Rudi Strahl (14 September 1931 – 4 May 2001) was a German
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
,
novelist and
poet. He was one of the most played theatre playwrights of the
GDR
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 and work
As son of a
locksmith he migrated in 1948 to the
Soviet occupation zone. His mother was named Emilie Anna L. Strahl (1902–1981), his father was Rudolf Strahl (1900–1944). Since 1950 he served in the
Volkspolizei, later in the
Kasernierte Volkspolizei and went to an
Officer Candidate School. His military term of service lasted eight years, at his retirement in the year 1959 he was
lieutenant of the
NVA. During his term of service he was an employee of the publishing house of the
Ministry of National Defense
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
. 1956 he married Alice Strahl, with whom he had two sons, Bob Strahl (1959–1997), likewise a writer, and Stefan Strahl (born 1969), who makes music. His two brothers were Harry Strahl (1924–1945(?)) and
Manfred Strahl (1940–2000).
1955 he published with ''Sturm auf Stollberg'' (''Storming of Stollberg'') his first narrative. 1957/58 he visited the
Institute for Literature „Johannes R. Becher“. From 1959 until 1961 he was editor of the satirical magazine „
Eulenspiegel“. Afterward, he worked in Berlin as a freelancer. 1973 he became a member of the
GDR's Writer Union and was belonging to its presidium since 1978. 1980 he joined the GDR
PEN centre. His grave is located on the
Dorotheenstadt cemetery in Berlin.
His books reached a total edition of about 4.6 million copies, his theatre plays had more than 560 stagings. Rudi Strahl's works were translated into 26 languages. He scripted numerous movies and television plays. Also his juvenile book ''Du und ich und Klein-Paris'' (''You and I in litte Paris''), published in Berlin's