Reinhard Lettau (10 September 1929,
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
– 17 June 1996,
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
) was a German-American writer.
Career
He was a professor of German Literature first at
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
and then, from 1967 to 1991, at the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
. He was an active member 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 ...
. He gave incendiary speeches at the
Free University of Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...
denouncing the
Springer Press
Axel Springer SE () is a German digital and popular periodical publishing house which is the largest in Europe, with numerous multimedia news brands, such as '' Bild'', ''Die Welt'', and ''Fakt'' and more than 15,000 employees. It generated to ...
. He was thereupon expelled from
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 ...
because he was a foreigner—by that time, he carried an American passport. His provocative behavior continued in the US: In 1972, he was suspended from teaching, without pay, at UC San Diego after hitting a Marine Corps officer on the head with a rolled-up newspaper. Lettau objected to the Marines recruiting on campus.
He returned to Germany in 1991 after
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
. He received the War Blind Prize for radio plays in 1979, the
Berlin Literature Prize
Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits having gained this status a ...
in 1993, and the
Bremen Literature Prize
The Bremen Literature Prize (german: link=no, Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen, literally: Literature Prize of the city of Bremen) is a German literary award. The prize money is €25,000 (Förderpreis: €6,000).
Recipients
*1954 Heinrich Schmi ...
in 1995.
He had studied German, philosophy, and literature in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
and at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. His dissertation at Harvard in 1960 was titled "Utopie und Roman; Untersuchungen zur Form des deutschen utopischen Romans im zwanzigsten Jahrhundert." His advisor was
Bernhard Blume.
The thesis analyzed utopian novels in the 20th century. He later published on
Marcuse.
In addition to his academic writing, Lettau was "critically recognized as a major twentieth-century prose stylist."
He was a member of the
PEN-Centre in Germany, and of the
Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste The Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste (German Academy of the Performing Arts) is an academy founded in Hamburg in 1956, representing members from theatre, film, television and radio. Their activities and events are supported by foundations ...
. He was Poet in Residence at the
University of Essen
The University of Duisburg-Essen (german: link=no, Universität Duisburg-Essen) is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', the university was awarded ...
(Germany) in the winter term 1979/1980.
He married Gene Carter in 1954; they had three daughters, Karin (1957), Kevyn (1959), and Kathy (1965). They were divorced in 1968. He lived from 1965 in
Berlin-Schöneberg together with Véronique Springer, the daughter of the Galerist Rudolf Springer. They were married in 1969 after moving to San Diego in 1967. They were divorced in 1972. His third wife was Dawn Teborski; they married in 1979 and returned to Berlin in 1991 after Lettau took early retirement at UC San Diego because of health problems.
In 1996 he traveled to
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
for his mother's 90th birthday. He was hospitalized after a fall and died there of pneumonia. He is buried in the Protestant Cemetery No. III of the congregations of
Jerusalem's Church
Jerusalem Church (german: Jerusalem(s)kirche, Jerusalemer Kirche) is one of the churches of the Evangelical Congregation in the Friedrichstadt (under this name since 2001), a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Church of ...
and
New Church (Friedhof III der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde) at
Mehringdamm
The Mehringdamm is a street in southern Kreuzberg, Berlin. In the north it starts at Mehringbrücke and ends - with its southernmost houses already belonging to Tempelhof locality - on Platz der Luftbrücke. It is the historical southbound Berlin-H ...
No. 21 in
Berlin-Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it has ...
.
Books
His books include:
* ''Schwierigkeiten beim Häuserbauen'' (1962)
:21 stories of the absurd, or rather, normal situations which become absurd
:American edition: ''Obstacles'', Transl.:
Ursule Molinaro
Ursule Molinaro (1916, Paris –10 July 2000, New York City) was a prolific novelist, playwright, translator and visual artist, the author of 12 novels, two collections of short prose works, innumerable short stories for literary magazines and doz ...
, New York: Pantheon Books, 1965.
* ''Auftritt Manigs'' (1963)
:51 short (usually less than one page) descriptions of Manig. We learn a lot about Manig, despite the extremely short but acutely precise observations. The first public reading of this book was at a meeting 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 ...
'' in Berlin October 25–28, 1962.
* ''Die Gruppe 47 - Bericht, Kritik, Polemik'' (1967)
:Lettau was both a member of the ''Gruppe 47'' and a keen observer of its working. A group of writers would gather once a year to criticize each other's work
Gert Rückeldescribes a scene towards the end of the group's life in which Lettau speaks to a group of protesters.
