Ingeborg Drewitz

Ingeborg Drewitz was a German writer and academic.

Life and career

Drewitz was born in Berlin. She graduated in 1941 from the Königin-Luise-Schule in Berlin-Friedenau, and took a doctorate in German literature, history, and philosophy, on 20 April 1945, at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University. Her thesis was on German poet Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer.
From 1973 to 1980 she taught at the Institute of Journalism at the Free University of Berlin. A year before her death she was a juror at the Ingeborg Bachmann Competition in Klagenfurt.
She married her childhood sweetheart, Bernhard Drewitz, by whom she had three daughters. She died in Berlin, aged 63, of complications of cancer.

Writings

As a writer, she was interested in the Enlightenment and addressed Germany's post-war history and the past and present social history of women. According to Knaurs Lexikon der Weltliteratur, third edition of 1995, she "made in her literary work, the abandonment of modern man and his inability to address his neighbour, as well as the problem of the individuality of life. Problems in women and employment are at the heart of her work."
Her drama Alle Tore waren bewacht, which premiered in 1955, was the first German play to address conditions in concentration camps.
Her most successful novel was Gestern war heute: Hundert Jahre Gegenwart, that dealt with three generations of women in the 20th century. The novel is mandatory to read in 12th grade in Baden-Württemberg.

Novels

Der Anstoß. Bremen: Schünemann 1958Das Karussell. Göttingen: Sachse & Pohl 1969Oktoberlicht oder Ein Tag im Herbst. München: Nymphenburger 1969Wer verteidigt Katrin Lambert? Stuttgart: Werner Gebühr 1974Das Hochhaus. Stuttgart: Werner Gebühr 1975Gestern war heute: Hundert Jahre Gegenwart 1978Eis auf der Elbe. Tagebuchroman. Düsseldorf: Claassen 1982Eingeschlossen. Düsseldorf: Claassen 1986. NA: München: Goldmann TB 1988

Non-fiction

Die dichterische Darstellung ethischer Probleme im Werke Erwin Guido Kolbenheyers. Berlin: Univ. Diss. 1945Berliner Salons: Gesellschaft und Literatur zwischen Aufklärung und Industriezeitalter. Berlin: Haude & Spener, Schriftenreihe: Berlinische Reminiszenzen Bd. 7, 1965Leben und Werk von Adam Kuckhoff. Berlin: Friedenauer Presse, 1968Bettine von Arnim. Romantik – Revolution – Utopie. Biographie. Düsseldorf/Köln: Diederichs 1969 – Hildesheim: Claassen, 1992Zeitverdichtung: Essays, Kritiken, Portraits; gesammelt aus 2 Jahrzehnten. Wien/München/Zürich: Europaverlag, 1980Kurz vor 1984. Stuttgart: Radius-Verlag, 1981 Schrittweise Erkundung der Welt. Reise-Eindrücke. Wien u.a. : Europaverlag, 1982Unter meiner Zeitlupe. Porträts und Panoramen. Wien u.a. : Europaverlag, 1984Junge Menschen messen ihre Erwartungen aus, und die Messlatten stimmen nicht mehr – die Herausforderung: Tod. Stuttgart: Radius-Verlag, 1986

Honours

1963 Ernst Reuter Prize
1970 Georg Mackensen Literary Prize
1973 Federal Cross of Merit
1980 Ida-Dehmel-Literature Prize, Carl von Ossietzky Medal
1981 Gerrit Engelke Price
1983 Evangelischer Book Prize
1985 Hermann-Sinsheimer Prize

Street names

In the government quarter in Berlin-Mitte: Ingeborg-Drewitz-Allee
In Berlin-Steglitz: Ingeborg-Drewitz-Library
In Gladbeck: Ingeborg-Drewitz-Gesamtschule
In Freiburg: Ingeborg-Drewitz-Allee

Prize foundations

Ingeborg-Drewitz Literary Prize for prisoners
Ingeborg-Drewitz Prize for special commitment to human dignity