Günter Herburger (April 6, 1932 – May 3, 2018) was a German writer. He was initially counted among the "New Realists" funded by , became the author of socialist, imaginative utopian worlds since the 1970s and took an outsider position in German-language contemporary literature. He was a writer of poems, children's books, radio plays and a member of the PEN Center Germany.

Early life and education

Herbrger was born in Isny,

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the A ...

. He was the son of a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

. From 1945 to 1950 he attended the Urspring School in

Schelklingen Schelklingen is a town in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Ehingen, and 20 km west of Ulm. Schelklingen and 82% of its territory form part of the Swabian Jura Biosphere Reserve. ...

. He then began studying

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

. He also studied philosophy and

theatre studies Theatre studies (sometimes referred to as theatrology or dramatics) is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psychobiological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also e ...

Career

In 1954 Herburger broke off his studies and went on trips. He lived occasionally in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

and kept afloat with occasional work. In Paris he had contact with the author

Joseph Breitbach Joseph Breitbach (1903–1980) was a French-German playwright, novelist and journalist. He was born in Koblenz and died in Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of ...

. In 1956 he was forced to return to Munich for health reasons. He worked on his first novel. After marrying his first wife, Brunhilde Braatz, in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, the couple moved across Europe together. In 1957 they separated, and Herburger went back to Isny in the Allgäu. He sought employment at the Süddeutscher Rundfunk in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

and worked for one year on the production of live broadcasts and documentary films. During this time, Herburger managed, through mediation by

Helmut Heissenbüttel Helmut is a German name. Variants include Hellmut, Helmuth, and Hellmuth. From old German, the first element deriving from either ''heil'' ("healthy") or ''hiltja'' ("battle"), and the second from ''muot'' ("spirit, mind, mood"). Helmut may refer ...

, to make contacts with other writers and publish first texts. In 1962 he married actress Ingrid Mannstaedt, with whom he went to

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

in 1963. Letters became his main occupation, and in 1964 his first prose appeared, which was well received by the critics; next to it emerged radio plays and film scripts. From 1964 Herburger participated in the meetings of the

Gruppe 47 Gruppe 47 (Group 47) was a group of participants in German writers' meetings, invited by Hans Werner Richter between 1947 and 1967. The meetings served the dual goals of literary criticism as well as the promotion of young, unknown authors. In a de ...

(group 47). In 1967, the Herburger family moved to Berlin-Friedenau, where the author maintained lively contacts with numerous fellow writers and with the beginning of the student movement. In 1973 Herburger returned to Munich after the failure of his second marriage. There he married Rosemarie Leitner and began work on the "Thuja Trilogy", a romance cycle that would keep him busy until the 1990s. Herburger was politically involved as a member of the German Communist Party (DKP) and was temporarily for study purposes in the GDR; later however, given the dogmatic course of the party, he became disillusioned with it more and more. In 1973 he also founded the first cooperative bookstore in Munich together with

Martin Gregor-Dellin Martin Gregor-Dellin (real name Martin Gustav Schmidt) was a German writer noted for his scholarship on the composer Richard Wagner. He was born in 1926 in Naumburg (Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale ...

, Michael Krüger,

Paul Wühr Paul Wühr (10 July 1927 – 12 July 2016) was a German experimental author. Wühr lived by Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, Italy and wrote for the publisher Hanser-Verlag. Selected works Novels * '' Gegenmünchen'', 1970 * '' Das falsche Buch'' ...

, Christoph Buggert and

Tankred Dorst Tankred Dorst (19 December 1925 – 1 June 2017) was a German playwright and storyteller. Dorst lived and worked in Munich. His farces, parables, one-act-plays and adaptations were inspired by the theatre of the absurd and the works of Ionesco ...

. In 1974, after the birth of a disabled daughter, Herburger withdrew more and more from the literary scene, which, despite numerous prizes awarded to him, took less and less notice of him. In 1975 he published the poem "To Improve the Feuilleton" in which he expressed his rejection of

Wolfram Siebeck Wolfram Siebeck (19 September 1928 – 7 July 2016) was a German journalist, author and food critic. With his satirical style of writing he used to criticise fast food, TV dinners, subsidised agriculture and intensive animal farming. Biography ...

and other authors. Siebeck replied in the gloss "with German tongue".

