[2] His grandfather had emigrated from Biłgoraj (Congress Poland, Russian Empire) before the First World War.
After his schooling in his home town, Hilbig began to work at a boring mill.
Later, after military service, he worked as a tool maker and in assembly construction at the Meuselwitz lignite mine.
At the end of the 1970s, Hilbig gave up his day job and began to work exclusively as a writer.
During this time he published not only further poetry and prose, but also his first novel, Eine Übertragung (1989), which was received well by literary critics.