Volker Braun (born 7 May 1939 in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
) is a German writer. His works include ''Provokation für mich'' (''Provocation for me'') – a collection of poems written between 1959 and 1964 and published in 1965, a play, ''Die Kipper'' (''The Dumpers'') (1972; written 1962–1965), and ''Das ungezwungene Leben Kasts'' (''The Unrestrained Life of Kast'') (1972).
Life
After completing his
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 ...
, Volker Braun worked for a time in construction before going on to study philosophy at
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
. There he occupied himself with the contradictions and hopes of a socialist state. He joined the
SED
sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs,
and is available today for most operating systems.
sed w ...
in 1960. Nevertheless, he was regarded as critical of the GDR state, and often succeeded in getting his prose and poetry published only through the application of tactical skill.
His work included poetry, plays, novels and short stories.
At first his writings reflected a critical enthusiasm for the building of socialism. From 1965 to 1967, Braun worked as artistic director at the
Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langhoff ...
at the invitation of
Helene Weigel
Helene Weigel (; 12 May 19006 May 1971) was a German actress and artistic director. She was the second wife of Bertolt Brecht and was married to him from 1930 until his death in 1956. Together they had two children.
Personal life
Weigel was bo ...
. After the events of the
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in
the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...
, he became increasingly critical of life and the possibility for reform under
Socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
. After that, he came under more intense scrutiny of the
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
. In 1972 Braun began work at the ''Deutsches Theater Berlin'' (German Theatre Berlin). In 1976 he was among those who signed the petition protesting the expatriation of Wolf Biermann. From 1979 he was active again in the Berliner Ensemble. He received the
Lessing Prize of East Germany in 1981. and the
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...
in 1988.
In 1982 Braun left the Writers’ Union of the GDR. At that time his works described an increasingly depressing life in the GDR. The actors in his plays moved about with resignation in immovable settings. His ''Hinze-Kunze-Roman'', based on Diderot's ''Jacques le fataliste et son maître'', received approval for publication in 1985. When it appeared it was reviewed as “absurd” and “anarchistic” by the influential critic Annalise Loeffler. Klaus Hoepke, then deputy minister for culture, was disciplined for having granted permission for its publication.
In 1988, Braun received the National Prize of the GDR. During the "peaceful revolution" of 1989, he was a supporter of an independent "third way" for the GDR. He was among the first signatories of the appeal "Fuer unser Land."
Aufruf vom 26. November 1989 „Für unser Land“ – vollständiger Text mit den Erstunterzeichnern
/ref> After reunification, he became critically engaged in analysing the reasons for the collapse of the GDR. In this connection, he undertook work with the west-Marxist journal, " Das Argument," edited by Wolfgang Fritz Haug.
In 1986, Braun was awarded the Bremer Literature Prize. In 1992 he received the Schiller Memorial Prize
The Schiller Memorial Prize (german: Schiller-Gedächtnispreis) is a literature prize of the State of
Baden-Württemberg. It is endowed with 25,000 euros and has been awarded since 1955 on Friedrich Schiller's birthday, 10 November. The award wa ...
. He was awarded a stipend at the Villa Massimo
Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo ( it, Accademia Tedesca Roma Villa Massimo), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo.
The fellowship of the German Academy in Rom ...
and was a guest of the University of Wales in 1994. In 1996, he received the Deutschen Kritikerpreis (German Critic Prize), became a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung
The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. It is seated in Darmstadt, ...
, the Sächsische Akademie der Künste
The Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of Arts) is a German cultural organisation for the state of Saxony, based in Dresden.
Purpose
The Academy is a statutory corporation to promote the arts in Saxony, make proposals for its prom ...
(Saxon Academy of the Arts) and held the post of Poet-lecturer at the University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
. He received the Erwin Strittmatter Prize in 1998 and the Georg Büchner Prize
The Georg Büchner Prize (german: link=no, Georg-Büchner-Preis) is the most important literary prize for German language literature, along with the Goethe Prize. The award is named after dramatist and writer Georg Büchner, author of ''Woyzeck'' ...
in 2000. From 1999 to 2000, he was the Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
-professor at the University of Kassel
The University of Kassel (german: link=no, Universität Kassel) is a university founded in 1971 located in Kassel, Hessen, in central Germany. As of February 2022 it had about 25,000 students and about 3300 staff, including more than 300 profe ...
