Günter Grass

Günter Wilhelm Grass, Nobel Prize-winning German author, was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda?sk, Poland) on October 16, 1927. His parents had a grocery store in Danzig Langfuhr.

Related Topics:
Nobel Prize - German - Free City of Danzig - Gda?sk - Poland - October 16 - 1927

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grass attended the Danzig Gymnasium Conradinum. Drafted into the Arbeitsdienst, he was wounded in 1945 and sent to an American prison-camp. In 1946 and 1947 he worked in a mine and received a stonemason's education. For many years he studied sculpture and graphics, first at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, then at the Universität der Künste Berlin. He also worked as an author and travelled frequently. He married in 1954 and since 1960 has lived in Berlin as well as part-time in Schleswig-Holstein. He took an active role in the Social-Democratic (SPD) party and supported Willy Brandt. Divorced in 1978, he remarried in 1979.

Related Topics:
Gymnasium - 1945 - Prison-camp - Kunstakademie Düsseldorf - Universität der Künste Berlin - 1954 - 1960 - Berlin - Schleswig-Holstein - SPD - Willy Brandt - 1978 - 1979

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grass became active in the peace movement and visited Calcutta for six months.

Related Topics:
Peace movement - Calcutta

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From 1983 to 1986 he held the presidency of the Berlin Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts).

Related Topics:
1983 - 1986

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the revolution of 1989-90, Grass argued for continued separation of the two Germanies, asserting that a unified Germany would necessarily resume its role as belligerent nation-state. He abandoned his mission of gradual socialist reform through the existing West German political institutions. Grass instead adopted a philosophy of direct action, similar to that advocated by the younger generation of 1968.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English-speaking readers probably know Grass best as the author of The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), published in 1959 (film version by director Volker Schlöndorff). It was followed in 1961 by the novella "Cat and Mouse" (Katz und Maus") and in 1963 by the novel "Dog Years" ("Hundejahre"), which together with "The Tin Drum" form what is known as The Danzig Trilogy. All three works deal with the rise of Nazism and with the war experience in the unique cultural setting of Danzig and the delta of the Vistula River. "Dog Years," in many respects a sequel to "The Tin Drum," portrays into the area's mixed ethnicities and complex historical background in lyrical prose that is highly evocative.

Related Topics:
The Tin Drum - Volker Schlöndorff

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Grass received dozens of international awards and in 1999 achieved the highest literary honour: the Nobel Prize for Literature. His literature is commonly categorized as part of the artistic movement of Vergangenheitsbewältigung.

Related Topics:
1999 - Nobel Prize for Literature - Vergangenheitsbewältigung

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Representatives of the City of Bremen joined together to establish the Günter Grass Foundation, with the aim of establishing a centralized collection of his numerous works, especially his many personal readings, videos and films. The Günter Grass House in Lübeck houses exhibitions, an archive and a library.

Related Topics:
Bremen - Lübeck

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~