Hans Werner Richter (12 November 1908 – 23 March 1993) was a German writer. Born in Neu Sallenthin,

Usedom Usedom (german: Usedom , pl, Uznam ) is a Baltic Sea island in Pomerania, divided between Germany and Poland. It is the second largest Pomeranian island after Rügen, and the most populous island in the Baltic Sea. It is north of the Szczecin ...

, Richter is little known for his own works but found worldwide celebrity and acknowledgment as initiator, moving spirit and "

grey eminence Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

" of the

Group 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 ...

, the most important

literary association A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...

of the

German Federal Republic BRD (german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; English: FRG/Federal Republic of Germany) is an unofficial abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany, informally known in English as West Germany until 1990, and just Germany since reunification. It ...

of the post-war period. Richter died 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 ...

, aged 84.

Works

* ''Deine Söhne Europa - Gedichte deutscher Kriegsgefangener'' (collected poems, 1947) * ''Die Geschlagenen'' (novel, 1949) * ''Sie fielen aus Gottes Hand'' (novel, 1951) * ''Spuren im Sand'' (novel, 1953) * ''Du sollst nicht töten'' (novel, 1955) * ''Linus Fleck oder Der Verlust der Würde'' (1959) * ''Bestandsaufnahme – Eine deutsche Bilanz'' (1962) * ''Bismarck'' (1964) * ''Karl Marx in Samarkand'' (1966) * ''Blinder Alarm'' (story, 1970) * ''Briefe an einen jungen Sozialisten'' (autobiography, 1974) * ''Die Flucht nach Abanon'' (story, 1980) * ''Die Stunde der falschen Triumphe'' (novel, 1981) * ''Ein Julitag'' (novel, 1982) * (How the Group 47 started) {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Hanswerner 1908 births 1993 deaths People from Vorpommern-Greifswald People from the Province of Pomerania Communist Party of Germany politicians Writers from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania German military personnel of World War II Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German novelists German male novelists 20th-century German male writers