Heinrich Detering

Heinrich Detering (born 1 November 1959 in Neumünster) is a poet, writer, and Professor in the fields of Literary Studies and Comparative literature Studies, mainly at the University of Göttingen. He was the president of the German Academy for Language and Literature from 2011 to 2017 and was awarded the German order of merit, the Pour le Mérite.

Life and career

After his 1978 Abitur in Lemgo, Detering undertook studies in German philology, theology and philosophy at the University of Göttingen and Heidelberg University between 1979 and 1985. He subsequently pursued studies in Scandinavian studies at the Odense University between 1986 and 1988. Following his habilitation in 1993, he held a professorship in comparative literature at LMU Munich between 1994 and 1995. From 1995 to 2005, he taught Modern German and Modern Nordic Literatures at Kiel University. He subsequently relocated to Göttingen, where he remained until his retirement in 2023.

His research focuses on German and Scandinavian literature of the 18th to 20th centuries (e.g., Hans Christian Andersen, Theodor Storm, Thomas Mann) and on the song poetry of Bob Dylan.

Throughout his career, he has been a visiting professor and fellow, at many universities, including the University of California, Irvine, the University of Colorado Boulder, Washington University in St. Louis, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Detering is a member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. He was president of the German Academy for Language and Poetry (2011–2017) and the (2003–2015).