Ilse Aichinger (1 November 1921 – 11 November 2016) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

writer known for her accounts of her persecution by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s because of her

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

ancestry."Ilse Aichinger"
''

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'' She wrote poems, short stories and radio plays, and won multiple European literary prizes.

Early life

Aichinger was born in 1921 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, along with her twin sister, , to Berta (Kremer), a pediatrician of Jewish ethnicity, and Ludwig Aichinger, a teacher. As her mother's family was assimilated, the children were raised Catholic. Aichinger spent her childhood in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

and, after her parents divorced, she moved to Vienna with her mother and sister, attending a Catholic secondary school. After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in 1938, her family was subjected to Nazi

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

. As a "

half-Jew The term half-Jew () is a derogatory term for people with a non-Jewish and a Jewish parent. The overwhelming majority of the so-called half-Jews were legally classified as " first-degree Jewish hybrids" during the era of Nazi Germany. Occasionally ...

" she was not allowed to continue her studies and became a slave labourer in a button factory. Her sister Helga escaped from

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

in July 1939 through a

Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children from Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, total ...

to England where she eventually gave birth to a daughter, who became English artist Ruth Rix."World War II saga: Gail Wiltshire revisits Ilse Aichinger’s novel"
by Tess Livingstone, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'', 8 August 2015 During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Aichinger was able to hide her mother in her assigned room, in front of the Hotel Metropol, the Viennese

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

headquarters. But many relatives from her mother's side, among them her grandmother Gisela, of whom she was particularly fond, were sent to the

Maly Trostenets extermination camp Maly Trostenets (Maly Trascianiec, , "Little Trostenets") is a village near Minsk in Belarus, formerly the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. During Nazi Germany's occupation of the area during World War II (when the Germans referred to it as ...

near

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, and murdered.

Career

In 1945, the year world war 2 ended, Aichinger began to study

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, while writing in her spare time. In her first publication, ' (''The Fourth Gate''), she wrote about her experience under Nazism. In 1947 she and her mother Berta were able to travel to London and visit Aichinger's twin Helga and her daughter Ruth. The visit was the inspiration for a short story, "Dover". She gave up her studies in 1948 in order to finish her novel, ' ("The greater hope", translated as ''Herod's Children''). The book went on to become one of the top German-language novels of the twentieth century. It is a surrealist account of a child's persecution by the Nazis in Vienna. In 1949, Aichinger wrote the short story "Spiegelgeschichte" (). It was published in four parts in an Austrian newspaper, and is well known in Austria because it is part of the set of books taught in schools.See Resler, W. Michael: "A Structural Approach to Aichinger's 'Spiegelgeschichte'", in: ''Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German'', Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring, 1979), pp. 30–37
jstor-link
The story is written backwards, beginning with the end of the biography of the unnamed woman, and ending with her early childhood. In 1949, Aichinger became a reader for publishing houses in Vienna and Frankfurt, and worked with Inge Scholl to found an Institute of Creative Writing in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

, Germany. In 1951, Aichinger was invited to join the writers' group

Gruppe 47 Gruppe 47 (Group 47) was a group of participants in German writers' meetings, invited by Hans Werner Richter between 1947 and 1967. The meetings served the dual goals of literary criticism as well as the promotion of young, unknown authors. In a ...

, a group which aimed to spread democratic ideas in post-war Austria. She read her story "Spiegelgeschichte" aloud at a meeting of the group, and leading group members such as

Hans Werner Richter Hans Werner Richter (12 November 1908 – 23 March 1993) was a German writer. Born the son of a fisherman in Neu Sallenthin on the island of Usedom, Richter worked first in a bookshop in Swinemünde (now Świnoujście in Poland) and later ...

were impressed with the unusual narrative construction. The following year, she won the group's prize for best text, becoming the first female recipient. In 1956, she joined the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

. She was also a guest lecturer at the German Institute at the University of Vienna, teaching on literature and psychoanalysis. Reviewing a 1957 volume of her short works in translation, ''The Bound Man and Other Stories'',

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dr ...

describes Aichinger as "a sort of concise

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

," praising the title story, "" ("The Bound Man"), for its "narrative use of multi-valued symbolism", The similarity to Kafka's work has been frequently commented on, however other critics state that Aichinger's work goes beyond Kafka's in her emphasis on the emotional side of human suffering. After the death of her husband, the German poet

Günter Eich Günter Eich (; 1 February 1907 – 20 December 1972) was a German poet, radio playwright, and writer. He was born in Lebus, on the Oder River, and educated in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris. Life Eich made his first appearance in print with some p ...

