Alfred H. Unger

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Alfred Hermann Unger (* 20th January 1898 in Hohensalza , † 8. November 1989 in Cologne , brother of the writer Wilhelm Unger ) was a German writer , playwright ( playwright ) and translator , in addition 1924-1933 chief dramaturge of the UFA .

Life

Alfred H. Unger was the son of a doctor and a mother from Russia. In 1904 the family moved to Cologne, on Heinsbergstrasse. From 1921 he studied philosophy, literature and psychology, first at the University of Cologne , then in Berlin. In 1925 he received his doctorate . He then worked as a freelance writer. In 1929 he received the so-called “ Ten Thousand Mark Prize for Drama ” for the best German stage work, and in 1930 the prize of the German Stage Association . From 1924 to 1933 Unger was chief dramaturge at the Berlin “Universum Film” ( UFA ).

Grave of Alfred H. Unger

In 1933 the Jew Unger was released under pressure from the National Socialists , was banned from writing, was subjected to reprisals and arrested by the Gestapo in 1934 . In 1937 he emigrated to the United Kingdom , as did his brother Wilhelm two years later. His two sisters Ella and Grete were murdered in Nazi concentration camps , his parents survived in Theresienstadt .

In 1951 his granddaughter Tanya Ury was born in London , further grandchildren, the children of his daughter Sylvia and her husband, the journalist and composer Peter Ury, are Nini and David. Kurt Schwitters was a close family friend and painted two family portraits in the 1940s .

Alfred H. Unger died in 1989 at the age of 91 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Cologne-Bocklemünd (hall 25).

plant

In exile , Alfred Unger initially worked as a freelance writer, and from 1943 he wrote film scripts for the Rank Organization . He was active against the Nazi regime, for example, he and other authors wrote the book In tyrannos, edited by Hans José Rehfisch and published in 1944 by the London publisher Lindsay Drummond . Four centuries of struggle against tyranny in Germany. A symposium that shows examples from German history for acts of resistance against dictatorial regimes.

After the end of the war, Alfred Unger initially stayed in Great Britain, was a critic for the theater magazine Theater World in 1947 and, from 1948, an employee of the BBC . In 1949 he became cultural advisor for the "Schweizerische Rundspruchgesellschaft" (today's SRG ), from 1962 for Deutschlandfunk . He later moved back to Cologne. In 1967 he was honored with the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class. Alfred H. Unger wrote several scripts and radio plays. After 1945 he was best known for translations and German adaptations by British playwrights such as Terence Rattigan , Peter Ustinov and EM Forster .

He was vice-president of the International Writers Guild , long-standing board member of the PEN Center for German-Language Authors Abroad , board member of the Dramatiker Union , board member of the Association of German-Language Translators of Literary and Scientific Works , VdÜ, England representative of the VS writers' association in the IG Druck und Papier as well as a member of the Dramaturgical Society . In Great Britain he was a member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain , the PEN English Center , the Society of Authors , the League of Dramatists and the Anglo-German Society .

In 1977 he founded the Golden Needle award given by the "Dramatiker Union" for "authors of the word and music-dramatic field [...] who have made a special contribution to their artistic work and active commitment in the interests of their colleagues". The "Dramatiker Union" made Alfred Unger an honorary member.

Novels

  • The stories about the great Nazarene , novel, Linser-Verlag, Berlin-Pankow, 1926
  • ... in His image , Roman, 1967

Stage plays

  • The Buhlerin v. Babylon , drama, 1927
  • Women's revolution , play, 1926
  • People like you and me , play, 1928
  • Escape into Marriage , Comedy, 1927
  • Disraeli, the Jewish Lord , drama, 1930
  • Eve , drama, 1932
  • The famous Countess Hatzfeld , play, 1960
  • Short as a dream , play, 1961

Cooperation

  • Hans Josè Rehfisch (Ed.): In Tyrannos. Four centuries of struggle against tyranny in Germany. London, 1944
  • with Hans José Rehfisch: Ferdinand Lassalle and the Foundation of the General German Workers' Union. 1944

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ data according to tombstone
  2. ^ Biographical manual of German-speaking emigration after 1933. Vol. 2, p. 565, KG Saur Verlag , Munich 1983
  3. ^ Tanya Ury : Excerpt from the text of the audio cassette DIE HÄNGTEN. Walkman with rope, 1999 . In: Bettina Flittner, Doris Frohnapfel, Tanya Ury, Mona Yahia: PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME. Four artists for the exhibition War of Extermination, Crimes of the Wehrmacht 1941 to 1944 . (April 14 to May 24, 1999. Cologne Gallery of the Cologne City Museum , City of Cologne ), p. 20. Korridor Verlag. ISBN 3-9804354-6-6
  4. ^ Astrid Nettling, deutschlandfunk.de: Working on the archive . Deutschlandfunk , Das Feature , January 23, 2015; Manuscript for it
  5. ↑ The Dramatists Union. Awards , website DU
  6. ^ Honorary members , website DU
personal data
SURNAME Unger, Alfred H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Unger, Alfred Hermann (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer, playwright (playwright), chief dramaturge at UFA and translator (1924–1933)
DATE OF BIRTH January 20, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Hohensalza
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1989
Place of death Cologne