Gruppe 47

Gruppe 47, a loose association of authors founded in September 1947 by H. W. Richter and A. Andersch, after the journal Der Ruf, in which both collaborated, had been forbidden by the censorship of the American Military Government. Richter and Andersch at first considered a satirical periodical with the title Der Skorpion. The conference at which this plan was discussed and rejected became the first of the annual meetings of Gruppe 47, held in autumn, and intended to be a forum for reading and criticism. The word member can only be used in a loose sense. Among those associated with Gruppe 47 from the beginning, in addition to Richter and Andersch, were W. Kolbenhoff, W. Schnurre, and W. Weyrauch. Others who attended regularly or occasionally include Ilse Aichinger, Ingeborg Bachmann, H. Böll, G. Eich, H. M. Enzensberger, G. Grass, W. Höllerer, W. Jens, U. Johnson, S. Lenz, M. Walser, and P. Schallück. Apart from readings and discussions the only function of the Group was to award the prize of Gruppe 47. The Group had no political or social programme, but encouraged criticism of political or social conditions, and was generally opposed to the values and standards of the Federal Republic and to the type of socialism practised in the DDR (see Deutsche Demokratische Republik). The last full conference of the Group was held in 1967, a year after its much publicized meeting in Princeton, at which the young P. Handke launched his angry protest against the Group's literary values. His summary condemnation, calculated to draw attention to himself, gave rise to critical reviews questioning the Group's representative standing. It was officially dissolved in 1978.