Brigitte Reimann
Brigitte Reimann was a prominent writer from the German Democratic Republic (GDR), known for her exploration of socialist themes through her literature. Born to a journalist, she aspired to become a writer from a young age. Although her early works were critiqued for their naive political orientation and simplistic characters, she evolved into a sophisticated novelist whose later writings reflected a deeper engagement with socialist ideals. Reimann’s notable works include "Ankunft im Alltag," which won a literature prize in 1962, and "Die Geschwister," inspired by her brother's decision to leave the GDR. Her most acclaimed posthumous novel, "Franziska Linkerhand," critiques state bureaucracy while chronicling the journey of a female architect. Reimann's narratives often intertwined love with political ideology, showcasing the cultural and emotional complexities of her time. Tragically, she passed away in 1963, leaving behind a legacy that significantly influenced East German literature.
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Subject Terms
Brigitte Reimann
Writer
- Born: July 21, 1933
- Birthplace: Kleinstadt Burg, Magdeburg, Germany
- Died: February 20, 1973
- Place of death: Berlin, Germany
Biography
Recognized as one of the premier women writers of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), Brigitte Reimann dreamed of becoming a writer at a young age. Although some of her early works were considered naïve, unrealistic, and too politically oriented, with subsequently one-dimensional characters, Reimann’s final works place her in the pantheon of mature writers examining and supporting socialism in their native country.
The daughter of a journalist, Reimann worked for a short time as a teacher and married several times, most notably a writer, Siegfried Pitschmann, in 1958. With Pitschmann, she wrote two radio plays and their collaboration won the literature prize of the Free German Trade UnionFederation in 1961. The plays were indicative of the subgenre Brigadestucke which depicted labor issues between workers and management with resolutions along socialist lines. Reimann’s novel Ankunft im Alltag (1961) won the same award in 1962 and was a more realistic tale than her earlier (but extremely popular) works such as Die Frau am Pranger (1956).
In fact, it has been asserted that the development of her work as a novelist of character and ideas parallels the development of East German literature at the time. Die Frau am Pranger details the tragic story of a married German woman who has an affair with a Russian prisoner of war during World War II. The symbolic meaning of their relationship is of a “higher” union between German socialism and Russian Marxism. Unfortunately, the novel is rife with clichés and predictable situations. It was, however, extremely popular and resulted in an East German television version in 1962. Another work uniting love and Marxism is Reimann’s Kinder von Hellas, which, although set in the Greek civil war of the 1940’s, examines the role of conscience and allegiance to political beliefs. This work too was deemed relatively naïve and unrealistic.
Reimann was able to dispense with her sometimes extreme sentimentalism in later works which were more successful at allying realism and socialist ideals. In Das Gestandnis, Reimann solidifies her theme of young people reacting to the Soviet system of production and arriving at an acceptance and approbation of socialism as a working, viable political ideal. Reimann’s high ideals were challenged in 1963 when her brother chose to leave the GDR. The author decided to write about the “tragedy of the division of Germany” and Die Geschwister (1963) was the result. The book received the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1965.
Reimann died of cancer in 1963 before her novel Franziska Linkerhand was finished, but it was published posthumously in 1974. Its dual narrative chronicles the adventures of a middle- class female who, as an architect, goes to build a city. The novel becomes an indictment of state bureaucracy which hinders, rather than furthers, socialist ideals. The novel’s high caliber was recognized in both the East and West and was Reimann’s crowning achievement, a publishing success which was also dramatized in 1978 and the inspiration for a film released in 1981.