Hanna Stephan

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Hanna Katharina Stephan (born June 2, 1902 in Dramburg , Pomerania , † April 12, 1980 in Osterode am Harz ) was a German writer . In addition to lyrical work, the focus of her work was on epic .

Life

Hanna Stephan graduated from the Lyzeum and Oberlyzeum in Neuwied , where she passed the academic teaching examination in 1921 . In addition, she took a Latin exam in Berlin-Lichterfelde . In Berlin, namely at the Augusta School, she received the qualification to teach lycees at Easter 1923. She then studied German, history and religion at the University of Berlin and Marburg University until November 1928 . In Marburg, Martin Heidegger's lectures left her with lasting impressions. In November 1929 she did her doctorate in Marburg and then moved to Berlin. In February 1930 she passed the teaching examination for secondary schools and taught at Berlin schools as a study assessor until 1932 . Serious blood poisoning then tied her to the hospital bed for several years so that she could no longer pursue her job.

This experience of suffering formed the tenor of her literary work. Her first publications, apart from her dissertation and the Germanic grammar she wrote (1927), were devoted to historical topics.

In 1943 Hanna Stephan was evacuated from Berlin-Dahlem to Buchschlag , where she registered on August 9, 1943. Via Uehrde she reached Osterode am Harz on April 1, 1945 , where she lived until her death. It is known through family relationships that her brother was an architect and built her a house in Osterode, in which she stayed for the rest of her life.

Act

Since Hanna Stephan based several poems and novels on the topic of flight and displacement, autobiographical moments were assumed. However, the author's interest in this topic is explained by intensive contacts with inmates of a refugee camp in Osterode. Hanna Stephan herself did not reach Osterode as a refugee, but as an evacuate.

From 1940 on, mediaeval material was no longer decisive for her works, but instead she began to write village stories , for example And what happens is the same (1941), animal stories , radio plays , books for young people, novels and some poems. Her novels deal with war, camp life and flight, such as Psyche (1948), The Third (1949) or Engel Menschen und Demonen (1951). Despite the detachment from medieval material, their basic questions and leitmotifs did not change. So "the question about human beings, about being human" as well as "their view of the unchangeable and timeless, in which the changeable and temporal is embedded" remains unchanged.

The perspective of faith was central in Stephan's works as in her life. World-affirming and full of consolation and hope, this basic literary melody swings through her works.

In the 18 years or so until her death, Stephan increasingly wrote animal stories and books for young people and focused the literary focus on distant countries.

literature

  • Carola L. Gottzmann: Hanna Stephan. Leitmotifs and basic themes in your work. In: Pommern in literature after 1945. Ed. Foundation European Academy Külz - Kulice, 2005, pp. 117-136.
  • Carola L. Gottzmann: "... and wasn't nothing". Hanna Stephans "Angels, People and Demons". In: Forgotten Literature - Untrusted Topics by German Women Writers. Edited by Petra Hörner, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin et al. 2001, pp. 43-62.
  • Petra Hörner: "stretched between heaven and hell." Hanna Stephan: life and work. In: Forgotten Literature - Untrusted Topics by German Women Writers. Edited by Petra Hörner, Frankfurt a. M. / Berlin et al. 2001, pp. 7-19.

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personal data
SURNAME Stephan, Hanna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stephan, Hanna Katharina (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Dramburg , Pomerania
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1980
Place of death Osterode am Harz