He too Was a Refugee

…from the east, 12 years old, and lost his mother by suicide in 1946, his father had been lost in the war. Peter Härtling became one of Germany’s most important authors, and today this biographical essay arrived from Marbach literary institution, no. 133 of the Spuren [traces] series. 

The collage shows the cover of the brochure, with a photo of the old town of Nürtingen, where the refugees arrived in April 1946, a reproduction of his first poetic publication in 1953, and its handwritten motto:

„Vielleicht ein Narr wie ich? —
Narren sind immer gleich 
Und wunderlich
Und immer reich.“

[Perhaps a fool like me? — / Fools are all alike / And quaint / And always rich. - Rhymed in the original German]

Peter Härtling published novels about artists like Hölderlin, Schubert, Mörike. He protested against the Runway West near Frankfurt in the 70s. He supported the social democrat Willy Brandt, a refugee himself.

Peter Härtling knew how it felt to be underprivileged and barred out. He described the feelings of pain, loneliness, love, and hope. And the sublime power of the arts in difficult times.