 1981 | Hoffmann und Campe Methuen | ISBN 978-3-455-04213-9 ISBN 978-0-413-18120-6, 1991 |
| Die Klangprobe | 1990 | Hoffmann und Campe | ISBN 978-3-455-04248-1 |
| Die Auflehnung | 1994 | Hoffmann und Campe | ISBN 978-3-455-04252-8 |
| Arnes Nachlass | 1999 | Hoffmann und Campe | ISBN 978-3-455-04289-4 |
| Fundbüro | 2003 | Hoffmann und Campe | ISBN 978-3-455-04280-1 |
Novellas and narratives
| Title | Year | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| So zärtlich war Suleyken; masurische Geschichten | 1955 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narratives. OCLC 3570259 |
| Das schönste Fest der Welt | 1961 | Hans-Bredow-Institut | OCLC 215017008. First broadcasting of the radio drama Das schönste Fest der Welt was in 1956 by Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk. |
| Das Kabinett der Konterbande | 1956 | Hoffmann und Campe | OCLC 8465256 |
| Jaeger des Spotts. Geschichten aus dieser Zeit | 1979 | Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag | Narratives. ISBN 978-3-423-02530-0 First published 1958 by Hoffmann und Campe |
| Lukas, sanftmütiger Knecht | 1958 | Klett | OCLC 221865117 |
| Das Feuerschiff The Lightship, translated by M. Bullock | 1960 | Hoffmann und Campe Hill and Wang | Narratives. OCLC 231754572 OCLC 1028271, 1962 |
| Zeit der Schuldlosen. Zeit der Schuldigen. | 1961 | Hans Bredow-Institut | Play. OCLC 8651536 |
| Stimmungen der See | 1962 | Reclam | Narratives. OCLC 950463 |
| Das Gesicht | 1964 | Hoffmann und Campe | Play. OCLC 1250172 |
| Lehmanns Erzählungen, oder So schön war mein Markt: aus den Bekenntnissen eines Schwarzhändlers. | 1964 | Hoffmann und Campe | OCLC 60240089 |
| Der Spielverderber | 1965 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narrative. OCLC 263613364 Translated to (Dutch) |
| Haussuchung | 1967 | Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag | Play. OCLC 59690579 |
| Leute von Hamburg | 1968 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narrative. OCLC 257975222 |
| Die Augenbinde | 1970 | Rowohlt | Play. OCLC 256912361 |
| Wie bei Gogol | 1973 | Reclam | Narrative. Published in Erzählte Zeit : 50 deutsche Kurzgeschichten der Gegenwart ISBN 978-3-15-009996-4 |
| Der Geist der Mirabelle : Geschichten aus Bollerup | 1975 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narrative. ISBN 978-3-455-04206-1 Translated to (Dutch), (Low Saxon), (Polish), (Russian) |
| Einstein überquert die Elbe bei Hamburg | 1975 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narratives. ISBN 978-3-455-04227-6 |
| Drei Stücke | 1980 | Hoffmann und Campe | Plays. ISBN 978-3-455-04242-9 |
| Ein Kriegsende | 1984 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narrative. ISBN 978-3-455-04212-2 Translated to (Dutch) |
| Das serbische Mädchen | 1987 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narratives. ISBN 978-3-455-04245-0 Translated to (Dutch) |
| The Selected Stories of Siegfried Lenz Translation of selections from: Die Erzählungen | 1995 | Northwestern University Press | ISBN 0-8101-1314-7 |
| Ludmilla | 1996 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narrative. ISBN 978-3-455-04256-6 |
| Zaungast | 2004 | Hoffmann und Campe | Narrative. ISBN 978-3-455-04278-8 |
| Die Erzählungen | 2006 | Hoffmann und Campe | Short stories. ISBN 3-455-04285-6 First published Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag: Vol. 1: 1949-1958. Vol 2: 1959-1964. Vol. 3: 1965-1984. |
| Ein Freund der Regierung | 1983 | Denmarks Skoleradio | Short story. OCLC 60882341 |
| Schweigeminute | 2008 | Hoffmann und Campe | Novella. ISBN 978-3-455-04284-9 |
Essays, children's books, speeches
- 1970 Beziehungen, Essay
- 1971 Die Herrschaftssprache der CDU, Speech
- 1971 Verlorenes Land - Gewonnene Nachbarschaft, Speech
- 1971 So war das mit dem Zirkus, Children's book
- 1980 Gespräche mit Manès Sperber und Leszek Kołakowski
- 1982 Über Phantasie: Gespräche mit Heinrich Böll, Günter Grass, Walter Kempowski, Pavel Kohout
- 1983 Elfenbeinturm und Barrikade. Erfahrungen am Schreibtisch, Essay
- 1986 Geschichte erzählen - Geschichten erzählen, Essay
- 1992 Über das Gedächtnis. Reden und Aufsätze
- 1998 Über den Schmerz, Essay
- 2001 Mutmassungen über die Zukunft der Literatur, Essay
- 2006 Selbstversetzung, Über Schreiben und Leben, ISBN 3-455-04286-4
References
- ↑ "Dieter Hildebrandt soll in NSDAP gewesen sein" (in German). Die Welt. 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- ↑ "Siegfried Lenz (1926), Deutschstunde". Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- ↑ "All prize winners and speakers". Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ↑ "Hamburgische Ehrenbürger" (in German). Chancellery of the Senate. Retrieved 2009-10-06. "Hat mit seinem literarischen Werk zur Erneuerung und Anerkennung Deutschlands im Geiste des Humanismus beigetragen (Has contributed with his literary work for the renewal and recognition of Germany in the spirit of humanism)"
- ↑ "Siegfried Lenz zum Ehrenbürger seiner Geburtsstadt ernannt" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Siegfried Lenz. |
- Literature by and about Siegfried Lenz in the German National Library catalogue
- Works by or about Siegfried Lenz in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Website (in German) published by Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. Retrieved 2009-10-04
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