. He would be elected Director of the Literature Section of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany.
The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...
in 2006. In 2008, he received the 2007 ver.di-Literature Prize 2007 for his story, "Das Mittagsmahl" (Lunch).
Volker Braun lives in Berlin.
Selected works
* ''Die Kipper'' (The Dumpers), Drama (1965)
* ''Provokation für mich'' (Provocation for Me), Poem (1965)
* ''Vorläufiges'' (Provisional), Poem (1966)
* ''Kriegs Erklärung'' (War's Declaration) (1967)
* ''Lenins Tod'' (Lenin's Death), Drama (1970)
* ''Wir und nicht sie'' (We and not They), Poem (1970)
* ''Die Kipper'' (The Dumpers), Drama (1972)
* ''Gedichte'' (Poems) (1972)
* ''Gegen die symmetrische Welt'' (Against the Symmetric World), Poem (1974)
* ''Es genügt nicht die einfache Wahrheit'' (The Simple Truth isn't Enough) (1975)
* ''Unvollendete Geschichte'' (Unfinished History) (1977)
* ''Training des aufrechten Gangs'' (Learning to Walk Upright), Poem (1979)
* ''Hinze-Kunze-Roman'' (The Hinze-Kunze-Novel), Novel (1985)
* ''Verheerende Folgen mangelnden Anscheins innerbetrieblicher Demokratie. Schriften'' (Disastrous Consequences of the Missing Semblance of Internal Democracy. Writings) (1988)
* ''Der große Frieden'' (The Great Peace)
* ''Der Wendehals'' (The Turncoat) (1995)
* ''Lustgarten Preußen'' (The Pleasure Garden of Prussia) (1996)
* ''Wir befinden uns soweit wohl. Wir sind erst einmal am Ende'' (So Far, So Good. We are Almost at the End.) (1998)
* ''Tumulus'', Poetry Collection (1999)
* ''Das Wirklichgewollte'' (That Which is Really Wanted) (2000)
* ''Das unbesetzte Gebiet'' (The Unoccupied Area), Historical Story (2004)
* ''Das Mittagsmahl'' (Lunch), Story (2007)
Literature
* Edition Text and Criticism: ''Volker Braun'', 1977
* Jay Rosellini, ''Volker Braun'', 1983
* Christine Cosentino, Wolfgang Ertl: ''Zur Lyrik Volker Brauns'' (To the Poet Volker Braun), 1984
* Katrin Bothe: ''Die imaginierte Natur des Sozialismus. Eine Biographie des Schreibens und der Texte Volker Brauns 1959–1974'' (The Imaginative Nature of the Socialist. A Biography of the Writings and Texts of Volker Braun 1959–1974), Würzburg 1997
* Fritz J. Raddatz:
Broken Lives
' (German). Die Zeit, 44/2000
* Rolf Jucker (Hg.): ''Volker Braun in perspective'', Amsterdam/New York, 2004
* Schepers, Hannah. ''Volker Braun: Leben und Schreiben in der DDR'', Halle(Saale): Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2015.
Film
* "Zur Person: Volker Braun" (To the Person: Volker Braun), Reportage, 50 Min., Author: Günter Gaus
Günter Gaus (23 November 1929 – 14 May 2004) was a prominent German journalist-commentator who became a diplomat and (very briefly) a regional politician in Berlin. Once he had moved on – as he probably assumed, permanently – from the wor ...
(1991)
References
External links
Literary Encyclopedia page on Volker Braun
Works by and on Volker Braun
in the Catalog of the German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
*
Link list of the FU Berlin on Volker Braun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Volker
1939 births
Living people
Writers from Dresden
East German writers
Socialist Unity Party of Germany members
Leipzig University alumni
Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
Heinrich Mann Prize winners
Schiller Memorial Prize winners
Georg Büchner Prize winners
Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
East German poets
University of Kassel faculty
German-language poets
German male poets
Members of the German Academy for Language and Literature