Jürgen Lenz (writer)

Jürgen Lenz (born November 22, 1916 in Königsberg ; † August 31, 1990 in Heide ) was a German writer and journalist .

Life

Jürgen Lenz was a seafarer in the merchant navy until the Second World War . After 1945 he worked as a journalist in Hamburg primarily for magazines of the younger generation such as Der Ruf , Die Zukunft and Die Umschau. International revue .

In 1948 his first book was published, the war novel gv garrison usable Heimat .

In 1949 he worked as an editor at the Berliner Rundfunk , then as a freelance writer in East Berlin.

His novels, written in a gripping reporter style, in which colorful exoticism are combined with the description of social processes, became widely known. For his report Die See geht dwars (1954), the portrayal of a North Sea voyage , he received the FDGB literature prize in 1956 . The novel Captains Stay on Board (1956, as a film in 1958) depicts the dramatic consequences of the actions of an ambitious captain. In No Pass for Rio (1966) he describes the adventures of a West German seaman who is involved in dark business deals (human trafficking).

Lenz was married twice and had four children.

Publications

• On the quay of Bahia (1952, novel, new version 1956)
• The Sea Comes Dwars (1954, report)
• A ship ran out (1955, novel)
• Captains Stay on Board (1956, novel)
• Ostseestrand (1956, illustrated book together with H. and A. Unzner)
• Journey, journey, sailor (1959, report)
• The Atlantic is not silent (1961, novel about the sinking of the " Pamir ")
• Hungary (1962, report, with photos)
• Michi goes on board (1964, children's book)
• No Passport for Rion (1966, novel)

Awards

• Literature Prize of the FDGB