Hans Peter Richter

Hans Peter Richter (born April 28, 1925 in Cologne , † November 19, 1993 in Mainz ) was a German author.

Hans Peter Richter published several books for children and young people , mainly his books with contemporary history - especially his works that thematically deal with the time of National Socialism - are among his best known and most successful.

His book Back then it was Friedrich is often read in full in schools . This book has been sold over 2 million times around the world, reprinted 69 times (as of 2020) and translated into 13 languages.

Life

Hans Peter Richter grew up in Cologne. During the Second World War he was a soldier from 1942 to 1945. He lost his left arm in the war. From 1948 to 1952 Richter studied psychology and sociology in Cologne, Bonn and Mainz and did his doctorate in Tübingen. Since 1952 he worked as a freelancer for various radio stations and commercial enterprises and began to work as a freelance writer. In 1973 he received a professorship for scientific methods and sociology at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences . He has also written and edited numerous books for adults, young people and children. He has twice received a grant from the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris for his work .

His most successful book is called Back then it was Friedrich . This novel for young people, published in 1961, is one of the best-known and most widespread books on the persecution of Jews during the Nazi era , with a circulation of over two million worldwide . Numerous students have dealt with the topics of National Socialism and anti-Semitism through this book .

For that time it was Friedrich , he was awarded the Mildred L. Batchelder Award of the American Library Association for the best in America awarded a non-American author published YA. He also received the Sebaldus Youth Book Prize and the Woodward School Book Award for the book . The book was also in the shortlist for the German Youth Literature Prize . It has been translated into 13 languages.

Awards

• 1962 Shortlist for the German Youth Literature Prize
• 1972 Mildred L. Batchelder Award
• 1989 Golden paperback from Otto Maier Verlag
• 1965 and 1966 scholarship from the Cité Internationale des Arts Paris

Works (selection)

as an author

• Carousel and balloon. Four stories for children . Obpacher Buch- und Kunstverlag, Munich 1958 (illustrated by Erich Hölle).
• Back then it was Friedrich (dtv pocket 7800). 59th edition Dtv, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-423-07800-9 (EA 1961).
• We were there. Novel . Arena-Verlag, Würzburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-401-02751-7 (EA 1962).
• The time of the young soldiers (dtv pocket 7831). Dtv, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-423-07831-6 (EA 1967).
• Mohammed ( Large Figures Series ). Engelbert, Balve 1974, ISBN 3-536-00381-8 .
• Saint-Just and the French Revolution ( Large Figures Series ). Engelbert, Balve 1975, ISBN 3-536-00414-8 .

as editor

• Writers tell of justice . Engelbert-Verlag, Balve 1977, ISBN 3-536-00443-1 .
• Writers tell of the violence . Engelbert-Verlag, Balve 1976, ISBN 3-536-00419-9 .
• Writers tell about their mother . Engelbert-Verlag, Balve 1974, ISBN 3-536-00393-1 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Hans Peter Richter in the catalog of the German National Library
• Author at dtv