* ''Feinde'' (1968)
:Three longer and three short stories. The main story, "Der Feind" is a collection of short, grotesque stories about the senseless absurdity of the military. The first public reading was at a meeting 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 ...
'' in Princeton/USA, April 22–24, 1966. Parts were also printed in Kursbuch 7 (1966)
* ''Täglicher Faschismus'' (1971)
:Lettau analyzes six months of selected newspaper articles from the USA and discusses the fascist tendencies that he sees in them. Topics are worker's problems, the student protests, press manipulation and racism.
* ''Immer kürzer werdende Geschichten. Und Gedichte und Porträts.'' (1973)
:This is a collection of stories written between 1962 and 1968
* ''Fruehstuecksgespraeche im Miami'' (1977)
:Where do dictators go when they have been deposed? Well, to Miami, to await the news that they may return. Lettau imagines dictators meeting for breakfast and discussing business. 43 short breakfast discussions on topics ranging from avoiding assassination to the advantages of smoking.
A radio play was written by Lettau and the director Walter Adler in the winter of 1978/79 and was produced in February 1979 by the SDR 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 ...
.
* ''Zerstreutes Hinschauen - Vom Schreiben über Vorgänge in direkter Nähe oder in der Entfernung von Schreibtischen'' (1980)
:35 short chapters (but long by Lettauesque standards) looking to Germany and to the problems caused by Lettau taking part in a demonstration in Berlin and being deported.
* ''Herr Strich schreitet zum Äussersten. Geschichten'' (1982)
:This title story was first published in the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
on February 7, 1952. This is a collection of short stories that were published in diverse newspapers and literary journals.
* ''Zur Frage der Himmelsrichtungen'' (1988)
:What does East mean? Where is West? If you stand in San Francisco and look out over the ocean, you are looking at China and Russia - most certainly the East. If you are in Erfurt (or Berlin!) any way you look - North, South, East or West - is East. 52 short chapters.
* ''Flucht vor Gästen'' (1994)
:Lettau describes his return to Germany from America with his second wife, Dawn. Five chapters of unnumbered stories about terrible guests and about coming back to Germany.
* ''Waldstück im Ansturm''
:This "Noyaux" (fruit pit) of a book that Lettau was working on at the time of his death and tentatively titled "Gramercy Park" was published in the
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...
on November 7, 1995. Lettau read 10 pages for the NDR in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
on January 27, 1996.
* ''Reinhard Lettau's renovierter Rixdorfer Ruebezahl''
: A collection of 5 lines by Lettau about four wooden carving pictures and a leporello done for the IFA-Ferienpark Hohe Reuth in Schöneck in the
Vogtland
Vogtland (; cz, Fojtsko) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former ...
, done with Uwe Bremer in the printer's shop ''Fachwerkstatt Rixdorfer Drucke'' where the Rixdorf group of artists gather every year to do a project together.
*''Alle Geschichten'' (1998, posthum, Dawn Lettau and Hanspeter Krüger, ed.)
:A collection of the most important prose stories Lettau published. The editors have tried to be faithful to Lettau's at times free orthography and his hatred of commas. As there were no fixed manuscripts but just piles and piles of notes sorted into folder, the editors had quite a lot of work compiling these stories. A second volume is planned. Includes a detailed timeline including the names of his dogs and the addresses at which he lived.
* ''Reisekosten Abrechnungen 1-7 Tage. Formularblock.'' (2004, posthum)
:This is listed in Amazon.de for 14,40 Euro, no mention of what this is. The company Stollwerk does publish a collection of forms to make it easy to keep track of travel expenses, so this might be a reprint of that, or it is a database error.
External links
*
pictureof Reinhard Lettau speaking with
Stephan Hermlin
Stephan Hermlin (; 13 April 1915 – 6 April 1997), real name ''Rudolf Leder,'' was a German author. He wrote, among other things, stories, essays, translations, and lyric poetry and was one of the more well-known authors of former East Germany.
...
.
* Urs Widmer wrote an interesting biography in the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung", to be found a
Amazon (in German)
* Lettau's daughter
Kevyn Lettau is a jazz and R&B singer.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lettau, Reinhard
1929 births
1996 deaths
University of California, San Diego faculty
Harvard University alumni
Heidelberg University alumni
Writers from Erfurt
German male writers
Deaths from pneumonia in Germany
East German emigrants to the United States
Smith College faculty