Hermann Degner (writer)

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Hermann Degner (born December 22, 1921 in Zurich , Canton of Zurich ) is a Swiss writer .

Life

Hermann Degner grew up as an only child in Zurich . He spent most of his childhood in children's homes or with his grandparents, as his parents could not find time for him. He attended secondary school in Zurich. He then completed an apprenticeship as a reinforced concrete draftsman. At the age of 16, he left home forever after an argument with his father. He spent the following time in Ticino . During the recruiting school in 1941 he discovered his flair for writing. After the end of the Second World War , Degner traveled to Spain , the Orient and North Africa . In 1949 he joined the Berbers in Morocco .

After a plane crash in North Africa, which he survived injured in 1951, he received medical attention in Winterthur . Here he met his future wife Frida. Again Degner was drawn to the Berbers in North Africa. With one of the last ships he fled to France in 1954 before the outbreak of the Algerian war . This resulted in the story of the festival in the desert . He settled in Fox-Amphoux in Haute Provence and devoted himself to the reforestation of the forests. In 1959 he took over the post of "Guetteur du feu" on the Gros Bessillon. Here he lived with his wife Frida and organized the entire fire fighting in Provence and the department of Var . The couple spent the winter months in Cotignac or Switzerland.

In 1974 Hermann and Frida Degner divorced. The writer's new love Katrin inspired him to write La Bandita . But after a few years they parted ways again. When a series of forest fires hit Switzerland in 1979, Degner was called in as an expert. When he resigned as “Guetteur du feu” in 1986, the local press praised the Swiss, who was initially skeptical, for his work.

Most recently he lived in Cotignac in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in the south of France .

Works

Degner's work consists mainly of narrative texts and radio plays . Of the latter, around 40 were broadcast on Swiss radio DRS . His books received good reviews but did not generate any financial return.

  • Bakhoura: the wooden bird. 2 stories , Zurich 1954
  • Reveillon: Strange Provence , Basel 1962
  • Festival in the desert: (narration) , Gute Schriften, Bern 1977, ISBN 3-7185-3005-8 .
  • La Bandita: an adventurous story from the High Provence , Gute Schriften, Bern 1979, ISBN 3-7185-3022-8 .

literature

  • "We met in town: Hermann Degner". In: Der Bund No. 282, December 2, 1971, p. 39. With a photo by W. Nydegger.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "We met in town: Hermann Degner". In: Der Bund No. 282, December 2, 1971, p. 39. With a photo by W. Nydegger.
personal data
SURNAME Degner, Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich