Uwe Tellkamp (; born 28 October 1968) is a German writer and physician. He practised medicine until 2004. Before the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, he was enlisted in the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

as a tank commander and imprisoned when he refused to break up a demonstration in October 1989. Until the fall 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 ...

shortly after, he was prohibited from studying medicine. In 2008 Tellkamp was awarded the German Book Prize for his novel ''Der Turm'' (The Tower), which describes life in 1980s

East Germany 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 ...

Political views

In 2017 Tellkamp signed the "Charta 2017", criticizing the

ostracism Ostracism (, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often us ...

of 'New Right' publishers at the

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 ...

book fair ("

Leipziger Buchmesse The Leipzig Book Fair () is the second largest book fair in Germany after the Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair takes place annually over four days at the Leipzig Trade Fairground in the northern part of Leipzig, Saxony. It is the first large trad ...

").

Anti-immigration comments

Preceding the

2018 Tellkamp said: "Most efugeesare not trying to escape war and prosecution but come o Germanyto migrate into the social support system, more than 95%." Th
Tweet
of

Suhrkamp Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and is generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010, ...

publishing house: "Aus gegebenem Anlass: Die Haltung, die in Äußerungen von Autoren des Hauses zum Ausdruck kommt, ist nicht mit der des Verlags zu verwechseln. #Tellkamp" In March 2018 he signed the "Joint Statement 2018" ("Gemeinsame Erklärung 2018"), declaring: "We observe the damage done to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

by illegal mass immigration with growing disconcertment. We declare our solidarity with those who are peacefully rallying for the restoration of the constitutional order at the borders of our country."".Christian Schröder
''Uwe Tellkamp für Solidarität gegen Einwanderer''
Tagesspiegel vom 20. März 2018

Works

* ''Der Hecht, die Träume und das Portugiesische Café'' (2000) * ''Der Eisvogel'' (2005) * ''Der Turm'' (2008) * ''Reise zur Blauen Stadt'' (2009) * ''Die Schwebebahn: Dresdner Erkundungen'' (2012)

References

1968 births Living people 21st-century German novelists Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winners German male novelists German medical writers 21st-century German male writers German Book Prize winners German male non-fiction writers {{Germany-novelist-stub