, in 1972, Aichinger and others edited his works and published them as ''Collected Works of Gunter Eich.'' In 1996, at the age of 75, she was the host of a German radio series ''Studio LCB'' for the Literary Colloquium Berlin. Aichinger died on 11 November 2016, aged 95.

Personal life

Aichinger met the poet and radio play author

through the Group 47 and they were married in 1953; they had a son (1954–1998), and in 1958 a daughter, Mirjam.

Works

Prose

* ''Das vierte Tor'' (essay, 1945). ''The Fourth Gate'' * ''Die größere Hoffnung'' (novel, 1948). ''Herod's Children'', trans. Cornelia Schaeffer (Atheneum, 1963); later as ''The Greater Hope'', trans. Geoff Wilkes (Königshausen & Neumann, 2016) * ''Spiegelgeschichte'' (short prose, 1949) * ''Rede unter dem Galgen'' (short prose, 1951). ''Speech under the Gallows'' * ''Der Gefesselte'' (short prose, 1954). ''The Bound Man and Other Stories'', trans.

Eric Mosbacher Eric Mosbacher (22 December 1903 – 2 July 1998) was an English journalist and translator from Italian, French, German, and Spanish. He translated work by Ignazio Silone and Sigmund Freud.'Eric Mosbacher', ''The Times'', 10 July 1998, p.25 Life ...

(Secker & Warburg, 1955) * "Plätze und Strassen" (short story, 1954). "Squares and Streets" * ''Eliza Eliza'' (short prose, 1965) * ''Nachricht vom Tag'' (short prose, 1970). ''News of the Day'' * ''Schlechte Wörter'' (short prose, 1976). ''Bad Words'' * ''Meine Sprache und ich'' (short prose, 1978) * ''Kleist, Moos, Fasane'' (short prose, 1987). ''Kleist, Moss, Pheasants'', trans. Geoff Wilkes (Königshausen & Neumann, 2020) * ''Film und Verhängnis. Blitzlichter auf ein Leben'' (autobiography, 2001). ''Film and Fate: Camera Flashes Illuminating a Life'', trans. Geoff Wilkes (Königshausen & Neumann, 2018) * ''Unglaubwürdige Reisen'' (short prose, 2005). ''Improbable Journeys'', trans. Geoff Wilkes (Königshausen & Neumann, 2019) * ''Subtexte'' (essay, 2006)

Poems

* ''Verschenkter Rat'' (1978). ''Squandered Advice'', trans. Steph Morris (Seagull Books, 2022)

Radio plays

* ''Knöpfe'' (first broadcast, 1953; published 1961). ''Buttons'' * ''Zu keiner Stunde. Szenen und Dialoge'' (1957). ''At No Time'', trans. Steph Morris (2023) * ''Auckland'' (1969) * ''Gare Maritime'' (1974)

German-language compilations

* ''Wo ich wohne. Erzählungen, Gedichte, Dialoge'', ed. Klaus Wagenbach (1963). ''Where I Live'' * ''Selected Short Stories and Dialoge'' ntroduction in English; text in German ed. James C. Alldridge (Pergamon Press, 1966)

English-language compilations

* ''Ilse Aichinger'' tories, Dialogues, Poems Trans. J. C. Alldridge (1969) * ''Selected Poetry and Prose''. Ed. and translated by Allen H. Chappel. With an introduction by Lawrence L. Langer (Logbridge-Rhodes, Durango, Colorado, 1983) * ''Bad Words: Selected Short Prose'', trans.

Uljana Wolf Uljana Wolf (born 6 April 1979) is a German poet and translator (from English and Polish) known for exploring multilingualism in her work. Biography Uljana Wolf was born in East Berlin in 1979. She studied German studies, cultural studies and E ...

and

Christian Hawkey Christian Hawkey (born 1969) is an American poet, translator, editor, activist, and educator. Life and work Hawkey was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. He is the author of several books of poetry, including ''Sonne from Ort'', ''Ventrakl,'' ''Cit ...

(Seagull Books, 2019). Includes selections from ''Eliza Eliza'', the entirety of ''Schlechte Wörter'', and three additional selections ("The Jouet Sisters", "My Language and I", and "Snow").

Translated stories in anthologies or journals

* "The Young Lieutenant", trans. J. C. Alldridge in ''Mundus Artium I'' (1967)

Awards and honours

Group 47 Gruppe 47 (Group 47) was a group of participants in German writers' meetings, invited by Hans Werner Richter between 1947 and 1967. The meetings served the dual goals of literary criticism as well as the promotion of young, unknown authors. In a ...

