Elisabeth Engelhardt
Maria Elisabeth Engelhardt (born March 11, 1925 in Leerstetten, now Schwanstetten ; † August 8, 1978 ibid) was a German writer , painter and seamstress .
Life
Elisabeth Engelhardt grew up as one of five children of a farming family in Leerstetten near Nuremberg . Her extraordinary linguistic and artistic talent was recognized early on and her parents enabled her to attend grammar school in Schwabach after completing elementary school . But after six months she had to leave it again because of a weakness in mathematics and was sent by her parents to the commercial school in Nuremberg. After completing her compulsory year in the Reich Labor Service , she completed the household school in Roth .
In 1942 she began training as an air force helper and was then employed as a radio operator in Hamburg . Towards the end of the Second World War she was taken prisoner by the British, from which she returned to Leerstetten in July 1945. There she completed an apprenticeship as a painter and from 1948 was sporadically employed in the painter's hall of Nuremberg's municipal theaters and in 1955 she was permanently employed as a decoration seamstress. After her daily work, she devoted herself to writing .
Between 1950 and 1962, she collected impressions from traveling to almost all European countries. After years of literary failure, in 1964 the Flamberg publishing house in Zurich published her novel “Fire Heals”. The response of the critics to her first novel was consistently positive and she achieved the breakthrough, even if the audience success was relatively moderate. Over the next few years she published several writings, books and radio reports. In 1967 she received the advancement award of the city of Nuremberg . From 1965 she was in contact with the Dortmund group 61 , from which she announced her departure in 1969. In 1972 she joined the Association of Franconian Writers.
In 1977 she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, of which she died in August 1978.
Literary achievement
Her novels are known to a relatively small audience to this day.
As an autodidact, Elisabeth Engelhardt perfects a largely punctuated style. In her works she processes what she perceives externally and internally. Her novel Fire Heals is about the burning of witches and thematizes the role of an outsider she experienced herself. A German village in Bavaria is set in her home town of Schwanstetten ; it describes the rapid upheavals in settlement policy of the 1960s and 1970s with their consequences for social and infrastructure. Sometimes surrealistic elements give her texts charm and set them apart from purely descriptive literature.
Awards and honors
- 1966 Award of the City of Nuremberg .
- 1979 Schwanstetten dedicates a local street to her.
- Since 1997, the Elisabeth Engelhardt Literature Prize has been awarded in her honor every three years .
Works
- Fire heals. Novel . Zurich 1964
- A city like any other. Nuremberg from the perspective of a commuter. Broadcast contribution, Bayerischer Rundfunk 1967
- And Ida's tears flow into the cup. Narratives . Düsseldorf 1970
- Schwabach , broadcast contribution, Bayerischer Rundfunk 1971
- Johanna goes. Narratives . Nuremberg 1972
- A German village in Bavaria. Novel . Wuppertal 1974
- The Försterevi. Volksstück in five acts . Mittenwald 1974
- Rural Franconia , license fee, Bayerischer Rundfunk 1975
- Time in ruins in the country , radio contribution, Bavarian Radio 1977
- Between 6 and 6 stories . Munich and Bad Windsheim, 1982, posthumously edited by Inge Meidinger-Geise
literature
- Ingeborg Höverkamp : Elisabeth Engelhardt. Gerabonn and Crailsheim: Hohenloher printing and publishing house. 1994. ISBN 3873542269
Web links
- Literature by and about Elisabeth Engelhardt in the catalog of the German National Library *
- Elisabeth Engelhardt in "Historical Lexicon of Bavaria"
- Elisabeth Engelhardt at the Schwanstetten Museum Association
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Engelhardt, Elisabeth |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Engelhardt, Maria Elisabeth (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German writer, painter and seamstress for decoration |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 11, 1925 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Leerstetten, now Schwanstetten |
DATE OF DEATH | August 8, 1978 |
Place of death | Leerstetten, now Schwanstetten |