257:("The Funeral"). After this, the other participants expressed open, partly sharp, spontaneous criticism, which was to become the later ritual of group criticism. This form of literary criticism, in which the speaker author always sat on the empty seat next to Richter, jokingly dubbed the "electric chair", remained the form of discussion for Group 47's entire existence. The important maxim was that the lecturer was not allowed to defend himself and that the review of a specific text was the focus of the meeting. Political discussions of literary or political nature, on which the group could have split, were consistently deferred to Richter. Despite the group's preference for realistic
22:
194:), which first appeared on the 15th of August, 1946. The magazine was printed from literary texts, but the publishers (Andersch and Richter) understood it was primarily a political body, in which they argued for a free Germany as a bridge between East and West. They were also critical of the American occupation forces, which led to the prohibition of the April 1947
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which was later a heavily-criticized referral process. According to Heinz Ludwig Arnold, who wrote several times on Gruppe 47, Richter's strength was his organizational talent, as
Richter had gained no importance as a writer or a critic, and had not done well in the two readings he had before the group. Gruppe 47's success became Richter's life task.
326:) was first launched, which in contrast to the established literary prizes, was intended for as yet unknown authors. Franz Joseph Schneider, who had belonged to the group since the previous year, donated a prize of 1000 Deutsche Marks ($ 532). After completing the readings, the members of the group present democratically voted on the winner.
333:
was the first to be awarded the prize. He had joined the group during the third meeting in
Jugenheim, and was regarded as the most profound author in the group during his early years. In the following years, Richter organized awards of varying amounts for publishers and broadcasters, but only granted
214:). On the 6th and 7 September in 1947, Richter held an editorial meeting with authors from the area of the planned newspaper in Ilse Schneider-Lengyel's house, on Bannwaldsee, near Füssen. Their manuscripts were read and discussed together, as well as the private purpose of the future magazine. While
125:
between 1947 and 1967. The meetings served the dual goals of literary criticism as well as the promotion of young, unknown authors. In a democratic vote titled "Preis der Gruppe 47" (Prize of Group 47), it elevated many who were beginning their writing careers. Group 47 had no organizational form, no
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quickly gained popularity, partly through the public profile of its well-known members, and was soon part of the literary establishment in
Germany. The onset of its decline began just before the student protests in 1968. There were grave differences of political opinion in the group. Public meetings
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On the topic of who he invited to the meetings of the group, Richter personally decided: "It is my circle of friends. now I hold a meeting once a year, this is called Gruppe 47 . And I invite all the people, who suit me, are friends with me." He left nothing to outside influence from the outset,
218:
was never actually published, the first meeting of Gruppe 47 was developed from this meeting near
Bannwaldsee. With regard to the group's history, Richter later explained: "The origin of Group 47 was of a political-publicistic nature. It was not created by literati, but by politically committed
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listing the date and location to anyone who was deemed worthy of invitation, and only invitees and their spouses were allowed entry. No consistent membership list was kept, and a member who had been invited in the past could find himself without an invite at the whim of the organizers.
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was begun in a Rhode Island POW camp, Fort Philip Kearny, as part of
American re-education for German POWs. It was edited by Curt Vinz, working with Alfred Andersch and Hans Werner Richter. Upon their return to Germany they planned to publish a successor magazine under the title
153:
participated in the meetings. The cultural and political influence of Group 47 has been the subject of numerous debates. Even after the end of their meetings in 1967, former participants of the group remained influential in the literary development of
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by the
Information Control Division of the American Occupation Zone. After the dismissal of the editor, the magazine reappeared with a new political orientation, headed by Erich Kuby. However, it had lost its importance and was finally discontinued.
299:
Two months after the first meeting, the second meeting of Gruppe 47 was held, in
Herrlingen near Ulm, in which the number of participants had doubled. Among the first-time participants was Richter's colleague Alfred Andersch, whose essay
264:
The name Gruppe 47 emerged only after the first meeting, as Hans Werner
Richter was planning to repeat the event regularly. The author and critic Hans Georg Brenner suggested the name, associating the group with the Spanish
273:) before. Richter, who rejected any organizational form of the meetings, whether "club, association, or academy", agreed with the proposal, saying "‘Group 47’ – that is without obligation and actually says nothing."
399:(post-war literature). In addition, the group openly criticized the idealized, poetic dewey-eyedness of some modern prose, as well as the tendency to write about distant time instead of the here-and-now.
315:, faced with the necessity to accomplish a renewal of German intellectual life, through original creations." Andersch's future plan remained the only essay that was read in the group for a long time.
261:(the post-war "rubble literature"), there was no official literary program, no common poetics and only a few principles about not allowing fascist or militarist texts.
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Audiomitschnitt einer
Diskussionsrunde zum Thema "50 Jahre Gruppe 47 – Die Tagungen als Lesewerkstatt" mit Günter Grass, Peter Bichsel und Walter Höllerer, März 1997
283:"To repeatedly demonstrate the practice of democracy to a circle of individualists with the hope of long-distance and, perhaps much later, latitude and mass action;"
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The
Literature Prize of Gruppe 47 was awarded to as yet unknown authors starting in 1950. The money for the first two awards was donated by the American publisher,
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Starting from the thesis that "genuine artistry" was always "the same as the opposition to Nazism," Andersch stated that "the younger generation stood before a
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It was only in 1962, on the 15th anniversary of the group’s birth, that Richter retrospectively formulated the "idealistic starting points" of Gruppe 47:
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In the following years, the meetings took place at different places, during spring and fall. At the seventh session in 1950 in Inzigkofen, the
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286:"To achieve both objectives without a program, without a club, without organization and without any collective thinking to work against."
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them irregularly. Richter allowed the participants to conclude whether or not a prize was to be awarded at each meeting.
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The meetings consisted of readings and criticism. A writer was required to read his own work, and could only read
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which had not been published. At every meeting, prizes were awarded to the authors of the most popular pieces.
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Readings from The Electric Chair: The 60th Anniversary of a Post-War Literary Guild Unites German Greats
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fixed membership list, and no literary program, but was strongly influenced by Richter's invitations.
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The group met regularly twice a year. Attendance was by invitation only; the organizers would send
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ceased publication, Hans Werner Richter began to plan a successor magazine, which he wanted to dub
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350:. This was not successful because they lacked a sound financial basis. Inspired by the Spanish
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Founder and organizer Hans Werner Richter described this format as a "private public".
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were discontinued in October 1967, and in 1977 the group was officially disbanded.
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In its early days, Gruppe 47 offered young writers a platform for the renewal of
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121:(Group 47) was a group of participants in German writers' meetings, invited by
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280:"Democratic elite education in the field of literature and journalism;"
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At the meeting at Bannwaldsee, 16 participants took part. To begin,
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Friedhelm Kröll divided the history of Group 47 into four periods:
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met in September 1947 in order to start a new magazine,
308:) received a programmatic significance for the group.
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The Call – Independent paper of the Younger Generation
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Der Ruf – unabhängige Blätter der jungen Generation
46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
752:. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 2012, p. 48.
863:
179:, Zeitung der deutschen Kriegsgefangenen in USA
395:was to encourage young authors, the so-called
838:". Princeton University Department of German.
750:Als die deutsche Literatur Geschichte schrieb
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183:The Call: Newspaper of German War Prisoners)
795:Gruppe 47: The Group That Made Günter Grass
222:
827:Wegmann, Nikolaus, and Cornelius Reiber. "
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
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149:, as important contemporary writers and
872:Cultural organisations based in Germany
465:Zu große Gastlichkeit verjagt die Gäste
439:for the short story "Spiegelgeschichte"
882:1977 disestablishments in West Germany
877:Arts organizations established in 1947
864:
302:Deutsche Literatur in der Entscheidung
748:Böttiger, Helmut. "Die Gruppe 47" in
724:Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung
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219:publicists with literary ambitions."
897:Organizations disestablished in 1977
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781:. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1979, p. 26ff.
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391:At first, the expressed goal of the
44:adding citations to reliable sources
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141:. It later became an influential
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31:needs additional citations for
892:1947 establishments in Germany
887:20th-century German literature
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139:censorship in Nazi Germany
700:Literatur? Alles Läppisch
588:Hans Magnus Enzensberger
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223:Historical periodization
718:Arnold, Heinz Ludwig. "
174:In the spring of 1945,
766:Almanach der Gruppe 47
704:Frankfurter Allgemeine
342:The former authors of
234:Ascent period 1950–57,
608:Wolfgang Hildesheimer
253:read his short story
251:Wolfdietrich Schnurre
653:Marcel Reich-Ranicki
431:Die schwarzen Schafe
237:High period 1958–63,
40:improve this article
739:". Universität Ulm.
735:Wecker, Angelika. "
658:Hans Werner Richter
448:Die gestundete Zeit
397:Nachkriegsliteratur
320:Preis der Gruppe 47
123:Hans Werner Richter
834:2017-09-15 at the
818:, 1 December 2007.
793:Blakemore, Erin. "
777:Kröll, Friedhelm.
768:. 1947–1962. p. 8.
563:Johannes Bobrowski
536:Well-known members
493:Johannes Bobrowski
421:Abgelegene Gehöfte
816:The Vienna Review
810:Moralic, Izvor. "
558:Ingeborg Bachmann
444:Ingeborg Bachmann
356:they founded the
324:Prize of Group 47
271:Generation of '98
267:Generación del 98
131:German literature
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507:Die Jahreszeiten
497:Sarmatische Zeit
486:Die Blechtrommel
473:, for the story
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38:Please help
33:verification
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799:JSTOR Daily
674:Peter Weiss
623:Uwe Johnson
618:Walter Jens
593:Erich Fried
578:Günter Eich
457: [
417:Günter Eich
378:manuscripts
331:Günter Eich
313:tabula rasa
143:institution
866:Categories
686:References
573:Paul Celan
96:March 2010
66:newspapers
55:"Group 47"
829:Gruppe 47
779:Gruppe 47
529:Gruppe 47
393:Gruppe 47
370:postcards
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832:Archived
353:Group 98
338:Founding
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