Jürgen Kolbe

Jürgen Kolbe (* 1940 in Dessau ; † May 15, 2008 ) was a German philologist , writer and local politician . Between 1976 and 1988 he worked as a cultural advisor for the city of Munich .

He was also a member of the general circle of friends of the Evangelical Academy Tutzing and for several years - re-elected in 2002 - its chairman.

Life

Origin, education and private life

Kolbe grew up in Essen and laid in 1960 at a local high school his Abitur from. He then studied literature, art history and philosophy at the Philipps University in Marburg and the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . In 1967 he was with the dissertation Goethe's "Elective Affinities" and the novel of the 19th century doctorate .

Kolbe suffered a stroke as early as the early 1980s and withdrew from the public for a few weeks as part of medical rehabilitation . He died of a heart condition in 2008 at the age of 67.

Literary career

From 1968 Jürgen Kolbe worked for eight years as an editor for the Munich- based Carl Hanser Verlag . In this role he was responsible for the publication of Walter Kempowski 's first book. In addition, together with Michael Krüger, he developed the well-known "Series Hanser", which reflected topics from literature, politics, film and the media.

In 1973, together with Martin Gregor-Dellin , Paul Wühr , Michael Krüger , Fritz Arnold , Inge Poppe-Wühr , Christoph Buggert , Günter Herburger , Tankred Dorst and Peter Laemmle, he founded the first cooperatively organized author's bookstore in Munich . He also wrote the screenplay with Aleksandar Petrović for the 1977 film Group Picture with Lady , which is based on the novel of the same name by Heinrich Böll . He also excelled as a literary journalist for various newspapers - including Die Zeit - as well as television and radio programs .

On December 12, 1993 Kolbe, who was a profound expert on the works of Fontane and Thomas Mann , took part in Salzburg as a guest critic in the 28th episode of the Literary Quartet .

Working as a cultural politician

Kolbe was non-party and a comparatively unknown cultural worker, but enjoyed the trust of Munich Mayor Georg Kronawitter ( SPD ). Nevertheless, it was a surprising personnel decision when he was elected to the city council for cultural affairs ("Kulturreferent") in 1976. He held this office until 1988.

In his new role, Kolbe tried to redefine urban cultural policy. It was very important to him to bring the culture to the people and to break through rigid traditions. For example, he organized open-air concerts in the city center and in 1976 approved the construction of Joseph Beuys' installation show your wound in the art forum - a pedestrian underpass on Maximilianstrasse used as an exhibition space . In 1979 he hired Sergiu Celibidache as artistic director of the Munich Philharmonic, and shortly before he left the public service , Kolbe supported Hans Werner Henze in founding the Munich Biennale in 1988 .

Publications (selection)

• Kolbe, J .: Goethe's "Elective Affinities" and the 19th century novel . Dissertation. In the series “Studies on the Poetics and History of Literature”, 7th volume, Kohlhammer Verlag , Stuttgart , 1968.
• Kolbe, J .: Views of a future German studies . In the "Series Hanser", Volume 29, Carl Hanser Verlag , Munich , 1969, ISBN 978-3-446-11160-8 .
• Kolbe, J. & Gerndt, S. ( Eds. ): Theodor Fontane. Articles, reviews, memories - Volume 1 . In the series: Keitel, W .: "Theodor Fontane - Complete Works, Department III", Carl Hanser Verlag , Munich , 1969.
• Kolbe, J. & Gerndt, S. ( Eds. ): Theodor Fontane. Essays, Reviews, Memoirs - Volume 2 . In the series: Keitel, W .: "Theodor Fontane - Complete Works, Department III", Carl Hanser Verlag , Munich , 1969.
• Kolbe, J. ( Ed. ): Theodor Fontane - Articles and records - Political correspondence, articles and reports from England . In the series: “Works and Writings”, Volume 27, Ullstein Verlag , Frankfurt am Main , 1979, ISBN 978-3-548-04534-4 .
• Kolbe, J. ( Ed. ): Theodor Fontane - Essays and records - Essays on literature . In the series: “Works and Writings”, Volume 28, Ullstein Verlag , Frankfurt am Main , 1979, ISBN 978-3-548-04535-1 .
• Kolbe, J. ( Ed. ): Theodor Fontane - Articles and notes - Christian Friedrich Scherenberg . In the series: “Works and Writings”, Volume 29, Ullstein Verlag , Frankfurt am Main , 1979, ISBN 978-3-548-04536-8 .
• Kolbe, J .: Bright magic. Thomas Mann in Munich 1894–1933 . In the series: “Erkundungen”, Volume 6, Siedler Verlag , Berlin , 1987, ISBN 978-3-886-80281-4 .
• Kolbe, J. ( Ed. ): Wagner's Worlds . Exhibition catalog for a show in the Munich City Museum (October 17, 2003– January 25, 2004). Edition Minerva , Wolfratshausen , 2003, ISBN 978-3-932-35381-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dr. Jürgen Kolbe re-elected as chairman of the Freundeskreis . In: Tutzinger Blätter - the journal of the Evangelical Academy Tutzing , № 4 / 2002. Retrieved on June 15, 2017 from web.ev-akademie-tutzing.de .
2. ↑ Peter von Becker : The city spirit . On May 20, 2008 on tagesspiegel.de ( Der Tagesspiegel ). Retrieved June 15, 2017.