Andreas H. Apelt

Andreas Hermann Apelt (born January 12, 1958 in Luckau / Brandenburg ) is a German author , publicist , and authorized representative of the Deutsche Gesellschaft e. V. He was a civil rights activist in the GDR and from 1990 to 2006 a member of the Berlin House of Representatives . In 2016, Apelt received the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon .

Life

Growing up in Zinnitz (Niederlausitz), he completed an apprenticeship as a forestry worker in Söllichau / Bad Düben from 1974 to 1976 . From 1976 to the end of 1977 he worked as a forest worker / lumberjack in the local area. At the beginning of 1978 he moved to Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg . Here he first worked as a theater worker (“set pusher”) at the Volksbühne , later as a bricklayer's assistant, carpenter and scaffolder in a small construction company. He also passed the high school diploma at night school.

After several unsuccessful attempts to study German studies or history in Berlin or literature in Leipzig, she was enrolled in German studies / history (teaching post) at the Humboldt University in Berlin in 1983 . After failure of a research course in the field of literary history in 1987, Apelt worked as a caretaker and gardener in Berlin. At the same time he published in Dutch and French newspapers and magazines under different pseudonyms, later also in German newspapers under his name.

At the end of October 1989, Apelt was one of the founding members of the Association for Democratic Awakening , of which he became national chairman in January 1990. At the same time he works as head of the public relations department. With the merger of the CDU and DA he became a CDU member and was active in various board positions in the CDU. He was district chairman in the Prenzlauer Berg district and a member of the state board in Berlin. In the House of Representatives he was head of the working group on culture and science and spokesman for federal and European affairs.

In January 1990 he was co-founder, later managing director and authorized representative of the "Deutsche Gesellschaft", the first all-German, non-partisan association for the promotion of political, social and cultural relations in Europe, for which he is still active today. Even after 1990 he published numerous articles on cultural, social and political issues in newspapers, magazines and anthologies. He was also a board member of the Society for Research in Germany .

Apelt received his doctorate with a thesis on the GDR opposition under Eckhard Jesse at the Technical University of Chemnitz as Dr. phil.

Apelt's literary work began in 1984 with the publication of his first poems, followed by prose. His first novel, Schneewalzer , was published by Kiepenheuer Verlag in 1997, followed later by Schwarzer Herbst . The focus of these two novels are authentic stories of people who resisted being at the mercy of the dictatorships of the 20th century. He is modeled on human fates from the rural surroundings of his home in the Brandenburg region, to which he is creating a literary monument. In 2012 Apelt's novel The End of a Journey was published , which tells the story of three young people whose journey to Hiddensee turns into an odyssey through the real island socialism. In 2014 the novel Pappelallee was published , which deals with the events of the autumn of the revolution in 1989 in the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg. The focus of the novel '' Hannah's Dungeon '' (2020) is a dramatic family story that begins in the war winter of 1944/45 and has followed the descendants to the present day.

Apelt is also the editor of numerous books on GDR, Nazi and contemporary history.

Literary works

• Snow Waltz, novel. Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag , Leipzig 1997.
• Berlin - Berlin, prose. Berlin 2000.
• Black autumn, novel. Mitteldeutscher Verlag , Halle 2010.
• Seven cranes, novel. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2011.
• End of a journey, novel. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2012.
• Hiddensee - The island of others , anthology (Ed. With C. Klauß). Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2012.
• Behind the Stille / Prenzlauer Berg 1979–89, picture-text-volume. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2013.
• Poplar Avenue, novel. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2014.
• Hiddensee 99 special features of the island, travel guide. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2014.
• Hannah's dungeon, novel . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2020.

Journalistic works

• The way to the monument for freedom and unity. Wochenschau Verlag , Berlin 2009 (ed.).
• The opposition in the GDR and the German question. Ch. Links Verlag , Berlin 2009. (Dissertation)
• My autumn 1989, contemporary witnesses report. Metropol Verlag , Berlin 2010 (ed.).
• The German question in the Soviet Zone and GDR. Metropol, Berlin 2010 (co-editor).
• The way to reunification. Metropol, Berlin 2010 (ed.).
• The way to German unity, myths and legends. Metropol, Berlin 2010 (co-editor).
• New beginnings and upheavals. 20 years of German unity - contemporary witnesses take stock. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2010 (ed.).
• From the Volkskammer election to German unity. Metropol, Berlin 2011 (co-editor).
• German unity - look back - look ahead. Metropol, Berlin 2011 (co-editor).
• Escape, departure, ransom - ways out of the GDR . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2011 (ed.).
• From the SED dictatorship to the rule of law - Dealing with law and justice in the Soviet Zone / GDR . Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2012 (co-editor).
• Values ​​and changing values ​​- what holds our society together? Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2012 (Mithrsg.).
• Ransomed - the GDR human trafficking . (Ed. Kai Diekmann ). Piper Verlag , Munich 2012 (co-author).
• New beginning in the west. Contemporary witnesses report. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Berlin 2013
• 2 x Germany - intra-German relations 1972–1990 . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2013 (Mithrsg.).
• Nation 2012? What does nation mean today and how is it changing? Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Berlin 2014 (Mithrsg.).
• Historical memory and June 17, 1953 . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2014 (Mithrsg.).
• Civil courage yesterday and today: compulsory or optional? Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2014 (Mithrsg.).
• The East Central European Freedom Movements 1953–1989 . Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2014 (co-editor).
• Model Germany. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2014 (co-editor).
• Beautiful appearance and reality. The SED dictatorship between repression, adaptation and resistance. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2014 (Mithrsg.).
• Upheavals and revolutions in East Central Europe in 1989 . Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2015 (co-editor).
• What is freedom. 25 years of the Peaceful Revolution in 1989 . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2015 (Mithrsg.).
• The last year of the GDR. From the Volkskammer election to reunification . Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2015 (co-editor).
• Hitler's last army. Children and young people in the war . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2015 (Mithrsg.).
• Old countries - new countries. Common perspectives and challenges . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2016 (Mithrsg.).
• Anti-Semitism in the GDR and the consequences . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2016 (Mithrsg.).
• Mind and power. Artists and cultural workers against the SED dictatorship . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2017 (Mithrsg.).
• What is home? Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2017 (Mithrsg.).
• Do we need a leading culture? Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2018 (Mithrsg.)
• Representative versus direct democracy. Representation in the Crisis? Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2018 (Mithrsg.)
• The long shadow of communism. 100 Years of the Russian Revolution and the Communist Legacy of Europe Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2018 (Mithrsg.)

literature

• Werner Breunig, Andreas Herbst (ed.): Biographical handbook of the Berlin parliamentarians 1963–1995 and city councilors 1990/1991 (= series of publications of the Berlin State Archives. Volume 19). Landesarchiv Berlin, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-9803303-5-0 , p. 75.

Web links

• Literature by and about Andreas H. Apelt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website by Andreas H. Apelt
• Vita Andreas H. Apelt at Literaturport
• Andreas H. Apelt at ddr-zeitzeuge.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ gfd-berlin.de ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.