Writers from Hamburg

Hans_Leip

Hans Leip (22 September 1893 – 6 June 1983), was a German novelist, poet and playwright, best remembered as the lyricist of Lili Marleen.
Leip was the son of a former sailor and harbour-worker at the port of Hamburg. He was educated there, and in 1914 became a teacher in the Hamburg suburb of Rothenburgsort. In 1915 he was called up by the German army and after training in Berlin served on the Eastern front and in the Carpathians. After being wounded in 1917 he was discharged on medical grounds.
He first had ambitions as an artist, but then turned to writing, although he illustrated his books himself. In the 1920s, he travelled extensively, to Paris, London, Algiers and New York City, among other places. His breakthrough as a novelist was with the success of Godekes Knecht, which was awarded the prize of the Kölnische Zeitung newspaper. His novels sold well in the years leading up to the outbreak of World War II, while he also wrote plays, short stories, poems, dramas and was also a painter and sculptor.

Willi_Bredel

Willi Bredel (2 May 1901 – 27 October 1964) was a German writer and president of the DDR Academy of Arts, Berlin. Born in Hamburg, he was a pioneer of socialist realist literature.

Wolfgang_Borchert

Wolfgang Borchert (German: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ ˈbɔʁçɐt]; 20 May 1921 – 20 November 1947) was a German author and playwright whose work was strongly influenced by his experience of dictatorship and his service in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. His work is among the best-known examples of the Trümmerliteratur movement in post-World War II Germany. His most famous work is the drama Draußen vor der Tür (The Man Outside), which he wrote soon after the end of World War II. His works are uncompromising on the issues of humanity and humanism. He is one of the most popular authors of the German postwar period; his work continues to be studied in German schools.

Alfred_Witte

Alfred Witte (2 March 1878 in Hamburg, Germany – 4 August 1941 in Hamburg, Germany), was a German surveyor, astrologer, an amateur astronomer, and the founder of the Hamburg School of Astrology. Witte revived and further developed the use of astrological midpoints (a+b)/2 for precision in astrological analysis and prediction. Alfred Witte died 4 August 1941, Hamburg. The time of death is unclear.