Horst Krüger (September 17, 1919

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

– October 21, 1999 Frankfurt am Main) was a German novelist. His autobiographical debut novel, ''A Crack in the Wall: Growing Up Under Hitler'' (original title ''Das Zerbrochene Haus. Eine Jugend in Deutschland'' or ''The Broken House: A Youth in Germany'') is regarded as an exemplary portrait of youth in Germany in the time of the Third Reich, and received international acclaim. His travel literature on various parts of the world has found a wide audience.

Biography

Horst Krüger grew up in Berlin. He studied philosophy and literature at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

and the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

. From 1952 to 1967 he ran a literature program on a Baden-Baden radio-station. After 1967 he lived in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

working as a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. He wrote travel stories, which often took an ethnographic-perspective and dispensed with the style current in feuilletons. Running themes in Krüger's work were Germany's Nazi past and its aftermath, the

partition of Germany Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

and his own youth in Berlin-Eichkamp. Krüger was a member of the

German Academy for Language and Poetry German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and PEN. 1919 births 1999 deaths Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German novelists German male novelists 20th-century German male writers {{Germany-writer-stub