Personal life

From 1983 Herburger developed into a passionate runner, who regularly completed the marathon distance and longer distances and has reported on his experiences with this extreme sport in several books. Herburger died on 3 May 2018 at the age of 86 in Berlin, two weeks after his wife Rosemarie, following an accident. He was buried in the municipal cemetery in Isny im Allgäu.

Literary works

1960s

*''Eine gleichmäßige Landschaft. Erzählungen.'', Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln Berlin 1964. *''Ventile. Gedichte.'' Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln Berlin 1966. *''Die Messe. Roman.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1969.

1970s

*''Jesus in Osaka. Zukunftsroman.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1970. *''Training. Gedichte.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1970. *''Birne kann alles. 26 Abenteuergeschichten für Kinder.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1971. *''Birne kann noch mehr. 26 Abenteuergeschichten für Kinder.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1971. *''Die Eroberung der Zitadelle. Erzählungen.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1972. *''Helmut in der Stadt'' Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1972. *''Die amerikanische Tochter. Gedichte, Aufsätze, Hörspiel, Erzählung, Film.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1973. *''Operette. Gedichte'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1973. *''Schöner kochen. In 52 Arten'', Verlag Eremiten-Presse, Düsseldorf 1974. (zusammen mit Birte Lena) *''Birne brennt durch. 26 Abenteuergeschichten für Kinder und Erwachsene.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1975. *''Hauptlehrer Hofer. Ein Fall von Pfingsten. Zwei Erzählungen.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1975. *''Ziele. Gedichte.'' Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1977. *''Flug ins Herz. Roman.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied. (Teil 1 der Thuja-Trilogie). ** Band 1, 1977. ** Band 2, 1977. *''Orchidee. Gedichte.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1979.

1980s

*''Die Augen der Kämpfer. Roman.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied. (Teil 2 der Thuja-Trilogie). ** Band 1 ''Erste Reise'', 1980. ** Band 2 ''Zweite Reise'', 1983. *''Blick aus dem Paradies. Thuja. Zwei Spiele eines Themas.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1981. *''Makadam. Gedichte.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1982. *''Das Flackern des Feuers im Land. Beschreibungen.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1983. *''Capri. Die Geschichte eines Diebs.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1984. *''Das Lager. Ausgewählte Gedichte 1966–1982.'', Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1984. *''Kinderreich Passmoré. Gedichte.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1986. *''Kreuzwege.'' Oberschwäbische Verlags-Anstalt, Ravensburg 1988. *''Lauf und Wahn'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt 1988.

1990s

*''Das brennende Haus. Gedichte.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1990. *''Lena. Die Eroberung der Zitadelle. Zwei Erzählungen.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991. *''Thuja. Roman.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Hamburg Zürich 1991. (Teil 3 der Thuja-Trilogie). *''Sturm und Stille. Gedichte.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Hamburg 1993. *''Das Glück. Photonovellen.'' A1 Verlag, München 1994. *''Traum und Bahn'', 1994 *''Birne kehrt zurück. Neue Abenteuergeschichten.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, München 1996. *''Die Liebe. Photonovellen.'' A1 Verlag, München 1996. *''Im Gebirge. Gedichte.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, München 1998, . *''Elsa. Roman.'' Luchterhand Literaturverlag, München 1999, . *''Der Schrecken Süße. Mini-Photonovelle.'' A1 Verlag, München 1999, .

2000s

*''Humboldt. Reise-Novellen.'' A1 Verlag, München 2001, . *''Eine fliegende Festung. Gedichte.'' A1 Verlag, München 2002, . *''Schlaf und Strecke'' A1 Verlag, München 2004, . *''Der Tod. Photonovellen.'' A1 Verlag, München 2006, . *''Trilogie der Verschwendung. Das Glück, Die Liebe, Der Tod. Photonovellen.'' A1 Verlag, München 2006, . *''Der Kuss. Gedichte.'' A1 Verlag, München 2008, . *''Die Trilogie der Tatzen. Drei Essays von Günter Herburger und achtundvierzig Monotypien von Günther Förg.'' Snoeck Verlag, Köln 2008, .

2010s

*''Ein Loch in der Landschaft. Gedichte.'' A1 Verlag, München 2010, . *''Haitata: kleine wilde Romane.'' A1 Verlag, München 2012, . *''Wildnis, singend.'' Roman. Hanani Verlag, Berlin 2016, .

