Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture Ed. John Sandford. London

Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture

Ed. John Sandford. London: Routledge, 1999.

Kunze, Reiner b. 16 August 1933, Oelsnitz (Erzgebirge)

Writer

Kunze’s place in official GDR literary history is almost non-existent. After studying philosophy and journalism in Leipzig from 1951 to 1955, Kunze began working as a teaching assistant in journalism at the Karl-Marx University in Leipzig. Although his first poems were published in 1959, he did not attain the status of free writer until 1962. Repeated trips to Czechoslovakia influenced his writings. As a show of solidarity with Czechoslovakian reformers during the Prague Spring, Kunze resigned from the SED in 1968, provoking the GDR to prohibit his publications. In 1969 the West German Rowohlt publishing house printed Sensible Wege (Sensitive Ways). This publication in the West prompted open attacks against Kunze at the 6th Writers’ Congress.

A momentary thaw in the GDR’s restrictive policy occurred in 1973 when Reclam published 30,000 copies of Brief mit blauem Siegel (Letter with Blue Seal), which contained numerous texts that had only previously appeared in the West. Shortly thereafter (spring 1974), Kunze gave an officially sanctioned public reading of his poetry during the Leipzig Book Fair. Prior to 1974, Kunze’s only contacts with the reading public were clandestine gatherings in churches, which did not have to obtain permission for religious gatherings. In order to maintain an air of legality, a pastor would say a brief prayer before the reading and offer a blessing at its conclusion.

Kunze is most famous for Die wunderbaren Jahre (The Wonderful Years), which S. Fischer published in 1976. This collection of short prose pieces describes momentary aspects of life for ‘typical’ GDR youth. Combining miniatures, anecdotes, quotations and discussions, Kunze created an ironic portrayal of the contradictions inherent in the GDR’s totalitarian system. As a result of the publication of this text (for which Kunze had indeed received the requisite permission from the GDR’s licensing bureau), he was expelled from the Writer’s Union. This was overturned in 1989. Until 1977 he resided in Greiz in the province of Thuringia; after receiving permission to move to West Germany with his family, they set up residence in Obernzell-Erla in the vicinity of Passau.

The western media praised the publication of Die wunderbaren Jahre in 1976, but they denounced Kunze and the film a few years later. Although he was awarded the Bavarian film prize in 1979 for his adaptation, the media questioned Kunze’s motivation, denouncing him for his membership of the SED. As a citizen of the West, Kunze, in the eyes of the media, had forfeited his right to criticize the GDR.

Since his move to the West, Kunze has continued to write. He has been instrumental in breaking the silence surrounding the involvement of the Stasi in the repression of writers. His own file comprises twelve volumes totaling 3,491 pages and encompasses the time period from 16 September 1968 until 19 December 1977, the day of his departure for the West. In 1990, Kunze published excerpts from his file in the documentary book Deckname ‘Lyrik’ (Codename ‘Poetry’), a compilation that made Stasi documentation accessible to the general public.

See also: cultural policy: GDR; dissent and opposition: GDR

Major Works

Kunze, R. (1959) Vögel über dem Tau. Gedichte, Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag.

(1962) Aber die Nachtigall jubelt. Heitere Texte, Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag.

(1969) Sensible Wege, Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt.

(1970) Der Löwe Leopold. Fast Märchen, fast Geschichten. Kinderbuch, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

(1973) Brief mit blauem Siegel, Leipzig: Reclam.

(1973) Zimmerlautstärke, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

(1976) Die wunderbaren Jahre, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer (this was made into a film in 1979).

(1986) eines jeden einziges leben. gedichte, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

(1989) Das weiβe Gedicht. Essays, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer (1990) Deckname ‘Lyrik.’ Eine Dokumentation, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

(1993) Am Sonnenhang, Tagebuch eines Jahres, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.