Hans Werner Richter

Aaron Horton (Alabama State University)

Ed. by Jill E. Twark, East Carolina University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 1908
Died 1993
Activity 1946-1993

Places

Born in Germany
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Journalist
Novelist

Resources

Richter's Works

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Hans Werner Richter was born in Bansin auf Usedom on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on November 12, 1908 to a fishing family. The details of the author’s early life are sparse, but in 1924 at age sixteen he began a three-year apprenticeship with a bookseller in Swinemünde, then another German city on the Baltic Sea. After World War II, the city was included in territorial concessions to Poland and renamed Świnoujście. In 1928, Richter began working as a bookseller in Berlin. He witnessed firsthand the chaotic and often violent political struggles between far-right parties such as the National Socialists (Nazis), and various leftist groups such as the Social Democrats (SPD) and the German Communist Party (KPD), the latter of which he joined in 1930. Richter was deeply concerned about…

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1111 words

Citation: Horton, Aaron. "Hans Werner Richter". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 October 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13414, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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