Katja Lange-Müller (born 13 February 1951) is a German writer living in Berlin. Her works include several short stories and novellas, radio dramas, and dramatic works. The daughter of Inge Lange, an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

party functionary, Katja Lange-Müller was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg may refer to: Places * Lichtenberg, Austria * Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France * Lichtenberg, Bavaria, Germany * Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany * Lichtenberg, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany * Lichtenberg (Lausitz), Saxony, Germany * Lichte ...

. She was expelled from school at the age of 17 for "unsocialist" behavior. From an early age, she and her circle of friends were carefully watched by the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

. Prevented from attending college, she first learned to be a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

, and later worked as a nurse in a psychiatric clinic. At the age of 28, she was accepted to the "Johannes R. Becher" Literature Institute in Leipzig, marking the beginning of her career as a writer.

Works

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Awards

* Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, 1986 *

Alfred Döblin Prize The Alfred Döblin Prize () is a German literary award. Named after Alfred Döblin, it was endowed by Günter Grass in 1979. The prize is awarded every two years jointly by the Academy of Arts, Berlin and the :de:Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, Li ...

, 1995 * , 1996 *

Preis der SWR-Bestenliste Preis der SWR-Bestenliste is a literature prize awarded in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Winners *1978 Gerhard Roth *1979 Ludwig Fels *1980 Otto F. Walter *1981 Peter Weiss *1982 Franz Fühmann *1983 Oskar Pastior *1984 Christa Reinig *198 ...

, 2001 *

Mainzer Stadtschreiber The Mainzer Stadtschreiber (City clerk in Mainz) is an annual German literature award. It is awarded by ZDF, 3sat and the city of Mainz and was founded in 1984. The award is endowed with €12,500. Additionally the laureate receives the right to l ...

of the city

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

and the television station

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

, 2002 *

Roswitha Prize The Roswitha Prize () is the oldest German language prize for literature that is given solely to women. The Roswitha-Medal has been given almost yearly since 1973 by the city of Bad Gandersheim. In 1998 it received its modern designation along wi ...

of the city

Bad Gandersheim Bad Gandersheim (Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Ganderssen'') is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Northeim (district), Northeim. , it had a population of 9,492. Bad Gandersheim has many half-timbered hou ...

, 2002 * Kassel Literary Prize, 2005 *

Kleist Prize The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Rep ...

, 2013 *

Thomas Mann Prize Thomas Mann Prize (''German'': Thomas-Mann-Preis) is a literary prize of Germany. In full the title is "Thomas Mann Prize of the city of Lübeck and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts". It is given in alternate years in Lübeck and in Munich. The ...

, 2025"Thomas-Mann-Preis für Katja Lange-Müller"
wdr.de, 11 June 2025 (in German). Retrieved 11 June 2025.

Memberships

* 2000

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, Frankfurt, Paulskirche in Frankfurt. I ...

, Darmstadt * 2002

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () 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 founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

* 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lange-Muller, Katja 1951 births Living people People from Lichtenberg Writers from East Berlin Writers from Berlin German women short story writers German short story writers 20th-century German writers 20th-century German women writers 21st-century German writers 21st-century German women writers 20th-century German short story writers 21st-century German short story writers Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winners