Helmut Sakowski

Helmut Sakowski (1992)

Helmut Sakowski (born June 1, 1924 in Jüterbog ; † December 9, 2005 in Wesenberg ) was a German writer, politician and cultural functionary, whose literary career and career were largely linked to the GDR . In his novels , reports , stories , radio plays , scripts and television plays , he portrayed stages in the socialist development in the country. After the fall of the Wall , he was best known as an author of books for children and young people.

Life

Helmut Sakowski spent his childhood in Thuringia. In 1942 he joined the NSDAP . In 1943 he became a soldier after completing his forestry apprenticeship and was taken prisoner of war . After his release in 1946, he first became an assistant forester, joined the SED in 1947 and learned the profession of forester from 1947 to 1949 at the forestry school in Stollberg . He then worked for two years in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. In 1951 he took over the management of the forestry office in Salzwedel. In 1958 he was transferred to Krumke near Osterburg (Altmark) as a district forester because he hoped to have more time in this position for his literary work. When he became successful with his books, he gave up the profession of forester in 1961 and moved to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania . In addition to his work as a writer, he was a member of the Salzwedel district assembly , a member of the SED's central committee since 1973, a member of the German Academy of the Arts since 1961 and vice-president of the GDR Cultural Association from 1968 .

In 2005 Sakowski died in his house in Wesenberg after a long-term heart condition at the age of 81.

Artistic creation

In his works, Sakowski primarily reflects the life of “simple” people. While he mostly uses recent history (the collectivization of agriculture, the development of LPGs ) as a subject in his novels and stories published in the GDR, the main work that appeared after the fall of the Wall, the Klevenow trilogy, describes the development of his adopted home in Mecklenburg 19th century illuminated. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he increasingly turned to the field of children's and youth literature .

Sakowski's style is extremely humorous and lifelike. Many of his heroes and "supporting roles" have real role models, most of the locations of his novels and stories can be located geographically.

Daniel Druskat is one of his most famous books . After him, the television series of the same name (with Manfred Krug , Hilmar Thate , Ursula Karusseit and Angelica Domröse in the leading roles) was filmed, which was continued after the fall of the Wall with Wendenburg and Ein Herzog in Wendenburg .

Awards and honors

Helmut Sakowski (1959)

• 1959: National Prize of the GDR
• 1963: Lessing Prize of the GDR
• 1964: Fritz Reuter Prize
• 1965: National Prize of the GDR
• 1968: National Prize of the GDR
• 1969: Literature Prize of the FDGB
• 1969: Literature Prize of the DFD
• 1972: National Prize of the GDR
• 1984: Gold medal for the Patriotic Order of Merit
• 1987: GDR radio play award for the cry of the wild geese (author award of the critics)
• 1988: GDR radio play award for the last legacy (radio play award of the listeners)
• 1989: Great star of friendship among peoples

Works

Stories, short stories, novels

• Two women , stories, Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1959
• The saw in Langenmoor , television game, Aufbau-Verlag Berlin / GDR 1960
• Paths across the country , dramatic television novel, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle (Saale) 1969
• Two hundredweight of lightness , stories, New Life publishing house, Berlin / GDR 1970
• Daniel Druskat , Roman, Verlag Neues Leben Berlin / GDR 1976
• Cursed and loved , novel, Verlag Neues Leben Berlin / GDR 1981
• Like a bird in a swarm , novel, Verlag Neues Leben Berlin / GDR 1984
• The last wedding , life stories, Verlag Neues Leben Berlin / GDR 1988, ISBN 3-355-00850-8
• We weren't brave , A report / Like a bird in a swarm (Unabridged version), Roman, Reiher Verlag Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-910163-00-9
• Quiet place - Oll mochum , novella. Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-355-01189-4
• The swans of Klevenow: a Mecklenburg novel , Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-351-02224-7
• Black wedding on Klevenow , Roman, Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-351-02271-9
• Wendenburg , Roman, Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-351-02327-8
• The heirs of Klevenow , Roman, Aufbau-Verlag Berlin, 2000, ISBN 3-351-02889-X
• A duke in Wendenburg , novel, construction of the Taschenbuch Verlag Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7466-1367-1
• The Grand Master's Beloved , Roman, Aufbau-Verlag Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-351-02981-0
• Paths across the country , novel, construction of the Taschenbuch Verlag Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-7466-1361-2

Books for children and young readers

• How do I fry a mouse or little Raoul habenicht's life marks , narrative, Verlag Neues Leben Berlin / GDR 1987, ISBN 3-355-00379-4
• Katja Henkelpott , Thienemann Verlag, Stuttgart 1992
• But the moon is mine , Thienemann Verlag, Stuttgart 1993
• Princess, we make the fly , Thienemann Verlag, Stuttgart 1993
• Katja Henkelpott and the snake queen , Thienemann Verlag, Stuttgart 1995
• Munzo and me. Life marks or divorce is not strange , Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 1996
• Katja Henkelpott starts school , Thienemann Verlag, Stuttgart 1998

Plays

• Women's quarrel and love trick , Schwank, Henschelverlag, Berlin 1953
• The decision of Lene Mattke , Schauspiel, Henschelverlag, Berlin 1960
• Stones in the way , Volksstück, Henschelverlag, Berlin 1962
• Summer in Heidkau , Volksstück, Henschelverlag, Berlin 1966

Radio plays

• A woman comes to the village , 1959
• Lost Land? , 1960
• Scream of the Wild Geese , 1986
• The last wedding , 1987

Other publications

• Christel Berger (editor): The risk of writing. Essays, speeches, reports, letters and interviews. New Life Publishing House, Berlin / GDR 1983.
• Artists and Kulturbund - Kulturbund und Künste. 1985.
• The life of a revolutionary. Gustav Szinda remembers. Offizin Andersen Nexö, Leipzig 1989.

Film adaptations

• One night and no tomorrow (GDR 1962), directed by Wolfgang Luderer with Helga Göring , Hannjo Hasse and others.
• Paths across the country (GDR, 1968; 5 parts), directed by Martin Eckermann with Ursula Karusseit , Manfred Krug and others.
• The Conspirators (GDR, 1971; 4 parts), directed by Martin Eckermann with Manfred Krug, Armin Mueller-Stahl and others.
• Daniel Druskat (GDR, 1976; 5 parts), directed by Lothar Bellag with Hilmar Thate , Manfred Krug and others.
• Verflucht und Loved (GDR 1980/81), directed by Martin Eckermann with Renate Krößner and others.
• Wie ein Vogel im Schwarm (Germany 1990), directed by Lothar Bellag with Käthe Reichel and others.

literature

• Käte Kaewert: prose, drama and television novels with Helmut Sakowski. Univ. Diss., Berlin 1979.
• Hans Joachim Nauschütz : Of habenichten and Henkelpötten and a new federal state. To children's books by Helmut Sakowski. In: Contributions to youth literature and media , Weinheim, 48 (1996), Heft 3, pp. 155–162.
• Helga Korff-Edel: Across the country with Sakowski: memories of Helga Korff-Edel. Steffen, Friedland 2009.
• Herbert Mayer, Bernd-Rainer Barth :  Sakowski, Helmut . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
• Gottfried Fischborn : Helmut Sakowski. In: Literature of the German Democratic Republic: Individual Representations , Volume 1, People and Knowledge, Berlin 1974, License No. 203.1000/73 LSV 8012.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (ed.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990. Volume 2: Maassen - Zylla. KG Saur, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-598-11177-0 .
2. ↑ Sakowski, Helmut in Michael Opitz and Michael Hoffmann (eds.): Metzler Lexikon DDR literature . Metzler, Stuttgart 2009
3. ↑ Neues Deutschland , June 29, 1984, p. 2

Web links

Commons : Helmut Sakowski  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Helmut Sakowski in the catalog of the German National Library