Erich Loest (; 24 February 1926 – 12 September 2013) was a German writer born in

Mittweida Mittweida () is a town in Saxony, Germany, in the Mittelsachsen district. Geography Mittweida is situated on the river Zschopau, 18 km north of Chemnitz, and 54 km west of Dresden. Embedded within the steep hills and valleys of the riv ...

, Saxony. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Hans Walldorf, Bernd Diksen and Waldemar Naß.

Life and career

He was a conscript soldier in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and a

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

member, he was captured by US troops in 1945. In 1947 he joined the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

and became a journalist for the Leipziger Volkszeitung. His first novels were heavily criticized, he was dismissed from the Volkszeitung and became a freelance writer. In 1957 he lost his SED membership and was held as a prisoner in a Stasi prison in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

for "konterrevolutionärer Gruppenbildung (counter-revolutionary grouping)" until 1964, during which he was prohibited from writing.biography
From 1965 to 1975, he wrote eleven novels and 30 short stories, some under pseudonyms. In 1979 he was ostracized from

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and did not return until after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990. In 1995,

Frank Beyer Frank Paul Beyer (; 26 May 1932 – 1 October 2006) was a German film director. In East Germany he was one of the most important film directors, working for the state film monopoly DEFA and directed films that dealt mostly with the Nazi er ...

directed the film '' Nikolaikirche'', which was written, at first, as a screenplay by Loest, who later made it a novel. In his later years, Loest became seriously ill and announced at an Academy of Arts ceremony in 2010 that he did not have the strength to write another novel. On 12 September 2013, he committed suicide by jumping from a second-floor hospital window. He was 87 years old.

Works

* ''Jungen, die übrig blieben'', Leipzig 1950 * ''Nacht über dem See und andere Kurzgeschichten'', Leipzig 1950 * ''Liebesgeschichten'', Leipzig 1951 * ''Die Westmark fällt weiter'', Halle (Saale) 1952 * ''Sportgeschichten'', Halle (Saale) 1953 * ''Das Jahr der Prüfung'', Halle (Saale) 1954 * ''Aktion Bumerang'', Halle (Saale) 1957 * ''Sliwowitz und Angst'', Berlin 1965 * ''Der Mörder saß im Wembley-Stadion'', Halle (Saale) 1967 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Waffenkarussell'', Berlin 1968 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Hilfe durch Ranke'', Berlin 1968 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Der Abhang'', Berlin 1968 * ''Öl für Malta'', Berlin 1968 * ''Der elfte Mann'', Halle (Saale) 1969 * ''Gemälde mit Einlage'', Berlin 1969 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Schöne Frau und Kettenhemd'', Berlin 1969 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Mit kleinstem Kaliber'', Halle (Saale) 1973 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Schattenboxen'', Berlin 1973 * ''Das Vorurteil'', Berlin 1974 (pseudonym ''Bernd Diksen'') * ''Wildtöter und Große Schlange'', Berlin 1974 * ''Ins offene Messer'', Berlin 1974 * ''Eine Kugel aus Zink'', Berlin 1974 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Etappe Rom'', Berlin 1975 * ''Oakins macht Karriere'', Berlin 1975 * ''Rotes Elfenbein'', Halle (Saale) 1975 (pseudonym ''Hans Walldorf'') * ''Die Oma im Schlauchboot'', Berlin 1976 * ''Ich war Dr. Ley'', Berlin 1976 (pseudonym ''Waldemar Naß'') * ''Es geht seinen Gang oder Mühen in unserer Ebene'', Halle .a.1977 * ''Rendezvous mit Syrena'', Halle .a.1978 (together with Gerald Große) * ''Pistole mit sechzehn'', Hamburg 1979 * ''Swallow, mein wackerer Mustang'', Berlin 1980 * ''Durch die Erde ein Riß'', Hamburg 1981 * ''Harte Gangart'', Köln 1983 * ''Völkerschlachtdenkmal'', Hamburg 1984 * ''Der vierte Zensor'', Köln 1984 * ''Geordnete Rückzüge'', Hannover 1984 * ''Herzschlag'', Niddatal 1984 * ''Zwiebelmuster'', Hamburg 1985 * ''Leipzig ist unerschöpflich'', Paderborn 1985 * ''Saison in Key West'', München .a.1986 * ''Bruder Franz'', Paderborn .a.1986 * ''Ein Sachse in Osnabrück'', Freiburg i. Br. 1986 * ''Froschkonzert'', München .a.1987 * ''Eine romantische Reise um die Welt'', Künzelsau 1988 * ''Fallhöhe'', Künzelsau 1989 * ''Eine romantische Reise durch Europa'', Künzelsau 1989 * ''Bauchschüsse'', Künzelsau 1990 * ''Der Zorn des Schafes'', Künzelsau 1990 * ''Die Stasi war mein Eckermann oder: mein Leben mit der Wanze'', Göttingen 1991 * ''Heute kommt Westbesuch'', Göttingen 1992 * ''Katerfrühstück'', Leipzig 1992 * ''Inseln der Träume'', Künzelsau, 1993 * ''Zwiebeln für den Landesvater'', Göttingen 1994 * ''Nikolaikirche'', Leipzig 1995 * ''Als wir in den Westen kamen'', Stuttgart 1997 * ''Gute Genossen'', Leipzig 1999 * ''Reichsgericht'', Leipzig 2001 * ''Träumereien eines Grenzgängers'', Stuttgart 2001 * ''Werkausgabe'', Künzelsau .a.** Bd. 1. ''Jungen, die übrig blieben'', 1991 ** Bd. 2. ''Der elfte Mann'', 1992 ** Bd. 3. ''Schattenboxen'', 1993 ** Bd. 4. ''Zwiebelmuster'', 1994 ** Bd. 5. ''Swallow, mein wackerer Mustang'', 1996 ** Bd. 6. ''Die Mäuse des Dr. Ley'', 2000

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loest, Erich 1926 births 2013 suicides People from Mittweida Nazi Party members Socialist Unity Party of Germany members East German writers Writers from Saxony German male writers German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Suicides by jumping in Germany German Army personnel of World War II 2013 deaths

Life and career

Works

See also

References

External links