Helmut Hauptmann (born 12 March 1928) is a German writer who was mainly active in the then

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 ...

Life

Helmut Hauptmann grew up in a working-class family in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Near the end of

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 opposin ...

, he served as a Luftwaffenhelfer in Berlin and became a

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

at a camp in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

. After the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, he worked with the

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Greater Berlin The Greater Berlin Act (german: Groß-Berlin-Gesetz), officially Law Regarding the Creation of the New Municipality of Berlin (german: Gesetz über die Bildung einer neuen Stadtgemeinde Berlin), was a law passed by the Prussian state government i ...

. Since the early 1950s, he has worked as a

literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.

, journalist, and writer in Berlin. Hauptmann writes narrative works that reflect the ideological optimism of early East Germany as well as

travel journal The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...

s which captured the experience of the writer in the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. Hauptmann was a member of the Schriftstellerverband der DDR since 1956 and the P.E.N.-Zentrum of East Germany since 1972. He is the recipient of the Erich Weinert Medal (1958), the

Heinrich Mann Prize The Heinrich Mann Prize () is an essay prize that has been awarded since 1953, first by the East German Academy of Arts, then by the Academy of Arts, Berlin. The prize, which comes with a €10,000 purse, is given annually on 27 March, Heinrich Ma ...

(1960), the art prize of the Free German Trade Union Federation (1964), and as well as the

Heinrich Heine Prize Heinrich Heine Prize refers to three different awards named in honour of the 19th-century German poet Christian Johann Heinrich Heine: * ''Heinrich Heine prize of Düsseldorf'' * ''Heinrich Heine prize of the Ministry for Culture'' of the former ...

(1969). Hauptmann and his wife Ursula currently live in

Berlin-Weißensee () is a quarter in the borough of in Berlin, Germany, that takes its name from the small lake (literally 'White Lake') within it. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, was a borough in its own right, consisting of the quarters of , , , ...

Works

* ''Das Geheimnis von Sosa'' (The Secret of Sosa), Berlin 1950 * ''Studiert wie Angelika und Hans Joachim!'' (Study like Angelika and Hans Joachim!), Berlin 1951 * ''Schwarzes Meer und weiße Rosen'' (Black Sea and White Roses), Berlin 1956 * ''Donaufahrt zu dritt'' (Donau Trip for Three), Berlin 1957 * ''Die Karriere des Hans Dietrich Borssdorf alias Jakow'' (The Career of Hans Dietrich Borssdorf alias Jakow), Berlin 1958 * ' (The Invisible with the Red Hat), Berlin 1958 * ''Sieben stellen die Uhr'' (The Clock hits Seven), Berlin 1959 * ''Hanna'', Berlin 1963 * ''Das komplexe Abenteuer Schwedt'' (The Complex Adventurer Schwedt), Halle (Saale) 1964 * ''Der Kreis der Familie'' (The Family Circle), Halle 1964 * ''Blauer Himmel, blaue Helme'' (Blue Heavens, Blue Helmets), Halle (Saale) 1965 * ''Ivi'', Halle (Saale) 1969 * ''Warum ich nach Horka ging'' (Why I go to Horka), Bautzen 1971 * ''Das unteilbare Leben'' (The Indivisible Life), Halle (Saale) 1972 * ''Standpunkt und Spielraum'' (Standpoint and Scope), Halle (Saale) 1977

Editorial work

* ''DDR-Reportage'', Leipzig 1969

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hauptmann, Helmut 1928 births Living people Heinrich Mann Prize winners German male writers Luftwaffenhelfer German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom