Günter Herburger (6 April 1932 – 3 May 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, short stories, 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 ) 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 Alps. The main rivers flo ...

. He was the son of a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon 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, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

. 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 Reserv ...

. He then began studying

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. 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, psychological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also enco ...

Career

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

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

, in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

and kept afloat with occasional work. In Paris he had contact with the author Joseph Breitbach. 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 is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, 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 German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

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 Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ingrid Burley (born 1986), rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Ingrid (record label), also an artist collective * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cy ...

, with whom he went to

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

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 ...

(group 47). In 1967, the Herburger family moved to

Berlin-Friedenau Friedenau () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. Relatively small by area, its population density was the highest in the city. Geography Friedenau is part of the southwestern ...

, 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 ( ) and Thuringian Saale () ...

Michael Krüger Michael Krüger may refer to: * Michael Krüger (footballer) Michael Krüger (born 28 May 1954) is a German Association football, football coach and former player. Playing career Krüger was born in Scharnebeck. He played for Arminia Hannover ...

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 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, a few weeks after his wife Rosemarie. Both died as a result of 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 Art ...

) * 1967:

Adolf Grimme Prize The Grimme-Preis (Grimme Award), formerly known as the 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. The Grimme Institute ...

with gold for the screenplay for ''Der Beginn'' (The Beginning) (together with

Peter Lilienthal Peter Lilienthal (27 November 1927 – 28 April 2023) was a German film director, writer, actor and producer. He is most associated with being a liberal director of New German Cinema in the 1970s. Early life As a child, in 1939, Lilienthal emig ...

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. Life Günther Wallraff was born in Burscheid as the son of a Ford worker and a factory owner's daughter. After attending high school, he trained as bookselle ...

) * 1991:

Peter Huchel Prize Peter Huchel Prize is a literature prize awarded in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Peter Huchel Prize for German-language poetry, donated by the state of Baden-Württemberg and Südwestrundfunk, has been awarded since 1983 for an outstanding lyri ...

* 1991:

Toucan Prize The Toucan Prize () 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 Schwarz, Roland Ziersch, ...

* 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 *198 ...

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

(1975, based on ''Hauptlehrer Hofer'') *'' The Conquest of the Citadel'', directed by

Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian-Swiss actor, film director and screenwriter. He was a key figure in the revitalization of post-war German-language cinema, particularly in West Germany, and also directed se ...

(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, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

'' (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 and Pim de la Parra, 1967, short TV film) * ''Das Bild'' (dir. Volker Vogeler, 1967, TV film) * ''Die Söhne'' (dir. Volker Vogeler, 1968, TV film) * ' (dir. Volker Vogeler, 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