Alfred Hellmuth Andersch (4 February 1914 — 21 February 1980) was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Martin Andersch, his brother, was also a writer.
In 1930, after an apprenticeship as a bookseller, Andersch became a youth leader in the Communist Party. As a consequence, he was held for 6 months in the Dachau concentration camp in 1933. He then left the Party and entered a depressive phase of "total introversion". It was during this period that he first became engaged in the Arts, adopting the philosophy of "internal emigration" — despite remaining in Germany, he was spiritually opposed to Hitler's regime.
In 1940, Andersch was enlisted into the Wehrmacht, but deserted at the Arno Line in Italy on 6 June 1944. He was taken to the USA as a prisoner of war and interned at Camp Ruston, Louisiana and other POW camps. He became the editor of a prisoners' newspaper, Der Ruf (The Call).
A critical review of Andersch's "internal emigré" status, his marriage to a German Jew and subsequent divorce in 1943, as well as of his writing, may be read in W.G. Sebald's essay on Andersch, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, in his collection of essays entitled On the Natural History of Destruction (Modern Library paperback, New York, 2004).
1945 to 1980
Having returned to Germany, he worked from 1945 as an editing assistant for Erich Kästner's Neue Zeitung in Munich. From 1946 to 1947, he worked alongside Hans Werner Richter to publish the monthly literary journal Der Ruf, which was sold in the American Zone of Germany until it was banned by the American stratocracy due to its extensive Nihilism. In the following years, Andersch worked together with the literary circle Group 47, members of which included the authors Ingeborg Bachmann, Wolfgang Hildesheimer, Arno Schmidt, Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Helmut Heissenbüttel, among others. 1948 saw the publication of Andersch's essay Deutsche Literatur in der Entscheidung (German Literature at the Turning Point), in which he concluded, in the spirit of the American post-war "re-education" programme, that literature would play a decisive role in the moral and intellectual changes in Germany.
From 1948, Andersch was a leading figure at radio stations in Frankfurt and Hamburg. In 1950, he married Gisela Andersch (née Dichgans). His autobiographical work Die Kirschen der Freiheit (The Cherries of Freedom) was published in 1952, in which Andersch dealt with the experience of his wartime desertion and interpreted it as the "turning point" (Entscheidung) at which he could first feel free. On a similar theme, he published in 1957 perhaps the most significant work of his career, Sansibar oder der letzte Grund (published in English as Flight to Afar). This was turned into a film named 'Sansibar' in the 1980s.
From 1958, Andersch lived in Berzona in Switzerland, of which he became mayor in 1972. After Sansibar followed the novels Die Rote in 1960 (new edition in 1972), Efraim in 1967, and, in 1974, Winterspelt, which is, thematically, very similar to Sansibar, but is more complex in its composition. In 1977, he published the poetry anthology empört euch der himmel ist blau [sic]. Alfred Andersch died on 21 February 1980 in Berzona, Ticino. The incomplete story Der Vater eines Mörders (The Father of a Murderer) was published posthumously in the same year.
Alfred Andersch served as an analyst of contemporary issues for the post-war generation. In his works (novels, stories, radio plays), he described, above all, outsiders, and dealt with his political and moral experiences. He often raised questions about the free will of the individual as a central theme. In numerous essays, he stated his opinion on literary and cultural issues; he frequently pointed out the importance of Ernst Jünger.
On 21 February 2005, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Andersch's death, the Diogenes Press released an annotated edition of his complete works. The ten volumes also include previously unpublished texts that come from his estate.
Gesammelte Werke in 10 Bänden in Kassette, 5952 S., Zürich / Schweiz, Diogenes-Verlag, Leinen, ISBN 3-257-06360-1.
Individual Works
Deutsche Literatur in der Entscheidung; treatise, 1948
Die Kirschen der Freiheit; autobiography, 1952. The cherries of freedom: a report, translated Michael Hulse (2004)
Sansibar oder der letzte Grund novel, 1957. Flight to afar, translated by Michael Bullock (1961)
Geister und Leute; zehn Geschichten (1958). The night of the giraffe and other stories, translated by Christa Armstrong (1964)
Die Rote; novel, 1960; New Edition 1972. The redhead translated by Michael Bullock (1961)
Efraim; novel, 1967
Mein Verschwinden in Providence; stories, 1971. My disappearance in Providence, and other stories, translated by Ralph Manheim
Winterspelt; novel, 1974. Winterspelt, translated by Richard and Clara Winston (1978)
Das Alfred Andersch Lesebuch; selected works, 1979
Der Vater eines Mörders; 1980. The father of a murderer, translated by Leila Vennewitz (1994)
Arno Schmidt, Der Briefwechsel mit Alfred Andersch; letters, 1985
Fahrerflucht; radio play
Bibliography of Primary Works
Bibliografie des Deutschen Literaturarchivs Marbach am Neckar (German link)
Bibliography of Secondary Works
Bibliografie der Sekundärliteratur zum Werk von Alfred Andersch von Daniela Unterwieser (German link)
38 Nachweise von Sekundärliteratur zu Alfred Andersch aus der MLA-Bibliography 1981-1998 (German link)
