A German memory [1]
Interview with René Wintzen [2] (1973)
René Wintzen: Since 1946 three German language writers have been awarded as Nobel laureates in literature. In 1946, immediately after the war, it was Hermann Hesse, in 1966 it was Nelly Sachs and in 1972 finally it was Heinrich Böll, you were honored for this price. Although you all write in German, Hermann Hesse and Nelly Sachs did not own German citizenship any more. Meanwhile Hesse had been Swiss and Nelly Sachs had been Swedish. They both had left National Socialist [3] Germany. They both had in certain way renounced their origins and were in distance to their fatherland.
So I would like to say the following words: when the Swedish academy awarded you the price, they honored you, a German, a real German; not a refugee, not an immigrant, not a Jew, not a persecuted person, but the German citizen like the other 62 million Germen. Because of that Germany and the German literature in the 3rd Reich, during the war and after the war were given respect in your person and in your work. Do you feel that way as myself? Do you feel that is true as a German, yes still more: as a citizen of the Federal Republic Germany?
Henrich Böll: I can answer the question unambiguously with yes. The both Nobel laureates, who you have known, so Nelly Sachs and Hermann Hesse, have written in German, but they were not Germany citizens any more. Hesse consciously emigrated against the development in Germany which he did not want to take part or did not take part, he did not want to be involved in responsibility in the development because he believed in international pacifism, Nelly Sachs exiled from Germany, narrowly escaped from death. Naturally I feel myself German, I speak in German, I write in German, I was born as a German, I have never felt as a non-German, how would I come to that? That is natural for me, which is totally none, but also does not have the nationalist [3] component. I believe that someone with that language, in which he writes, reveals more than nationality-affiliation. The conceptions of fatherland, nation, not a conception of homeland, which are again something totally different, are actually secondary, almost superficial, in many cases even stupid, compared to the association or the means of an expression language for a writer. There is no higher form of loyalty to a people at all, than to write in his own language; even if a man himself writes with difficulty or writes poorly. Then the man uses the language as means of expression, and that means much more than a passport or a personal ID card or an election ballot.
[1]. Eine deutsche Erinnerung, translated by me from p. 193 “Stationen”, Ein Kursbuch für die Mittelstufe, 3rd Edition, Prisca Augustyn & Nikolaus Euba, Cengage Learning, USA, 2015
[2]. Henrich Böll: Eine deutsche Erinnerung: Interview mit René Wintzen
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A famous person in Köln [1]
Heinrich Böll (1917-1985) [2]
Heinrich Böll was born in Köln on December 21, 1917. In 1937 he began working as a trainee for a book seller. But his career soon was interrupted. In 1939 he was recruited to the army in the Third Reich. The war drove him to French, Russian, Rumania, Hungry and further in Rheinland [3]. In 1942 he married Annemarie Cech in Köln, they had 4 sons. After the war, he had a major of German study [4] in University Köln and began intensive writing. His literature work often involved in experiences during the war. To feed his family, he had often to take another job, for example, as a carpenters’ helper. But soon Böll received prices for his works and became one of the most eminent German authors of post-war era. In 1972 he even received Nobel price in literature. He had engaged in political affairs above and beyond German border and took an active part in the peace movement of early decade of 1980. After his death in 1985 the Heinrich-Böll-foundation was established, it is an organization for political education in Germany and in other countries, which is located near the Green Party Headquarter [5].
[1]. Ein berühmter Kälner. Translated by me from p. 192 “Stationen”, Ein Kursbuch für die Mittelstufe, 3rd Edition, Prisca Augustyn & Nikolaus Euba, Cengage Learning, USA, 2015
[2]. Heinrich Böll.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_B%C3%B6ll
