Alfred Andersch

Alfred Hellmuth Andersch (February 4, 1914 — February 21, 1980) was a German writer, publisher and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland.

Life

1914 to 1945

In 1930, after an apprenticeship as a bookseller, Andersch became a youth leader in the Communist Party. As a consequence, he was held for 6 months in the Dachau concentration camp in 1933. He then left the Party and entered a depressive phase of "total introversion". It was during this period that he first became engaged in the Arts, adopting the philosophy of "inner emigration" — despite remaining in Germany, he was spiritually opposed to Hitler's regime.

Related Topics:
Communist Party - Dachau concentration camp

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1940, Andersch was enlisted into the Wehrmacht, but deserted at the Arno Line in Italy on June 6, 1944. He was taken to the USA as a prisoner of war, and became the editor of the prisoners' newspaper, Der Ruf (The Call).

Related Topics:
Wehrmacht - Italy - June 6 - 1944 - USA - Prisoner of war

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1945 to 1980

Having returned to Germany, he worked from 1945 as an editing assistant for Erich Kästner's Neue Zeitung in Munich. From 1946 to 1947, he worked alongside Hans Werner Richter to publish the monthly literary journal Der Ruf, which was sold in the American Zone of Germany until it was banned by the American due to its extensive Nihilism. In the following years, Andersch worked together with the literary circle Group 47, members of which included the authors Ingeborg Bachmann, Wolfgang Hildesheimer, Arno Schmidt, Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Helmut Heissenbüttel, among others. 1948 saw the publication of Andersch's essay Deutsche Literatur in der Entscheidung (German Literature at the Turning Point), in which he concluded, in the spirit of the American post-war "re-education" programme, that literature would play a decisive role in the moral and intellectual changes in Germany.

Related Topics:
1945 - Erich Kästner - 1946 - 1947 - Hans Werner Richter - Literary journal - Nihilism - Group 47 - Ingeborg Bachmann - Wolfgang Hildesheimer - Arno Schmidt - Hans Magnus Enzensberger - Helmut Heissenbüttel - 1948

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From 1948, Andersch was a leading figure at radio stations in Frankfurt and Hamburg. In 1950, he married Gisela Andersch (née Dichgans). His autobiographical work Die Kirschen der Freiheit (The Cherries of Freedom) was published in 1952, in which Andersch dealt with the experience of his wartime desertion and interpreted it as the "turning point" (Entscheidung) at which he could first feel free. On a similar theme, he published in 1957 perhaps the most significant work of his career, Sansibar oder der letzte Grund (published in English as Flight to Afar).

Related Topics:
Frankfurt - Hamburg - 1950 - Autobiographical - 1952 - 1957 - Sansibar oder der letzte Grund - English

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From 1958, Andersch lived in Berzona in Switzerland, of which he became mayor in 1972. After Sansibar followed the novels Die Rote in 1960 (new edition in 1972), Efraim in 1967, and, in 1974, Winterspelt, which is, thematically, very similar to Sansibar, but is more complex in its composition. In 1977, he published the poetry anthology empört euch der himmel ist blau . Alfred Andersch died on February 21, 1980 in Berzona, Ticino. The incomplete story Der Vater eines Mörders (The Father of a Murderer) was published posthumously in the same year.

Related Topics:
1972 - Die Rote - 1960 - Efraim - 1967 - 1974 - Winterspelt - 1977 - Poetry - Empört euch der himmel ist blau - February 21 - 1980

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~