Wolfdietrich Schnurre was a German writer.

Schnurre was an important literary figure of post-war West Germany. Apart from numerous short stories he also wrote novels, tales, diaries, poems, radio plays and (beginning in the 1960s) children's books which he partly illustrated himself.

Life and work

Schnurre grew up in Frankfurt before his father, a librarian, moved to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 in 1928. Here Schnurre attended a socialist elementary school and grammar school. Between 1939 and 1945 he involuntarily became a World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 soldier. In April 1945 he fled to Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

 and returned to Berlin after the end of war. In the beginning he lived in the Eastern part of the city, but in 1946 he moved to West Berlin. In the following years he worked as theatre and movie reviewer for Deutsche Rundschau

Deutsche Rundschau

Deutsche Rundschau is a literary and political periodical established in 1874 by Julius Rodenberg.Deutsche Rundschau strongly influenced German politics, literature and culture. It was considered one of the most successful launches of periodicals in Germany...

 and other Berlin newspapers.

From 1950 Schnurre was an independent writer. He was a founding member of the literary association Gruppe 47 and his short story Das Begräbnis (The Funeral) was the first piece of literature read at the group's initial meeting. He was also member of PEN

International PEN

PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....

 in the Federal republic of Germany which he left in 1961 to protest against PEN's silence after the construction of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

. Since 1959 Schnurre was member of the German Academy for Language and Literature in Darmstadt

Darmstadt

Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...

. In 1964 he came down with severe polyneuritis.

Schurre received several awards for his works including the Prize Young Generation of the Fontane Award of the City of Berlin (1958), the Immermann Award (1959), the Georg Marckensen Literature Award (1962), the Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz

Bundesverdienstkreuz

The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...

, 1981), the Literature Award of the City of Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 (1982), the Georg Büchner Prize

Georg Büchner Prize

The Georg Büchner Prize is the most important literary prize of Germany. It was created in 1923 in memory of Georg Büchner and was only given to artists who came from or were closely tied to Büchner's home of Hesse...

 (1983) and the Culture Award of the City of Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

 (1989).

Literary works

• Das Begräbnis, 1947
• An die Harfner, 1948
• Rettung des deutschen Films, 1950)
• Die Rohrdommel ruft jeden Tag, 1950
• Sternstaub und Sänfte, 1953
• Die Blumen des Herrn Albin, 1955
• Kassiber, 1956
• Abendländler, 1957
• Protest im Parterre, 1957
• Als Vaters Bart noch rot war, 1958
• Barfußgeschöpfe, 1958
• Eine Rechnung, die nicht aufgeht, 1958
• Anaximanders Ende, 1958
• Der Verrat,1958
• Steppenkopp, 1958
• Das Los unserer Stadt, 1959
• Man sollte dagegen sein, 1960
• Berlin - eine Stadt wird geteilt, 1962
• Die Mauer des 13. August, 1962
• Funke im Reisig, 1963
• Die Gläsernen, 1963
• Ohne Einsatz kein Spiel, 1964
• Schreibtisch unter freiem Himmel, 1964
• Die Tat, 1964
• Kalünz ist keine Insel, 1965
• Die Erzählungen, 1966
• Das Schwein, das zurückkam, 1967
• Spreezimmer möbliert, 1967
• Was ich für mein Leben gern tue, 1967
• Die Zwengel, 1967
• Rapport des Verschonten, 1968
• Ein Schneemann für den großen Bruder, 1969 (with Marina Schnurre)
• Gocko, 1970 (with Marina Schnurre)
• Richard kehrt zurück, 1970
• Die Sache mit den Meerschweinchen, 1970 (with Marina Schnurre)
• Schnurre heiter, 1970
• Die Wandlung des Hippipotamos, 1970
• Immer mehr Meerschweinchen, 1971 (with Marina Schnurre)
• Der Spatz in der Hand, 1971
• Wie der Koala-Bär wieder lachen lernte, 1971 (with Marina Schnurre)
• Der Meerschweinchendieb, 1972
• Ich frag ja bloß, 1973
• Schnurren und Murren, 1974
• Der wahre Noah, 1974
• Eine schwierige Reparatur, 1976
• Ich brauch dich, 1976
• Klopfzeichen, 1978
• Der Schattenfotograf, 1978
• Erfülltes Dasein, 1979
• Kassiber und neue Gedichte, 1979
• Ein Unglücksfall, 1981
• Gelernt ist gelernt, 1984
• Emil und die Direktiven, 1985
• Mein Leben als Zeitgenosse, 1987
• Zigeunerballade, 1988
• Weihnachts-Schnurren, 1988
• Verkehrszeichen, 1991 (with Werner Kohn)
• Als Vater sich den Bart abnahm, 1995
• Die Prinzessin kommt um vier, 2000 (with Rotraut Susanne Berner
  Rotraut Susanne Berner
  Rotraut Susanne Berner is a German graphic designer and illustrator. She illustrated The Number Devil....
  
  )
• Kasimir hat einen Vogel, 2000 (with Manfred Bofinger)
• Doddlmoddl, 2003 (with Egbert Herfurth)
• Jenö war mein Freund