Günter Eich
Günter Eich was a notable German writer born into a family that experienced significant upheaval during his childhood, including the death of his mother and relocations due to his father’s career. He began to establish himself as a writer by 1932, but his path was interrupted when he was drafted into the German air force during World War II and subsequently captured by American forces in 1945. Following the war, Eich gained recognition for his innovative contributions to radio plays, poetry, and prose, often characterized by surreal elements and an exploration of language's deeper meanings.
Eich's personal life included two marriages, the second to fellow author Ilse Aichinger, and he had two children. Throughout his career, he received numerous accolades, reflecting his influence and success in the literary world. Despite his achievements during the Nazi regime, his work has drawn scrutiny regarding his stance on political issues, particularly concerning themes of dissent and criticism of power. Eich's acceptance speech for the Georg Büchner Prize highlighted his commitment to using literature as a means of resistance and questioning authority, underscoring his belief in the importance of literary critique. He left a lasting legacy that continues to inspire discussions about the role of literature in society.
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Subject Terms
Günter Eich
Fiction Writer, Poet and Playwright
- Born: February 1, 1907
- Birthplace: Lebus an der Oder, Germany
- Died: December 20, 1972
- Place of death: Salzburg, Austria
Biography
Günter Eich was one of two children born to Otto Eich and his wife Helene Heine Eich. In Eich’s early years, his father worked on farms in Brandenburg. In 1918 they moved to Berlin, where his father worked as an accountant. Eich’s mother died later that year. In 1920, Eich and his younger brother Hans lived briefly with their grandparents in Oettingen, while their father married Irma Altenrath, their former housekeeper. The family moved to Leipzig in 1922, where Günter attended the Nikolai High School. He then studied Chinese culture and economics in Berlin, Paris, and Leipzig. By 1932 he was publishing enough creative writing to support himself solely as a writer. He was drafted into the German air force as a driver and wireless operator in 1939 and was taken prisoner by the Americans in 1945.
In 1940, Eich married the singer, actress, and cabaret performer Else Anna Burk; they divorced in 1950. In 1953, Eich married the Austrian author Ilse Aichinger. Their son Clemens, a writer, was born in 1954, and their daughter Mirjam, a stage designer, in 1957. Eich made his name with radio plays, but most of his early work was lost in air raids. His writing developed significantly after the war. His poetry explores the surreal, his radio plays contain dreamlike sequences, and his prose undermines surface appearances and probes the very essence of language.
Eich moved frequently and traveled widely. A 1961 photo shows him happily riding a camel past the pyramids of Giza. He gave readings in Goethe Institutes throughout the world, and in 1966 he toured West Africa with his wife. Eich fell ill in 1968 and suffered a series of heart attacks before his death. Before then, though, he received several awards. The Grupe 47, a postwar group of German writers who advocated the use of stark realism in their writing, gave him their highest honor in 1950. He received the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts Prize for Literature in 1951; the Prize of the War Blind for Radio Drama in 1953; the Cultural Circle in the Federal Association of German Industry Prize for Literature in 1954; the Schleußner-Schueller Hessian Radio Prize and the Georg Büchner Prize in 1959; the City of Munich Prize for the Promotion of Literature in 1965; and the Schiller Memorial Prize in 1968.
Since Eich enjoyed success and amassed some degree of wealth as a writer during the Third Reich, critics have questioned whether his career was compromised and have examined aspects of assent and dissent in his work. However, Karl Karst’s comparison of a rediscovered taped broadcast of Rebellion in der Goldstadt (rebellion in the city of gold) with the original manuscript shows that the radio play was not broadcast as Eich had written it. Without the added sections, it contains a subtext of anticapitalist social criticism.
Eich stated his standpoint unequivocally in his acceptance speech for the Büchner Prize, a speech so radical that the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper would not print it. In Eich’s words: “If our work cannot be understood as criticism, as opposition and resistance, as pointed questioning and challenging of power, then we are writing in vain, then we are being positive and adorning the slaughterhouse with geraniums.”