Ingeborg Drewitz

January 10, 1923 (age 63)

Berlin, Germany

From 1973 to 1980 she taught at the Institute of Journalism at the Free University of Berlin. A year before her death she was a juror at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in Klagenfurt. She died in Berlin, aged 63, of complications of cancer. Drewitz's writings revolve around several recurring themes: political and social topics that appeared in the press, German history (specifically the rise of the National Socialist and the German people's acceptance of the party's political ideologies), feelings of guilt Germans experienced after the war, the politically persecuted who sought exile or were imprisoned, women and their role in and relationship to society, and the general feeling of alienation. National Socialism, how its rise and popularity was possible, and the effects it had on Germans is a theme to which Drewitz returned time and time again in her work. She was the first German to write about the concentration camps in her play Alle Tore waren bewacht (1951) ("All the Gates Guarded"). Drewitz's most popular book, Gestern war Heute ("Yesterday Was Today," 1978), follows similar themes as those in Das Karussell. This semiautobiographical novel depicts the lives of four generations of a family from 1923 to 1979 and the trials and hardships the family endures because of the political events in Germany during the five decades: the rise of Nazism, the period of reconstruction, a general feeling of guilt throughout Germany as the country came to terms with its past, and the post-war, politically divided country. As seen in Gestern war Heute, women's search for identity and their relationship to a primarily maledominated society is another theme frequently found in Drewitz's work. In the novel Oktoberlicht ("October Light," 1969), a female journalist discovers, against great odds, the will to continue living. Drewitz continues discussing the plight of women who must encounter the various and conflicting demands of relationships, family, and work in Wer verieidigt Katrin Lambert? ("Who will defend Katrin Lambert?," 1974). Drewitz also explores women's roles in society in her nonfiction works. Berliner Salons (1965) is a study of the literary salons in Berlin from 1775 to 1806 and from 1815 to 1848, and the challenges women faced in the salons to be accepted as equals to the male members. The same challenge is discussed in the biography Bettine von A mini: Roman tik, Revolution, Utopie ("Bettina von Arnim: Romanticism, Revolution, Utopia," 1969). The individual, alone in a large urban setting, alienated from yet surrounded by humanity, is another theme that surfaces in much of Drewitz's work and is the basis of her first novel, DerAnstoss ("The Impetus," 1958). In both works the author questions the psychological challenges the characters' environments create. Ingeborg Drewitz also wrote numerous short stories and essays. Her collection of stories. Der eine, der andere ("The One, the Other." 1976) contains stories that are either previously published or were presented over the radio. Most of her essays on politics and literature are contained in three volumes: Mit Saetzen Mauem eindrucken: Briefwechsel mit einem Strafgefangenen ("To Push in Walls with Sentences: Correspondence with a Prisoner," 1979), Zeitverdichtung ("Time Condensed." 1980), and Die zerstoerte Kontinuitaet: Exilliteratur und Literatur des Widerstandes ("The Destroyed Continuity: Exile Literature and Literature of the Resistance," 1981).

Ingeborg Drewitz Edit Profile

also known as Ingeborg Neubert

writer academic

Background

Ingeborg Neubert was born on January 10, 1923, in Berlin, Germany to Eugen N. Drewitz, an architect, and Hildegard Vogel Drewitz, a pianist.

Education

Ingeborg took a degree in German literature, history, and philosophy, followed by a doctorate on April 20, 1945 at Humboldt University.

Career

From 1973 to 1980 she taught at the Institute of Journalism at the Free University of Berlin. A year before her death she was a juror at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in Klagenfurt. She died in Berlin, aged 63, of complications of cancer.

Drewitz's writings revolve around several recurring themes: political and social topics that appeared in the press, German history (specifically the rise of the National Socialist and the German people's acceptance of the party's political ideologies), feelings of guilt Germans experienced after the war, the politically persecuted who sought exile or were imprisoned, women and their role in and relationship to society, and the general feeling of alienation.

National Socialism, how its rise and popularity was possible, and the effects it had on Germans is a theme to which Drewitz returned time and time again in her work. She was the first German to write about the concentration camps in her play Alle Tore waren bewacht (1951) ("All the Gates Guarded").

Drewitz's most popular book, Gestern war Heute ("Yesterday Was Today," 1978), follows similar themes as those in Das Karussell. This semiautobiographical novel depicts the lives of four generations of a family from 1923 to 1979 and the trials and hardships the family endures because of the political events in Germany during the five decades: the rise of Nazism, the period of reconstruction, a general feeling of guilt throughout Germany as the country came to terms with its past, and the post-war, politically divided country.

As seen in Gestern war Heute, women's search for identity and their relationship to a primarily maledominated society is another theme frequently found in Drewitz's work. In the novel Oktoberlicht ("October Light," 1969), a female journalist discovers, against great odds, the will to continue living.

Drewitz continues discussing the plight of women who must encounter the various and conflicting demands of relationships, family, and work in Wer verieidigt Katrin Lambert? ("Who will defend Katrin Lambert?," 1974).

Drewitz also explores women's roles in society in her nonfiction works. Berliner Salons (1965) is a study of the literary salons in Berlin from 1775 to 1806 and from 1815 to 1848, and the challenges women faced in the salons to be accepted as equals to the male members. The same challenge is discussed in the biography Bettine von A mini: Roman tik, Revolution, Utopie ("Bettina von Arnim: Romanticism, Revolution, Utopia," 1969). The individual, alone in a large urban setting, alienated from yet surrounded by humanity, is another theme that surfaces in much of Drewitz's work and is the basis of her first novel, DerAnstoss ("The Impetus," 1958).

In both works the author questions the psychological challenges the characters' environments create. Ingeborg Drewitz also wrote numerous short stories and essays. Her collection of stories. Der eine, der andere ("The One, the Other." 1976) contains stories that are either previously published or were presented over the radio. Most of her essays on politics and literature are contained in three volumes: Mit Saetzen Mauem eindrucken: Briefwechsel mit einem Strafgefangenen ("To Push in Walls with Sentences: Correspondence with a Prisoner," 1979), Zeitverdichtung ("Time Condensed." 1980), and Die zerstoerte Kontinuitaet: Exilliteratur und Literatur des Widerstandes ("The Destroyed Continuity: Exile Literature and Literature of the Resistance," 1981).

Achievements

Ingeborg Drewitz is considered a prominent political author since she incorporated her political and social viewpoints into her fiction. During her rather prolific writing career, she wrote seven novels, several stories, plays, essays, film scripts, and radio and television plays, plus numerous works of nonfiction that she wrote or edited.

Works

Kurz vor 1984: Literatur und Politik : Essays Kurz vor 1984: Literatur und Politik : Essays

Unter meiner Zeitlupe Unter meiner Zeitlupe

$The German Women\'s Movement The German Women\'s Movement$ Berliner Salons Berliner Salons

Oktoberlicht Oder Ein Tag Im Herbst Oktoberlicht Oder Ein Tag Im Herbst

Bettine von Arnim. Romantik, Revolution, Utopie. Eine Biographie. Bettine von Arnim. Romantik, Revolution, Utopie. Eine Biographie.

Bettine von Arnim. Romantik, Revolution, Utopie. Bettine von Arnim. Romantik, Revolution, Utopie.

book

Connections

Ingeborg married Bernhard Drewitz in 1945 with wom she had three daughters.

Father:: Eugen N. Drewitz
Mother:: Hildegard Vogel Drewitz
Spouse:: Bernhard Drewitz

References

Contemporary Authors New Revision: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields: 178

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