Hermann Kant

Kant, Hermann (Hamburg, 1926- ), a prominent DDR author and from 1978 President of the Schriftstellerverband, trained as an electrician and was conscripted in the army towards the end of the war, after which he spent four years as a POW in Warsaw, where he was active as a committee member and teacher of the ‘re-education school’ (Antifa-Schule). After preparing for matriculation at the Workers' and Peasants' Faculty (ABF, Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Fakultät) at Greifswald University he studied at the Humboldt-University in East Berlin (1952-6) and worked for a brief spell as an editor and journalist before becoming a freelance writer. After publishing a volume of stories, Ein bißchen Südsee (1962), he established himself as a major writer with his first novel Die Aula (1965). A largely autobiographical work in episodic form, it uses as a frame an invitation received by the central figure, Robert Iswall, from Meibaum, head of the ABF, to make a speech in the assembly hall (Aula) on the occasion of its closure. Iswall re-examines his own development since his apprenticeship as an electrician, including his studies at the ABF, instituted in 1949 in order to promote workers' education and eventual integration into leading positions. His reminiscences and discussions with former associates, Filter, Trullesand, and Riek, who now runs the pub ‘Zum toten Rennen’ in Hamburg, are characterized by an ironic, colloquial style and deal satirically with a great variety of topics. The central moral problem of the novel concerns Iswall's manipulation of his comrade Trullesand, a rival in love, into marriage and temporary exile. Iswall, when studying reports in the archives of the ABF, comes across an assessment of his own examination essay stating that his work met the requirements of socialist realism. This reminder of the early phase of socialist realism (see Sozialistischer Realismus), from which Iswall has emancipated himself, explains his ironic reaction to the assessment.

In Das Impressum (1972) David Groth, nominated for a ministerial post, reflects on his working life from his first job as messenger in a newspaper publishing house in the 1950s. The various episodes survey the development of the DDR and include references to international crises since the 1960s. The ambivalence of Kant's critical stance is epitomized by Groth's disinclination for promotion into a post that removes him from his job as editor of the Neue Berliner Rundschau, though he finally accepts out of a sense of duty. Eine Übertretung (1975), a volume of stories, was followed by the autobiographical novel Der Aufenthalt (1977), which deals mainly with Kant's experience as a prisoner of war. In the 1980s Kant was increasingly criticized for not applying his irony and satire to more serious problems of contemporary society than those presented in the stories contained in Die drei Nägel (1981) and Bronzezeit (1986). Die Summe (1987) was the last new work to appear before the unification of the two Germanies (see Deutsche Demokratische Republik). Abspann. Erinnerung an meine Gegenwart (1991), an autobiography beginning with Kant's childhood, develops into a work of bitter self-justification concerning his activities as a functionary and president of the Schriftstellerverband and as such has been severely criticized. The volume Escape. Ein WORD-Spiel appeared in 1995.

The volume Zu den Unterlagen. Publizistik 1957-1980 (1981) includes speeches addressed to the Schriftstellerverband. Kant was awarded a number of major DDR prizes.

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Hermann Kant (1981)

Hermann Kant (born June 14, 1926) is a German writer born in Hamburg noted for his writings during the time of East Germany. He won the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1967.

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