Gedenktafel Hindenburgdamm 32 (Lifel) Peter Huchel

Peter Huchel (April 3, 1903 – April 30, 1981), born Hellmut Huchel, was a German

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and editor.

Life

Huchel was born in Lichterfelde (now part of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

). From 1923 to 1926, Huchel studied literature and philosophy in Berlin,

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Between 1927 and 1930, he travelled to

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Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. In 1930, he changed his first name to Peter and befriended

Ernst Bloch Ernst Simon Bloch (; July 8, 1885 – August 4, 1977; pseudonyms: Karl Jahraus, Jakob Knerz) was a German Marxist philosopher. Bloch was influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx, as well as by apocalyptic and religious thinkers ...

, Alfred Kantorowicz and Fritz Sternberg. His early poems, published from 1931 to 1936, are strongly marked by the atmosphere and landscape of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

. In 1934, Huchel married Dora Lassel. The couple would divorce in 1946 and Huchel would marry Monica Rosental in 1953. Between 1934 and 1940, Huchel wrote plays for German radio. During the Second World War, he served as a soldier until he was taken prisoner by the Russians in 1945. After his release, he began working for East German radio and in 1949, he became editor of the influential poetry magazine '' Sinn und Form'' ("Sense and Form"). After the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, Huchel came under attack from the East German authorities and the following year he was forced to resign the editorshop of ''Sinn und Form''. From 1962 to 1971, he lived in isolation under Stasi surveillance in his house in Wilhelmshorst near Berlin. In 1971, he was finally permitted to leave the

German Democratic Republic 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 **G ...

and move, first to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, then to Staufen im Breisgau, where he later died. The poem and song "

Ermutigung "" ("Encouragement") is a poem and song by the German Liedermacher and lyricist Wolf Biermann. It was first published in 1968 in the poetry collection ''Mit Marx- und Engelszungen'' by , which also released the poem set to music as part of the s ...

", written by his friend

Wolf Biermann Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song "Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976. Early life Biermann was b ...

in 1968, was dedicated to Huchel.

Works

*Gedichte (Poems) (1948) *Chausseen, Chausseen. Gedichte (1963) *Die Sternenreuse. Gedichte 1925–1947 (1968) *Gezählte Tage. Gedichte (1972) *Die neunte Stunde. Gedichte (1979) *Gesammelte Werke (Collected Works); 2 vols., Vol. 1: Poems, Vol. 2: Miscellaneous Writings; ed. Axel Vieregg, Frankfurt am Main, 1984 *Wie will man da Gedichte schreiben. Briefe 1925–1977 (How could someone write poems under such circumstances? Letters) ed. Hub Nijssen, Frankfurt am Main, 2000 *A Thistle In His Mouth. Poems by Peter Huchel, selected, translated and introduced by Henry Beissel. Cormorant Books, Dunvegan, Ontario 1987.* *On Crutches of Naked Poplars. Translated by Robert Firmage. Mid-American Review Vol. XI, Nr. 1, 1991, p. 137–187.* *The Garden of Theophrastus and other poems. Translated by Michael Hamburger. Cheadle 1983. Again: Anvill Press 2004* *Peter Huchel. Selected Poems. Translated by Michael Hamburger. Cheadle 1974.*

References

:''This article is based on material from the German Wikipedia''. * *

External links

Translation of December 1942the Huchel.House in Potsdam-WilhelmshorstTranslation of Eastern RiverTranslation of MeetingTranslation of Melpomene
translation of Answer
translation of RoadsTranslation of Snow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huchel, Peter 1903 births 1981 deaths Writers from Berlin East German writers 20th-century German poets German male poets German-language poets 20th-century German male writers Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf