Johannes Robert Becher (, 22 May 1891 – 11 October 1958) was a German

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. He was affiliated with the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD) before World War II. At one time, he was part of the literary avant-garde, writing in an expressionist style. With the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, modernist artistic movements were suppressed. Becher escaped from a military raid in 1933 and settled in Paris for a couple of years. He migrated to the Soviet Union in 1935 with the central committee of the KPD. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Becher and other German communists were evacuated to internal exile in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. He returned to favor in 1942 and was recalled to Moscow. After the end of World War II, Becher left the Soviet Union and returned to Germany, settling in the Soviet-occupied zone that later became

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. As a member of the KPD, he was appointed to various cultural and political positions and became part of the leadership of the

Socialist Unity Party The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...

. In 1949, he helped found the DDR

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 ...

, and served as its president from 1953 to 1956. In 1953 he was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize (later the

Lenin Peace Prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel ...

). He was the culture minister of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(GDR) from 1954 to 1958.

Early life

Johannes R. Becher was born in Munich in 1891, the son of

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

Heinrich Becher and his wife Johanna, née Bürck. He attended local schools. In April 1910, Becher and Fanny Fuss, a young woman he had encountered in January of that year, planned a joint suicide; Becher shot them both, killing her and wounding himself severely.Robert K. Shirer, "Johannes R. Becher 1891–1958"
''Encyclopedia of German Literature,'' Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000, by permission at Digital Commons, University of Nebraska, accessed 3 February 2013 His father succeeded in quashing the case of killing on demand. Becher was certified insane. His early poetry was filled with struggling to come to terms with this event. From 1911 he studied

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, ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in college in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

. He left his studies and became an

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

writer, his first works appearing in 1913. An injury from his suicide attempt made him unfit for military service/ and he became addicted to morphine, which he struggled with for the rest of the decade.

Political activity in Germany

He was also engaged in many

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

organisation An organization or organisation ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution ( formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a pa ...

s, joining the

Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (, USPD) was a short-lived political party in Germany during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. The organization was established in 1917 as the result of a split of anti-war members of t ...

in 1917, then went over to the

Spartacist League The Spartacus League () was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the International Group by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other members of the Social De ...

in 1918 from which emerged the

(KPD). In 1920 he left the KPD, disappointed with the failure of the

German Revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and embraced religion. In 1923, he returned to the KPD and very actively worked within the party. His art entered an expressionist period, from which he would later dissociate himself. He was part of ', an artistic group based in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. During this time, his work was published in the magazines ''Verfall und Triumph'', ''

Die Aktion ''Die Aktion'' ("The Action") was a German literary and political magazine, edited by Franz Pfemfert and published between 1911 and 1932 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf; it promoted literary Expressionism and stood for left-wing politics. To begin with, ' ...

'' (The Action) and ''Die neue Kunst''. In 1925 government reaction against his anti-war novel, ''(CHCI=CH)3As (Levisite) oder Der einzig gerechte Krieg,'' resulted in his being indicted for "''literarischer Hochverrat''" or "literary high treason". It was not until 1928 that this law was amended. That year, Becher became a founding member of the KPD-aligned

Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors The Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors () was a German cultural organisation established in 1928, at the time of the Weimar Republic. It was close to the Communist Party of Germany and published a magazine called . Its members were ...

(Bund proletarisch-revolutionärer Schriftsteller), serving as its first chairman and co-editor of its magazine, ''Die Linkskurve''. From 1932 Becher became a publisher of the newspaper, ''Die Rote Fahne''.

Fleeing from Nazis

After the

Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, ...

, Becher was placed on the Nazi

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

, but he escaped from a large

raid RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...

in the Berlin artist colony near Breitenbachplatz in

Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf () is an inner-city locality of Berlin which lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new Boroughs of Berlin, borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf following Berlin's 2001 admin ...

. By 15 March 1933, he, with the support of the secretary of the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors, traveled to the home of Willy Harzheim. After staying briefly in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, he moved to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

after some weeks. He traveled on to

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he lived for a time as part of the large émigré community. There his portrait was done by the Hungarian artist,

Lajos Tihanyi Lajos Tihanyi (29 October 1885 – 11 June 1938) was a Hungarian painter and lithographer who achieved international renown working outside his country, primarily in Paris, France. After emigrating in 1919, he never returned to Hungary, even on a ...

, whom he befriended.Valerie Majoros, "Lajos Tihanyi and his friends in the Paris of the nineteen-thirties"
''French Cultural Studies'', 2000, Vol. 11:387, Sage Publications, accessed 30 January 2013 Finally, in 1935 Becher emigrated to the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

as did other members of the central committee of the KPD. In

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

he became editor-in-chief of the German émigré magazine, ''Internationale Literatur-Deutsche Blätter.'' He was selected as a member of the Central Committee of the KPD. Soon Becher was caught up in the midst of the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. In 1935 he was accused of links with

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

. Becher tried to save himself by “informing” on other writers' alleged political misdemeanors. From 1936, he was forbidden to leave the USSR. During this period, he struggled with depression and tried several times to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 horrified German communists. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the government evacuated the German communists to internal exile. Becher was evacuated to

, as were most of the communist émigrés. It became the center of evacuation for hundreds of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians from the war zones, and the government relocated industry here to preserve some capacity from the Germans. During his time in Tashkent, he befriended

Georg Lukács Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker * Spiders Georg "Spiders Georg" is an Internet meme that began circulating on the mic ...

, the Hungarian philosopher and literary critic, who was also evacuated there.Georg Lukács, translated by Jeremy Gaines and Paul Keast, ''German Realists in the Nineteenth Century''
ed. Rodney Livingstone, MIT Press, 2000, p. xv They intensively studied 18th- and 19th-century literature together, after which Becher turned from modernism to Socialist Realism. Becher was recalled to Moscow by 1942. In 1943, he became one of the founders of the

National Committee for a Free Germany The National Committee for a Free Germany (, or NKFD) was an Anti-fascism, anti-fascist political and military organisation formed in the Soviet Union during World War II, composed mostly of German defectors from the ranks of German prisoners of ...

Return to East Germany

After the Second World War, Becher returned to Germany with a KPD team, where he settled in the Soviet zone of occupation. There he was appointed to various cultural-political positions. He took part in the establishment of the

Cultural Association Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, to "revive German culture," and founded the

Aufbau-Verlag Aufbau Verlag is a German publisher. It was founded in Berlin in 1945 and became the biggest publisher in East Germany (GDR). During that time it specialised in Socialist literature, socialist and Russian literature. Aufbau Verlag (officially s ...

publishing house and the literature magazine, ''

Sinn und Form ''Sinn und Form'' () is a bimonthly literary and cultural magazine. It was launched in East Berlin, East Germany, in 1949 and is still in circulation. The magazine describes itself as one of the definitive cultural journals in Germany. History ...

''. He also contributed to the satirical magazine, ''

Ulenspiegel ' was a bi-weekly German Satire, satirical magazine published in Berlin after World War II. The magazine was an important cultural outlet in the new era of democracy and freedom following the fall of the Third Reich. Its first issue was publish ...

''. In 1946, Becher was selected for the Party Executive Committee and the Central Committee of the

. After the establishment of the

(GDR) on 7 October 1949, he became a member of the

Volkskammer The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initia ...

. He also wrote the lyrics to

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The ...

's melody "

Auferstanden aus Ruinen "" (; 'Risen from the Ruins') was the national anthem of East Germany. Background In 1949, the Soviet occupation zone of Allied-occupied Germany became a socialist state under the name of the "German Democratic Republic" (GDR). For the new sta ...

," which became the national anthem of the GDR. That year, he helped establish the DDR

. He served as its president from 1953 to 1956, succeeding

Arnold Zweig Arnold Zweig (; 10 November 1887 – 26 November 1968) was a German writer, pacifist, and socialist. Early life and education Zweig was born in Glogau, Prussian Silesia (now Głogów, Poland), the son of Adolf Zweig, a Jewish shipping agent and ...

. In January 1953 he received the Stalin Peace Prize (later renamed the

) in Moscow. In

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

in 1955, the German Institute for Literature was founded and originally named in Becher's honor. The institute's purpose was to train socialist writers. Institute graduates include Erich Loest,

Volker Braun Volker Braun (born 7 May 1939 in Dresden) is a German writer. His works include ''Provokation für mich'' (''Provocation for me'') – a collection of poems written between 1959 and 1964 and published in 1965, a play, ''Die Kipper'' (''The Dumpe ...

, Sarah Kirsch and Rainer Kirsch. From 1954 to 1958, Becher served as Minister of Culture of the GDR. During the

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...

, Becher fell out of favor. Internal struggles of the party eventually led to his political demotion in 1956. Late in his life, Becher began to renounce socialism. His book ''Das poetische Prinzip'' (The Poetic Principle) wherein he calls socialism the fundamental error of his life Grundirrtum meines Lebens"was only published in 1988. Johannes R Becher grave

The following year, in declining health, Becher gave up all his offices and functions in September 1958. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on 11 October 1958 in the

government hospital. Becher was buried at the Dorotheenstadt cemetery in central Berlin, with his gravesite designated as a ''grave of honor'' () of Berlin. Becher lived at Majakowskiring 34,

Pankow Pankow () is the second largest and most populous Boroughs and quarters of Berlin, borough of the German capital Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weissensee (Berlin), W ...

Legacy and honours

The party praised Becher after his death as the "greatest German poet in recent history". However, his work was criticised by younger East German authors, such as Katja Lange-Müller, as backward. Official awards and honours include the following: *1953 Stalin Peace Prize (later renamed the

) *The Institut für Literatur Johannes R. Becher was founded in 1955 in Leipzig and named in his honor.

Works

* ''Der Ringende. Kleist-Hymne.'' (1911) * ''Erde'', novel (1912) * ''De profundis domine'' (1913) * ''Der Idiot'' (1913) * ''Verfall und Triumph'' (1914) ** ''Erster Teil'', Poetry ** ''Zweiter Teil. Versuche in Prosa.'' * ''Verbrüderung'', Poetry (1916) * ''An Europa'', Poetry (1916) * ''Päan gegen die Zeit'', Poetry (1918) * ''Die heilige Schar'', Poetry (1918) * ''Das neue Gedicht. Auswahl (1912–1918)'', Poetry (1918) * ''Gedichte um Lotte'' (1919) * ''Gedichte für ein Volk'' (1919) * ''An alle!'', Poetry (1919) * ''Zion'', Poetry (1920) * ''Ewig im Aufruhr'' (1920) * ''Mensch, steh auf!'' (1920) * ''Um Gott'' (1921) * ''Der Gestorbene'' (1921) * ''Arbeiter, Bauern, Soldaten. Entwurf zu einem revolutionären Kampfdrama.'' (1921) * ''Verklärung'' (1922) * ''Vernichtung'' (1923) * ''Drei Hymnen'' (1923) * ''Vorwärts, du rote Front! Prosastücke.'' (1924) * ''Hymnen'' (1924) * ''Am Grabe Lenins'' (1924) * ''Roter Marsch. Der Leichnam auf dem Thron/Der Bombenflieger'' (1925) * ''Maschinenrhythmen'', Poetry (1926) * ''Der Bankier reitet über das Schlachtfeld'', Narrative (1926) * ''Levisite oder Der einzig gerechte Krieg'', Novel (1926) * ''Die hungrige Stadt'', Poetry (1927) * ''Im Schatten der Berge'', Poetry (1928) * ''Ein Mensch unserer Zeit: Gesammelte Gedichte'', Poetry (1929) * ''Graue Kolonnen: 24 neue Gedichte'' (1930) * ''Der große Plan. Epos des sozialistischen Aufbaus.'' (1931) * ''Der Mann, der in der Reihe geht. Neue Gedichte und Balladen.'', Poetry (1932) * ''Der Mann, der in der Reihe geht. Neue Gedichte und Balladen.'', Poetry (1932) * ''Neue Gedichte'' (1933) * ''Mord im Lager Hohenstein. Berichte aus dem Dritten Reich.'' (1933) * ''Es wird Zeit'' (1933) * ''Deutscher Totentanz 1933'' (1933) * ''An die Wand zu kleben'', Poetry (1933) * ''Deutschland. Ein Lied vom Köpferollen und von den „nützlichen Gliedern“'' (1934) * ''Der verwandelte Platz. Erzählungen und Gedichte'', Narrative and Poetry (1934) * ''Der verwandelte Platz. Erzählungen und Gedichte'', Narrative and Poetry (1934) * ''Das Dritte Reich'', Poetry illustrated by

Heinrich Vogeler Johann Heinrich Vogeler (December 12, 1872 – June 14, 1942) was a German people, German painter, designer, and architect, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Early life He was born in Bremen, and studied at the Kunstakadem ...

(1934) * ''Der Mann, der alles glaubte'', Poetry (1935) * ''Der Glücksucher und die sieben Lasten. Ein hohes Lied.'' (1938) * ''Gewißheit des Siegs und Sicht auf große Tage. Gesammelte Sonette 1935–1938.'' (1939) * ''Wiedergeburt'', Poetry (1940) * ''Die sieben Jahre. Fünfundzwanzig ausgewählte Gedichte aus den Jahren 1933–1940.'' (1940) * ''Abschied. Einer deutschen Tragödie erster Teil, 1900–1914.'', Novel (1940) * ''Deutschland ruft'', Poetry (1942) * ''Deutsche Sendung. Ein Ruf an die deutsche Nation.'' (1943_ * ''Dank an Stalingrad'', Poetry (1943) * ''Die Hohe Warte Deutschland-Dichtung'', Poetry (1944) * ''Dichtung. Auswahl aus den Jahren 1939–1943.'' (1944) * ''Das Sonett'' (1945) * ''Romane in Versen'' (1946) * ''Heimkehr. Neue Gedichte.'', Poetry (1946) * ''Erziehung zur Freiheit. Gedanken und Betrachtungen.'' (1946) * ''Deutsches Bekenntnis. 5 Reden zu Deutschlands Erneuerung.'' (1945) * ''Das Führerbild. Ein deutsches Spiel in fünf Teilen.'' (1946) * ''Wiedergeburt. Buch der Sonette.'' (1947) * ''Lob des Schwabenlandes. Schwaben in meinem Gedicht.'' (1947) * ''Volk im Dunkel wandelnd'' (1948) * ''Die Asche brennt auf meiner Brust'' (1948) * ''Neue deutsche Volkslieder'' (1950) * ''Glück der Ferne – leuchtend nah. Neue Gedichte'', Poetry (1951) * ''Auf andere Art so große Hoffnung. Tagebuch 1950.'' (1951) * ''Verteidigung der Poesie. Vom Neuen in der Literatur.'' (1952) * ''Schöne deutsche Heimat'' (1952) * ''Winterschlacht (Schlacht um Moskau). Eine deutsche Tragödie in 5 Akten mit einem Vorspiel.'' (1953) * ''Der Weg nach Füssen'', Play (1953) * ''Zum Tode J. W. Stalins'' (1953) * ''Wir, unsere Zeit, das zwanzigste Jahrhundert'' (1956) * ''Das poetische Prinzip'' (1957) * ''Schritt der Jahrhundertmitte. Neue Dichtungen'', Poetry (1958)

References

External links

* *
Robert K. Shirer, "Johannes R. Becher 1891–1958"
''Encyclopedia of German Literature,'' Chicago and London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000, by permission at Digital Commons, University of Nebraska {{DEFAULTSORT:Becher, Johannes R. 1891 births 1958 deaths Writers from Munich Politicians from the Kingdom of Bavaria Writers from the Kingdom of Bavaria Independent Social Democratic Party politicians Communist Party of Germany politicians Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Government ministers of East Germany Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Members of the 1st Volkskammer Members of the 2nd Volkskammer Cultural Association of the GDR members National Committee for a Free Germany members 20th-century German novelists German communist writers German communist poets East German poets East German writers German Expressionist writers German male novelists German-language poets German poets National anthem writers Refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union Stalin Peace Prize recipients Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver German magazine founders