Siegfried Lenz is one of the most important German authors of the post-war period. He achieved renewed fame posthumously through the novel "Der Überlaufer", which was discovered in his estate.
Even during his lifetime, the world circulation of his books, translated into more than 20 languages, was more than 25 million. Siegfried Lenz's work is characterized by the fact that he ambitiously combines human destinies with social issues that were current at the time - and critically deals with German history. The experience of totalitarianism became one of his most important themes, even in his first novel "There were hawks in the air" and particularly impressive in what is probably his best-known work "German Lesson". At the same time, he also appeared with humoresques and tender love stories.
"German lesson":A critical look at German history
The policeman is supposed to ban the expressionist painter from painting under the Nazi regime. A scene from the film "German Lesson".The novel "Deutschstunden" published in 1968 also inspired a wide readership internationally and became Lenz's greatest success. The figures of the policeman Jens Ole Jepsen and the painter Max Ludwig Nansen stand for the contradiction between fulfilling one's duty and individual responsibility. Many other great novels followed, such as "Heimatmuseum" (1978), "Der Loss" (1981) or "Die Auflehnung" (1994), which placed Lenz alongside great German authors such as Heinrich Böll, Günter Grass and Martin Walser.
Some of his books have been filmed, including "German Lesson" in 1971 as a two-part television film. The material was remade for the cinema in 2019. The actor Jan Fedder, who died in December 2019, played the leading role in three Lenz novel adaptations - "The Rebellion", "The Lightship" and "The Man in the River".
Lenz' "minute of silence" becomes a surprise success
At the age of 82, Siegfried Lenz wrote his first love story. With around 360,000 copies sold, the novella "Schweigeminute" was the surprise hit of 2008. The audio book sold around 14,000 copies. In 2009, NDR produced the radio play of the same name. Lenz's work covers all literary genres, including radio plays, plays, essays, humorous stories and dramas.
Siegfried Lenz:At home in Northern Germany
The writer was born on March 17, 1926 as the son of a customs officer in Lyck, a small town in East Prussia. After graduating from high school, he was drafted into the Navy. Shortly before the end of the war, Lenz deserted and was taken prisoner of war by the English. Released, he studied literature, philosophy and English in Hamburg. Already during his studies he worked as an editor for the "Welt". When his first novel "There were hawks in the air" was published in 1951, he resigned from the newspaper, undertook a trip to Africa on a banana steamer and decided to live as a freelance writer after his return to Hamburg. In 2001, the Hanseatic city made him an honorary citizen.
Humanitarian with the "peace pipe"
Helmut Schmidt and Siegfried Lenz were friends for decades."He is a friendly person, a very careful person and also a sensitive person. All in all a wonderful guy," ex-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt once said about Siegfried Lenz. The two passionate smokers - one a cigarette, the other a pipe - have been friends for decades since the 1960s. How much Lenz was a philanthropist becomes clear, for example, in his book "Der Mann im Strom" from 1957. In it he tells the story of a diver who becomes unemployed because of his age. The novel deals with the struggle of ordinary people against the injustices of society. Lenz himself said:
"Anyone who can't defend themselves, who needs support and help, could find support from a writer - I thought about it."
Award-winning complete work
Siegfried Lenz has received many awards for his extraordinary work, including the Thomas Mann Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Bavarian State Prize for Literature and honorary citizenship from the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Many of his stories are set in Northern Germany. He owned a house near Rendsburg where he spent the summers. The writer died on October 7, 2014 at the age of 88.
Books and radio plays by Siegfried Lenz
- The defector (2016)
- Landesbühne (2009)
- Minute of Silence (2008)
- A Friend of the Government (2006)
- Onlooker (2004)
- Lost and found (2003)
- Assumptions about the Future of Literature, Essays (2001)
- The most beautiful festival in the world, 1 CD 2001 (first publication radio play 1956)
- The Insurrection (1994)
- Parade Ground (1985)
- The Loss (1981)
- Local Museum (1978)
- Einstein crosses the Elbe near Hamburg (1975)
- The Spirit of the Mirabelle (1975)
- German lesson (1968)
- The Lightship (1960)
- The Man in the Stream (1957)
- So tender was Suleyken (1955)
Early work "The defector" published posthumously - and made into a film
After his death, a previously unpublished early work by Siegfried Lenz was published in February 2016:"The defector". Lenz wrote the book, which tells the story of a soldier who defected to the Soviet Union army, back in 1951. However, Hoffmann und Campe Verlag refused to publish it at the time. 65 years later the book became a bestseller. For the first time since 1968, when Lenz wrote the "German Lesson", one of his books was number 1 on the "Spiegel" bestseller list.
Director Florian Gallenberger filmed the bestseller on behalf of NDR - it can be seen as a four-part series in the ARD media library.
Further posthumous release "Florian, the carp"
On September 1, 2021, another previously unpublished story from the estate of Siegfried Lenz will be published under the title "Florian, the Carp".