Hans Lorbeer
Encyclopedia
Hans Lorbeer was a German
politician and writer.
town of Lutherstadt Wittenberg and grew up with foster parents in Kleinwittenberg and Piesteritz, both districts of Lutherstadt Wittenberg. After a non-self contained vocational training as a plumber, he was a laborer at different chemical laboratories in and around Wittenberg. He would become a member of the Freien deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) in 1918, then the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD) in 1921 and then a co-founder of the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors
in 1928. He wrote for the KPD newspaper Klassenkampf (Class Struggle) in Halle and Die Rote Fahne
after 1927. He was sacked from the Nitrogen factory in Piesteritz for political agitation and remained jobless until 1933. His exclusion from the KPD in 1931 because of violation of party lines that would be annulled in 1945. Because of anti-fascist resistance and contacts to the group Weise, he would be in a concentration camp
in 1933 and 1934, then the Zuchthaus and Emslandlager
, after which he was a laborer under Gestapo
supervision.
From May 8, 1945 until July 31, 1950, Lorbeer was mayor of Piesteritz and then a freelance writer until his death.
Hans Lorbeer was a member of the Akademie der Künste
. For his literary works, he was awarded the 1959 Heinrich Mann Prize
, the 1961 National Prize of East Germany
, the 1963 Mündel Prize of the Halle Bezirk and the 1971 Lion Feuchtwanger Prize, as well as the gold Vaterländischer Verdienstorden and the Order of the Banner of Labor
. On August 8, 1976, the city government of Lutherstadt Wittenberg agreed that Hans Lorbeer would be named an honorary citizen of the City. On the basis of the then legally valid position, he is viewed as the last Honorary Citizen of that city.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician and writer.
Life
Hans Lorbeer was born as the illegitimate child of a worker girl in the SaxonSaxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
town of Lutherstadt Wittenberg and grew up with foster parents in Kleinwittenberg and Piesteritz, both districts of Lutherstadt Wittenberg. After a non-self contained vocational training as a plumber, he was a laborer at different chemical laboratories in and around Wittenberg. He would become a member of the Freien deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) in 1918, then the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
(KPD) in 1921 and then a co-founder of the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors
Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors
The Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors was a German cultural organisation established in 1928, at the time of the Weimar Republic...
in 1928. He wrote for the KPD newspaper Klassenkampf (Class Struggle) in Halle and Die Rote Fahne
Die Rote Fahne
The German newspaper Die Rote Fahne was created on 9 November 1918 by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in Berlin, first as organ of the left wing revolutionary Spartakusbund. After the founding of the Communist Party of Germany on 1 January 1919 it became the central publication of the party,...
after 1927. He was sacked from the Nitrogen factory in Piesteritz for political agitation and remained jobless until 1933. His exclusion from the KPD in 1931 because of violation of party lines that would be annulled in 1945. Because of anti-fascist resistance and contacts to the group Weise, he would be in a concentration camp
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
in 1933 and 1934, then the Zuchthaus and Emslandlager
Emslandlager
Emslandlager is the site of a post World War II British sector displaced person camp near Emsland in Lower Saxony in Germany.The moorland labor camps, Emslandlager - as they were known - were for political opponents of the Third Reich, located outside of Börgermoor, now part of the commune...
, after which he was a laborer under Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
supervision.
From May 8, 1945 until July 31, 1950, Lorbeer was mayor of Piesteritz and then a freelance writer until his death.
Hans Lorbeer was a member of the Akademie der Künste
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
. For his literary works, he was awarded the 1959 Heinrich Mann Prize
Heinrich Mann Prize
The Heinrich Mann Prize is a literary award given annually by the Berlin Academy of Art . The prize given for works with socially critical aspects in a character that would honor Heinrich Mann...
, the 1961 National Prize of East Germany
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an award of the German Democratic Republic given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement...
, the 1963 Mündel Prize of the Halle Bezirk and the 1971 Lion Feuchtwanger Prize, as well as the gold Vaterländischer Verdienstorden and the Order of the Banner of Labor
Banner of Labor
The Banner of Labor was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic .It was given for "outstanding achievements of many years which stabilized and strengthened the country, and in particular for high results of working in the national economy"....
. On August 8, 1976, the city government of Lutherstadt Wittenberg agreed that Hans Lorbeer would be named an honorary citizen of the City. On the basis of the then legally valid position, he is viewed as the last Honorary Citizen of that city.
Works
A representative selection of Lorbeer's poetic writings offered in the volume Chronik in Versen. Gedichte aus fünf Jahrzehnten had appeared in the 1971 Mitteldeutschen Verlag as a piece of Lorbeer's Gesammelten Werken in Einzelausgaben.Novels
- Ein Mensch wird geprügelt (A Man is Beaten), Moskow 1930 (Russian), 1959
- Die Sieben ist eine gute Zahl (Seven is a Good Number), 1953
- Die Rebellen von Wittenberg (The Rebels of Wittenberg), Volume I (Das Fegefeuer) 1956, Volume II (Der Widerruf) 1959, Volume III (Die Obrigkeit) 1963
- Der Spinner (The Spider)
Stories
- Wacht auf! (Wake Up!), Berlin 1928
- Die Legende vom Soldaten Daniel (The Legend of the Soldier Daniel), 1948
- Vorfrühling und andere Liebesgeschichten (Early Spring and Other Life Histories), 1953
- Der Birkenhügel. Liebesgeschichten (The Birch Hill. Life Histories), Halle 1960
- Zur freundlichen Erinnerung (Of Friendly Memories), 1960
- Ein Leben lang (A Life Long), 1974
Poems
- Gedichte eines jungen Arbeiters (Poems of a Young Worker), 1925
- Die Gitterharfe (The Rail Harp), 1948
- Des Tages Lied (The Daily Song), 1948
- Es singt ein Mensch auf allen Strassen (It Sings a People From all Streets), 1950
- Als du siebenunddreißig warst (When you were thirty-seven), 1961
- Die Straßen gehen (The Streets go), 1961
- Chronik in Versen (Chronicle in Verses), 1971
Dramas
- Die Trinker, 1925
- Liebknecht- Luxemburg- Lenin, 1927
- Panzerkreuzer Potemkin, 1929
- Phosphor, Leningrad 1931
Literature
- Walther Killy: Literatur Lexikon. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh/München 1990
- Christa Johannsen: Lutherstadt Wittenberg zwischen Gestern und Morgen. Union Verlag Berlin 1967
- Dieter Heinemann: Hans Lorbeer in: Literatur der DDR, Volume 3, Verlag Volk und Wissen, Berlin 1987
- Rüdiger Reinecke: Widerstand Schreiben. Hans Lorbeer nach 1933. In: Wolfgang Asholt, Rüdiger Reinecke, Erhard Schütz, Hendrik Weber (Editor.): Unruhe und Engagement. Blicköffnungen für das Andere. Festschrift für Walter Fähnders zum 60. Geburtstag. Bielefeld: Aisthesis, 2004
External links
- Literature by and on Hans Lorbeer in the catalog of the German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...