Awards and honors

* 1965: "Prize of the Young Generation", Literature (Award of the

Berliner Kunstpreis The ''Berliner Kunstpreis'' (Berlin Art Prize), officially Großer Berliner Kunstpreis, is a prize for the arts by the City of Berlin. It was first awarded in 1948 in several fields of art. Since 1971, it has been awarded by the Academy of Arts ( ...

) * 1967:

Adolf Grimme Prize The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.Peter Lilienthal Peter Lilienthal (born 27 November 1929) is a German film director, writer, actor and producer. His 1979 film ''David'' won the Golden Bear at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival. His 1984 film '' Das Autogramm'' was entered into the 34th ...

and Gérard Vandenberg) * 1973: Bremen Literature Prize * 1979: Gerrit-Engelke Prize (together with

Günter Wallraff Günter Wallraff (born 1 October 1942) is a German writer and undercover journalist. Research methods Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions an ...

) * 1991: Peter Huchel Prize * 1991:

Toucan Prize The Toucan Prize (german: Tukan-Preis) is a literary prize given by the city of Munich to the best new publication by a Munich author. It has been awarded since 1965 and is endowed with 6,000 Euros. Recipients *1965 Paul Mommertz, Georg Schwar ...

* 1992: Hans Erich Nossack Prize * 1997: Literature Prize of the City of Munich * 2008:

Preis der SWR-Bestenliste Preis der SWR-Bestenliste is a literature prize awarded in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Winners *1978 Gerhard Roth *1979 Ludwig Fels *1980 Otto F. Walter *1981 Peter Weiss *1982 Franz Fühmann *1983 Oskar Pastior *1984 Christa Reinig *1985 ...

for ''Der Kuss'' (The Kiss) * 2011: By authors for authors * 2011: Johann Friedrich von Cotta Literature and Translator Prize of the City of Stuttgart

Filmography

*''Schoolmaster Hofer'', directed by

Peter Lilienthal Peter Lilienthal (born 27 November 1929) is a German film director, writer, actor and producer. His 1979 film ''David'' won the Golden Bear at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival. His 1984 film '' Das Autogramm'' was entered into the 34th ...

(1975, based on ''Hauptlehrer Hofer'') *''

The Conquest of the Citadel ''The Conquest of the Citadel'' (german: Die Eroberung der Zitadelle) is a 1977 West German drama film directed by Bernhard Wicki. It was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * András Fricsay Kali Son as Hermann Bruc ...

'', directed by

Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian actor and film director. Life and career Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as art history, history and German literature. In 1938, he transferred to the d ...

(1977, based on ''Die Eroberung der Zitadelle'') Screenwriter * ''Abschied'' (dir.

, 1966, TV film) * ''Der Beginn'' (dir.

, 1966, TV film) * ''

Tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

'' (dir.

Johannes Schaaf Johannes Schaaf (7 April 1933 – 1 November 2019) was a German film, theatre and opera director and actor. Several of his films have been internationally recognized. His focus shifted to opera in the 1980s and he worked with many of the leading i ...

, 1967) * ' (dir.

Wim Verstappen Wim Verstappen (4 May 1937 – 24 July 2004) was a Dutch film director and producer, television director, and screen writer. Verstappen grew up in Curaçao. He began studies at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in 1961, and released hi ...

and

Pim de la Parra Pim de la Parra (born 5 January 1940) is a Surinamese-Dutch film director. Between 1967 and 1976, he directed films under the independent production company Scorpio Films with Dutch film director Wim Verstappen, who manages all of its achievemen ...

, 1967, short TV film) * ''Das Bild'' (dir.

Volker Vogeler Volker Vogeler (27 June 1930 – 16 April 2005) was a German film director and screenwriter. He directed 13 films between 1967 and 2000. His 1971 film '' Jaider, der einsame Jäger'' was entered into the 21st Berlin International Film Fest ...

, 1967, TV film) * ''Die Söhne'' (dir.

, 1968, TV film) * ' (dir.

, 1970, TV film)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herburger, Gunter 1932 births 2018 deaths People from Isny im Allgäu People from the Free People's State of Württemberg German Communist Party members Writers from Baden-Württemberg 20th-century German writers 21st-century German writers