Willi Heinrich

This article is about the writer Willi Heinrich. For other people see Wilhelm Heinrich .

Willi Heinrich (born August 9, 1920 in Heidelberg ; † July 12, 2005 in Dobel , Calw district ) was a German writer .

Life

Heinrich was employed in a food company from 1934 to 1939. In 1939 he was drafted into the labor service. From 1940 until the end of the Second World War he was a soldier in the east. After his return he worked again as a commercial clerk. Heinrich began writing in 1950, initially mainly at night and in his free time. After the international success of his debut novel " The patient meat " he was able to work and live as a freelance writer. Overall, according to estimates, the Heinrich books exceeded a circulation of between 30 and 40 million copies worldwide. His world war classic has even been translated into 20 languages. Heinrich not only made the war an issue, in socially even less liberal times he also dealt with more taboo topics such as racism, neo-Nazism or sexuality in old age.

In “The patient meat” he processes the time on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 and created the literary hero and brave warrior Steiner . As a sergeant, he not only fought for the senseless conquest of a Russian factory, but also against the hierarchies of the Wehrmacht . Heinrich's later US bestseller was praised primarily because, in the opinion of the critics, he portrayed the soldier without pathos. Under the title " Steiner - The Iron Cross ", the film adaptation of the book became an international success.

Works (selection)

• The patient flesh , 1955
• The Golden Table , 1956
• In Proud Mourning , (new edition of: The Golden Table, edited by the author)
• The Marked , 1958
• Old houses don't die , 1960
• From inner life , 1961
• three came back , 1961 (title of the original edition: The Golden Table)
• God's second set , 1964
• Holidays in the Hereafter , 1964
• Lily of the valley or similar , 1965
• High school diploma , 1966
• Geometry of a Marriage , 1967
• Butterflies don't cry , 1969
• Years like Tau , 1971
• So long, Archie , 1972
• Love and What Else Matters , 1974
• Handful of Heavens , 1976
• To live in a castle , EA 1976 (written 1950–1952)
• A man is always on the move , 1978
• Jack of Hearts and Girls , 1980
• Alone against Palermo , 1981
• Assets present , 1982
• Dream Bird , 1983
• Men to throw away , 1985
• Stories , 1985
• Seduction , 1986
• Time of the Nymphs , 1987
• The fathers fame , 1988
• The Travelers of the Night , 1989
• A Spanish Affair , 1990
• A heart for women , 1992
• Puppet shows , 1993
• The Song of the Sirens , 1994

Web links

• Literature by and about Willi Heinrich in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Walther von Hollander : The small manual for book lovers ; Verlag Buch und Wissen; Rheda, 1964 (p. 29).