Gerhard Holtz-Baumert

Gerhard Holtz-Baumert (right) receiving the Heinrich Heine Prize in 1973

Gerhard Holtz-Baumert (born December 25, 1927 in Berlin ; † October 17, 1996 in Heinrichsfelde , Brandenburg ) was a German writer and SED functionary.

Life

Gerhard Holtz-Baumert was the son of the former farm laborer and coal carrier Holtz. He first grew up in Berlin-Moabit , in 1933 the family moved to Berlin-Friedrichshain . After attending the eight-class school, Holtz-Baumert came to the Andreas Gymnasium there . Before graduating, he had to work as an anti-aircraft helper during World War II . The training and assignments took him to Berlin-Buchholz , the Sudetenland and finally to Neuruppin .

He experienced the end of the war while fleeing from the Americans in the direction of Denmark. However, he got captured near Goldenstädt in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and was held in an internment camp near Kraak , from which he managed to escape. From there he returned to Berlin in the middle of summer 1945 and was finally able to take his Abitur at the Andreas Gymnasium.

Literary and journalistic activity

In his capacity as a member of the FDJ management, Holtz-Baumert dealt with the topic of theater and literature and was also appointed to the newly founded editorial board of the library of progressive world literature . During the intensive cultural work he discovered his love for reading and writing himself. From 1951 he was editor-in-chief of children's magazines (1951 to 1958 ABC-Zeitung and Schulpost ) and from 1963 to 1988 editor-in-chief of the series of articles on children's and youth literature . He also wrote theoretical papers on children's and youth literature . From 1961 he worked as a freelance writer. In 1966 he completed a correspondence course in journalism.

His books about the ten-year-old boy Alfons Zitterbacke (1958 Alfons Zitterbacke , 1962 Alfons Zitterbacke is in trouble again ) were among the most famous children's books in the GDR . In 1995 a third book by Alfons Zitterbacke was published, Alfons Zitterbacke New Trouble . Although this is not explicitly mentioned, various passages of this volume suggest that the Alfons described here is the son of the main hero from the first and second volumes.

Association and party functions

Holtz-Baumert became a member of the newly founded FDJ in 1946 and a member of the SED in 1947 . From 1947 to 1951 he mainly took on tasks in the field of culture and education of the Friedrichshain district association and later on the Berlin city council of the FDJ. In 1948 he became head of the FDJ school in Berlin-Rahnsdorf , and in autumn 1949 he took over the position of deputy head of the House of Pioneers in the Parkaue.

Since 1981 he was a member of the Central Committee of the SED .

From 1959 he was a member of the GDR Writers' Association, where he was a member of the association's executive committee from 1969 to 1990 and of the executive committee from 1972 (from 1977 as vice-president).

From 1971 to 1990 he sat for the Kulturbund in the People's Chamber . Here he was traveling tirelessly to initiate contacts with Soviet organizations, companies and also with international institutions. From 1957 to 1981 he was IM of the MfS (code name " François Villon " ).

Awards

Holtz-Baumert was a national prize winner of the GDR (1975 and 1987) as well as the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze (1965) and silver (1977). He also received the Heinrich Heine Prize from the Ministry of Culture of the GDR in 1973 , the Goethe Prize from the City of Berlin in 1984 and, together with Klaus Ensikat, the Pied Piper Prize in 1984 . In 1987 he received an honorary doctorate from the “Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander” University of Education in Dresden .

Works (selection)

• Alfons trembling cheek. Berlin 1958.
• The little trumpeter and his friend. Berlin 1959 (with Inge Holtz-Baumert).
• Alfons Zitterbacke is in trouble again. Berlin 1962.
• The three women and me. Berlin 1973.
• The miracle mushroom. Berlin 1974.
• Hitchhiking north. Berlin 1975.
• Four horses go away. Berlin 1976.
• The strange time of the boy Friedrich. Berlin 1979.
• Seven and three times seven stories. Berlin 1979.
• Show duty. Berlin 1981.
• Daidalos and Icarus. Berlin 1984.
• The puckered relatives. From childhood and youth in Berlin O 17 and the surrounding area. Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-355-00225-9 .
• The kidnapped prince and the gardener girl. Erlangen 1988.
• Alfons Zitterbacke's new anger. Leipzig 1995.
• Berlin as it is in the book, literary walks. Berlin 1996.
• Isa and the beautiful little animal. Berlin 1996.
• The little teacher. Berlin 1989.
• Berlin as it is in the book. New literary walks. Berlin 1999.

literature

• Carsten Wurm:  Holtz-Baumert, Gerhard . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the stinking underground. The writer Joachim Walther on the total control of GDR literature by the Stasi . In: Der Spiegel . No. 39 , 1996 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Gerhard Holtz-Baumert  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Gerhard Holtz-Baumert in the catalog of the German National Library