Günter Kunert

Günter Kunert (; 6 March 1929 – 21 September 2019) was a German writer. Based in East Berlin, he published poetry from 1947, supported by Bertolt Brecht. After he had signed a petition against the deprivation of the citizenship of Wolf Biermann in 1976, he lost his SED membership, and moved to the West two years later. He is regarded as a versatile German writer who wrote short stories, essays, autobiographical works, film scripts and novels. He received international honorary doctorates and awards.

Life Kunert was born in Berlin. but then abandoned his studies. and subsequently lost his SED membership. Kunert was able to leave the GDR in 1979 with a visa.

In his works, he took a critical attitude towards Nazism, and the belief in progress. Kunert was a primary opponent of the German spelling reform of 1996, and served as a member in the Association for German Orthography and Language Care. He was also active in the P.E.N. Club of German-language authors.

Awards Kunert was an honorary doctor of several universities in Italy and the United States. He was awarded the Heinrich Heine Prize of Düsseldorf in 1985, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2012 1953: Das Stacheltier: Eine Liebesgeschichte 1960: Seilergasse 8 – direction: Joachim Kunert 1968: – direction: Egon Günther 1976: – direction: Horst Seemann 1977: – direction: West Germany 1971: Karpfs Karriere – direction: Bernhard Wicki 1982: Ein Stück Himmel – direction: Franz Peter Wirth 1984: The Blind Judge (TV series, 13 episodes) – direction: Vojtěch Jasný 1984: – direction: 1985: Der Schiedsrichter – direction: Rolf von Sydow

Film Günter Kunert und die Sächsische Schweiz, by Claus Spahn, WDR 1993