Günter Herburger (6 April 1932 – 3 May 2018[1]) was a German writer. He was initially counted among the "New Realists" funded by Dieter Wellershoff [de], became the author of socialist, imaginative utopian worlds since the 1970s and took an outsider position in German-language contemporary literature. He was a writer of poems, short stories, children's books, radio plays and a member of the PEN Center Germany.
In 1954 Herburger broke off his studies and went on trips. He lived occasionally in Ibiza, in Madrid and Oran and kept afloat with occasional work. In Paris he had contact with the author Joseph Breitbach. In 1956 he was forced to return to Munich for health reasons. He worked on his first novel.
After marrying his first wife, Brunhilde Braatz, in Munich, the couple moved across Europe together. In 1957 they separated, and Herburger went back to Isny in the Allgäu. He sought employment at the Süddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart and worked for one year on the production of live broadcasts and documentary films. During this time, Herburger managed, through mediation by Helmut Heissenbüttel, to make contacts with other writers and publish first texts.
In 1962 he married actress Ingrid Mannstaedt, with whom he went to Celle in 1963. Letters became his main occupation, and in 1964 his first prose appeared, which was well received by the critics; next to it emerged radio plays and film scripts. From 1964 Herburger participated in the meetings of the Gruppe 47 (group 47). In 1967, the Herburger family moved to Berlin-Friedenau, where the author maintained lively contacts with numerous fellow writers and with the beginning of the student movement.
In 1973 Herburger returned to Munich after the failure of his second marriage. There he married Rosemarie Leitner and began work on the "Thuja Trilogy", a romance cycle that would keep him busy until the 1990s. Herburger was politically involved as a member of the German Communist Party (DKP) and was temporarily for study purposes in the GDR; later however, given the dogmatic course of the party, he became disillusioned with it more and more. In 1973 he also founded the first cooperative bookstore in Munich together with Martin Gregor-Dellin, Michael Krüger, Paul Wühr, Christoph Buggert and Tankred Dorst. In 1974, after the birth of a disabled daughter, Herburger withdrew more and more from the literary scene, which, despite numerous prizes awarded to him, took less and less notice of him.
In 1975 he published the poem "To Improve the Feuilleton" in which he expressed his rejection of Wolfram Siebeck and other authors. Siebeck replied in the gloss[clarification needed] "With German Tongue".[2]
Personal life
From 1983 Herburger developed into a passionate runner, who regularly completed the marathon distance and longer distances and has reported on his experiences with this extreme sport in several books.[3]
Herburger died on 3 May 2018 at the age of 86 in Berlin, a few weeks after his wife Rosemarie. Both died as a result of an accident[clarification needed].[4] He was buried in the municipal cemetery in Isny im Allgäu.[5]
Literary works
1960s
Eine gleichmäßige Landschaft. Erzählungen., Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln Berlin 1964.
Ventile. Gedichte. Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln Berlin 1966.
Die Messe. Roman. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1969.
1970s
Jesus in Osaka. Zukunftsroman. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1970.
Training. Gedichte. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1970.
Birne kann alles. 26 Abenteuergeschichten für Kinder. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Neuwied Berlin 1971.
Birne kann noch mehr. 26 Abenteuergeschichten für Kinder. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1971.
Die Eroberung der Zitadelle. Erzählungen. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1972.
Helmut in der Stadt Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1972.
Die amerikanische Tochter. Gedichte, Aufsätze, Hörspiel, Erzählung, Film. Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Darmstadt Neuwied 1973.
Die Trilogie der Tatzen. Drei Essays von Günter Herburger und achtundvierzig Monotypien von Günther Förg. Snoeck Verlag, Köln 2008, ISBN978-3-936859-77-5.
2010s
Ein Loch in der Landschaft. Gedichte. A1 Verlag, München 2010, ISBN978-3-940666-16-1.