Literature Prize (1952) * Immermann-Preis (1955), for ''Der Gefesselte'' *

Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen The Bremen Literature Prize (, literally: Literature Prize of the city of Bremen) is a German literary award. The prize money is €25,000 (Förderpreis: €6,000). Recipients *1954 Heinrich Schmidt-Barrien for ''Tanzgeschichten. Ein Reigen aus ...

(1955), for ''Der Gefesselte'' *

Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste (in English: Literature Award of the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts) was a Bavarian literary prize by the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste. In 2010, it merged with th ...

(1961, 1991) *

Anton Wildgans Prize The Anton Wildgans Prize of Austrian Industry is a literary award that was endowed in 1962 by the Federation of Austrian Industry. The prize is worth 15,000 Euro and is granted by an independent jury to a young or middle-aged writer of Austrian ci ...

(1968) *

Nelly Sachs Prize The Nelly Sachs Prize (German: ''Nelly Sachs Preis'') is a literary prize given every two years by the German city of Dortmund. Named after the Jewish poet and Nobel laureate Nelly Sachs, the prize includes a cash award of €15,000. It honours ...

(1971) *

Roswitha Prize The Roswitha Prize () is the oldest German language prize for literature that is given solely to women. The Roswitha-Medal has been given almost yearly since 1973 by the city of Bad Gandersheim. In 1998 it received its modern designation along wi ...

(1975) *

Franz Nabl Prize The Franz Nabl Prize is an biennial Austrian literature award. The prize was first awarded in 1975 by the city of Graz. The prize money is €14,500 (since 2019: €15,000). It is awarded as part of a jury meeting in cooperation with the at the ...

(1979) *

Petrarca-Preis Petrarca-Preis was a European literary and translation award named after the Italian Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarca or Petrarch. Founded in 1975 by German art historian and publisher Hubert Burda, it was primarily designed for contempora ...

(1982) *

Marie Luise Kaschnitz Prize The Marie Luise Kaschnitz Prize (''Marie Luise Kaschnitz-Preis'') is a German literary prize, awarded approximately every two years by the Tutzing Protestant Academy Evangelische Akademie Tutzing. It recognizes the lifetime achievements of writers ...

(1984) *

Europalia EUROPALIA (stylized in capital letters since 2025) is a Brussels-based, international biennial arts festival that highlights the cultural heritage and art scene of one invited country. On multiple occasions, the festival has also dedicated edition ...

Literature Prize (1987) *

Grand Austrian State Prize The Grand Austrian State Prize () is a decoration given annually by Austria to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria. It was originally created in 1950 by then education mi ...

(1995) *

Erich Fried Prize The Erich Fried Prize () is a literary prize in honour of the Austrian poet Erich Fried, and is awarded annually by the for Literature and Language, based in Vienna. The value of the prize, endowed by the office of the Chancellor of Austria, is 15 ...

(1997) *, co-recipient with

W. G. Sebald Winfried Georg Sebald (18 May 1944 – 14 December 2001), known as W. G. Sebald or (as he preferred) Max Sebald, was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was according to ''The New Yorker'' ”widely recog ...

and

Markus Werner Markus Werner (; 27 December 1944 – 3 July 2016) was a Swiss writer, known as the author of the novels '' Zündels Abgang'' (''Zündel’s Exit''), ''Am Hang'' ('' On the Edge''), and ''Die kalte Schulter'' (''Cold Shoulder''). Life Markus Werne ...

(2000)

Adaptations

* ''Knöpfe'' adapted to stage play in 1957 * ''Zu keiner Stunde. Szenen und Dialoge'' dramatised in 1996 at the

Volkstheater, Vienna The Volkstheater (translated as "People's Theatre") in Vienna was founded in 1889 by request of the citizens of Vienna, amongst them the dramatist Ludwig Anzengruber and the furniture manufacturer Gebrüder Thonet, Thonet, in order to offer a pop ...

* ''Die größere Hoffnung'' adapted to a stage play in 2015.

References

External links

*

''International Who's Who''. Accessed September 1, 2006. *
Aichinger, Ilse: "Spiegelgeschichte", in: ''Der Gefesselte'', Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1953. (worldcat-link)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aichinger, Ilse 1921 births 2016 deaths Austrian people of Jewish descent Writers from Vienna Austrian women poets Anton Wildgans Prize winners Austrian women writers Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Members of the German Academy for Language and Literature Austrian Holocaust survivors Jewish Austrian writers Jewish women writers University of Vienna alumni