Erwin Strittmatter
{{Short description|German writer (1912–1994)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Erwin Strittmatter
| image = Erwin Strittmatter (1992) by Guenter Prust.jpg
| caption = Strittmatter in 1992
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|8|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = Spremberg, Germany
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|1|31|1912|8|14|df=y}}
| death_place = Stechlin, Germany
| party = SED
| occupation = Writer
| spouse = {{Marriage|Eva Braun|1956}}
| children = 3
| notable_works = Der Laden
}}
Erwin Strittmatter (14 August 1912 – 31 January 1994) was a German writer. Strittmatter was one of the most famous writers in the GDR.
Biography
Strittmatter was born the son of a baker and foods wholesaler.{{cite web|url=http://www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=3454|author1=Bernd-Rainer Barth|author-link=Bernd-Rainer Barth|title=Strittmatter, Erwin * 14.8.1912, † 31.1.1994 Schriftsteller|publisher= Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken |accessdate= 1 January 2015}} Between 1924 and 1930 he attended the secondary school in Spremberg which has subsequently been named after him. His left his school early due to shortage of money, and at the age of 17 he started an apprenticeship as a baker. Later Strittmatter worked as baker, waiter, chauffeur, zookeeper and unskilled laborer.
In October 1939 he volunteered to the Schutzpolizei,Verordnung über die Einstellung von Wehrpflichtigen in die Schutzpolizei des Reichs, 31.10.1939, RBGl. S.2137 in March 1941 he was drafted into the Ordnungspolizei, He served in the Order Police Battalion Nr. 325, since summer 1942 III.Batl. of the Polizei-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 18 Ralph Klein: Das Polizei-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 18: Massaker, Deportation, Traditionspflege. Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft Nr. 1/2007, 18 January 2007 Strittmatter completed courses in anti-partisan warfare and was deployed in Slovenia, Finland und Greece.[http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/Erwin-Strittmatter;art772,2734515 Tagesspiegel.de Erwin Strittmatter: Das unbefragte Schweigen]
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-63679-0006, 1. Bitterfelder Konferenz, Strittmatter.jpg
Strittmatter deserted in March 1945[http://www.aufbau-verlag.de/index.php4?page=32&&show=910775 Biography on German publisher's website.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115191507/http://www.aufbau-verlag.de/index.php4?page=32 |date=15 January 2010 }} and lived (without documentation) in Wallern/Volary (south-west Bohemia) for a few months. He was interrogated by the US Military in May 1945, but they released him, thinking him a civilian. By June 1945 he was back in what remained of Germany, working for a fruit and vegetable wholesaler in Saalfeld and also for his father as a baker while also working as a correspondent and later as an editor for a newspaper. In 1947, he became head official of seven municipalities. In 1954 Strittmatter began working as a freelance writer. Strittmatter married Eva Strittmatter, who went on to become one of the most successful poets of East Germany, in 1956.[http://www.mz-web.de/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=ksta/page&atype=ksArtikel&aid=1225104637783&openMenu=1013083806110&calledPageId=1013083806110&listid=0 Christian Eger, Tischgespräche in Schulzenhof], article on website of German newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
In 1955 he was awarded the National Prize of the GDR for his novel Tinko, in 1961 he received the Lessing award of the GDR. He was a Stasi informer from 1958 to 1964.{{cite magazine |author=Joachim Walther|title=Petzen und Plaudern. Die Stasi-Kontakte des ostdeutschen Erfolgsautors Erwin Strittmatter|magazine=Der Spiegel | issue=39| date=23 September 1996|pages=226–227}} His 1963 novel Ole Bienkopp was the first widely read work of literature in East Germany to break the constraints of Socialist Realism and offer a tragic hero who criticized representatives of the ruling Socialist Unity Party in the course of the novel.[https://www.jstor.org/pss/30153411 Gregory D. Hanners, Erwin Strittmatter's 'Ole Bienkopp" and the Original of Political Criticism in GDR Literature] scholarly article on Strittmatter's work.
On 31 January 1994, Strittmatter died after a long illness.[http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/1994/0202/feuilleton/0006/index.html Christel Berger, Der Poet und Verzauberer aus Schulzenhof], obituary on website of German newspaper Berliner Zeitung.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Erwin Strittmatter}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strittmatter, Erwin}}
Category:People from Spremberg
Category:Writers from the Province of Brandenburg
Category:Writers from Brandenburg
Category:Gebirgsjäger of World War II
Category:German police officers
Category:Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold