Peter Huchel (April 3, 1903 – April 30, 1981), born Hellmut Huchel, was a German

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 ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

Life

Huchel was born in Lichterfelde (now part of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

). From 1923 to 1926, Huchel studied literature and philosophy in Berlin,

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and

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. ...

. Between 1927 and 1930, he travelled to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In 1930, he changed his first name to Peter and befriended

Ernst Bloch Ernst Simon Bloch (; ; July 8, 1885 – August 4, 1977; pseudonyms: Karl Jahraus, Jakob Knerz) was a German Marxist philosopher. Bloch was influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx, as well as by apocalyptic and religious thinker ...

, Alfred Kantorowicz and Fritz Sternberg. His early poems, published from 1931 to 1936, are strongly marked by the atmosphere and landscape of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

. In 1934, Huchel married Dora Lassel. The couple would divorce in 1946 and Huchel would marry Monica Rosental in 1953. Between 1934 and 1940, Huchel wrote plays for German radio. During the Second World War, he served as a soldier until he was taken prisoner by the Russians in 1945. After his release, he began working for East German radio and in 1949, he became editor of the influential poetry magazine '' Sinn und Form'' ("Sense and Form"). After the building of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

in 1961, Huchel came under attack from the East German authorities and the following year he was forced to resign from his position at ''Sinn und Form''. From 1962 to 1971, he lived in isolation under

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

surveillance in his house in Wilhelmshorst near Berlin. In 1971, he was finally permitted to leave 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 ...

and move, first to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, then to Staufen im Breisgau, where he later died. The poem and song " Ermutigung", written by his friend

Wolf Biermann Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song " Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976. Early life Biermann was ...

in 1968, was dedicated to Huchel.

Works

*Im Jahre

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

, in: Die Literarische Welt (1931) Nr. 45, S. 4. *Gedichte (Poems) (1948) *Chausseen, Chausseen. Gedichte (1963) *Die Sternenreuse. Gedichte 1925–1947 (1968) *Gezählte Tage. Gedichte (1972) *Die neunte Stunde. Gedichte (1979) *Gesammelte Werke (Collected Works); 2 vols., Vol. 1: Poems, Vol. 2: Miscellaneous Writings; ed. Axel Vieregg, Frankfurt am Main, 1984 *Wie will man da Gedichte schreiben. Briefe 1925–1977 (How could someone write poems under such circumstances? Letters) ed. Hub Nijssen, Frankfurt am Main, 2000 *A Thistle In His Mouth. Poems by Peter Huchel, selected, translated and introduced by Henry Beissel. Cormorant Books, Dunvegan, Ontario 1987.* *On Crutches of Naked Poplars. Translated by Robert Firmage. Mid-American Review Vol. XI, Nr. 1, 1991, p. 137–187.* *The Garden of Theophrastus and other poems. Translated by

Michael Hamburger Michael Peter Leopold Hamburger (22 March 1924 – 7 June 2007) was a noted German-British translator, poet, critic, memoirist and academic. He was known in particular for his translations of Friedrich Hölderlin, Paul Celan, Gottfried Benn and ...

. Cheadle 1983. Again: Anvill Press 2004* *Peter Huchel. Selected Poems. Translated by Michael Hamburger. Cheadle 1974.*

References

* *

External links

Translation of December 1942the Huchel.House in Potsdam-WilhelmshorstTranslation of Eastern RiverTranslation of MeetingTranslation of Melpomene
translation of Answer
translation of RoadsTranslation of Snow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huchel, Peter 1903 births 1981 deaths Writers from Berlin East German writers 20th-century German poets German male poets German-language poets 20th-century German male writers Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf