Peter Härtling: Germany Author

Whenever I write for children, I like to tell them stories, which take them seriously and which show them some possibilities to react in real life.

Peter Härtling

Peter Härtling was born on November 13, 1933 in Chemnitz, Germany. His family fled in 1941 to Olmütz/Mähren and in 1945 to Zwettl in Austria, because his father tried to avoid being arrested by the National Socialists. Later in that year, his father died as a prisoner in a Russian war camp in Döllersheim (Austria). In 1946, his mother committed suicide. Härtling was 13 years old when he became an orphaned refugee.

As a teen, Härtling attended a secondary school in Nürtingen until 1952 and afterwards became a student at Bernstein-School of Helmut Andreas Paul Grieshaber, a school for art in Bernstein/Sulz. His first book entitled Poems & Songs was published in 1953. Peter Härtling worked as a journalist for several newspapers and was a literary editor for the newspaper; however, at the age of 40 he turned to full-time authorship and began to write for young readers.

Härtling's first children's book Und das ist die ganze Familie (And That's the Whole Family), published in 1970, represented a new departure in children's literature in terms of style and theme with a focus on stark reality. This perspective has influenced his writing ever since. In his books, he feels a strong sense of responsibility in describing the problems that afflict children in today's society.

His numerous books for children and young adults are considered to have revolutionized children's literature. One example is Das war der Hirbel (That Was Hirbel), published in 1977, which explained the everyday life of "Hirbel," a mentally handicapped boy. When asked why his books do not provide children escape from reality, Härtling replied, "That's something they get from many other children's books. Whenever I write for children, I like to tell them stories that take them seriously and show them some possibilities for handling real life." With his unmistakable characters, Härtling enables his readers to identify even with outsiders.

Härtling's books have received numerous awards and have been translated into many languages. In 1976, he was awarded the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Award) for his book Oma and in 2003 he received the Deutscher Bücherpreis for his life's work.