Tankred Dorst
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Tankred Dorst (19 December 1925 – 1 June 2017) was a German
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
and storyteller. Dorst lived and worked 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 ...
. His farces, parables, one-act-plays and adaptations were inspired by the theatre of the absurd and the works of Ionesco, Giraudoux and Beckett. His monumental drama ''Merlin oder das wüste Land'', which was premiered in 1981 in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, has been compared to
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
's ''Faust''. Some critics see it as the first major drama of the 1980s. In his tribute to Tankred Dorst on the occasion of the conferment of the Georg Büchner Prize in 1990, Georg Hensel remarked that Dorst's plays all have a direct connection to the present: "For 30 years Dorst's plays have responded to the great transformations. He has always been a companion to the times." Dorst first directed the '' Ring of the Nibelung'' in
Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...
in 2006.


Biography

Tankred Dorst was born in Oberlind in
Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...
, Germany. Conscripted into the German army as a pupil at the age of 17, he was soon captured and incarcerated as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
. Until 1947 he remained in British and American hands. By the time he was released from war captivity, his birthplace had become part of the Soviet sector of Germany. He met his family in West Germany and completed his schooling. In 1950 he began studying German literature, art history and theatre in
Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...
and Munich. Through the 1950s he wrote his first plays for the marionette theatre ''Das Kleine Spiel'', (some together with composer Wilhelm Killmayer). After breaking off his studies, he worked in various capacities in theatre, film, radio and publishing houses. His first major plays were performed in 1960 in
Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
,
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
and
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
. Since then, his plays have been performed in the whole world. Dorst's work has been recognized with many prizes and distinctions, including the Gerhart Hauptmann Prize (1964), Prize of the City of
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
(1970), Literature Prize of the Bayerische Akademie der Künste (1983), Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis (1989), Georg Büchner Prize (1990), E.T.A. Hoffmann Prize (1996) and the city of
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 ...
's Max Frisch Prize (1998). In 2006, he was awarded the Samuel Bogumil Linde Prize. He was awarded the European Prize for Literature (2008). Dorst held visiting professorships at universities in Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Dorst died on 1 June 2017 in Berlin.


Major works

* ''Die Kurve'' (1960) * ''Toller'' (1968) * ''Rotmord'' (1969, television film adaptation of ''Toller'' produced in collaboration with
Peter Zadek Peter Zadek (; 19 May 1926 – 30 July 2009) was a German director of theatre, opera and film, a translator and a screenwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest directors in German-speaking theater. Biography Peter Zadek was born on 19 May ...
) * ''Sand'' (1971, television film directed by Peter Palitzsch) * '' Eiszeit'' (1973) * ''Die Villa'' (1976) * ''Klaras Mutter'' (1978, television film ) * ' (1980, television film adaptation) * ''Merlin oder das wüste Land'' (1981) * ' (1982, movie adaptation) * ''Parzival'' (1987) * ''Ich Feuerbach'' (1987) * ''Korbes'' (1988) * ''Karlos'' (1990) * ''Herr Paul'' (1994) * ''Die Legende vom armen Heinrich'' (1997) * ''Kupsch'' (2001, monologue) * ''Die Freude am Leben'' (2001) * ''Othoon'' (2002)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorst, Tankred 1925 births 2017 deaths People from Sonneberg German television writers German male television writers Storytellers German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German male writers 21st-century German dramatists and playwrights 21st-century German male writers German-language writers Members of the German Academy for Language and Literature German Army personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Schiller Memorial Prize winners Georg Büchner Prize winners