Peter Huchel

In 1930, he changed his first name to Peter and befriended Ernst Bloch, Alfred Kantorowicz and Fritz Sternberg.

His early poems, published from 1931 to 1936, are strongly marked by the atmosphere and landscape of Brandenburg.

After the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, Huchel came under attack from the East German authorities and the following year he was forced to resign from his position at Sinn und Form.

In 1971, he was finally permitted to leave the German Democratic Republic and move, first to Rome, then to Staufen im Breisgau, where he later died.

The poem and song "Ermutigung", written by his friend Wolf Biermann in 1968, was dedicated to Huchel.