Heinrich Boell would have been 100 by this Christmas.
Born in Cologne, a quintessential Rheinland writer, a writer of West Germany, he died , far too early, four years before reunification in 1985.
Boell was deeply rooted in his hometown of Cologne, with its strong Roman Catholicism and its rather rough and drastic sense of humour. In the immediate post-war period, he was preoccupied with memories of the War and the effect it had—materially and psychologically—on the lives of ordinary people. He made them the heroes in his writing. His perspective was a critical and challenging one towards Catholicism rather than a merely passive one.He was deeply affected by the Nazis' takeover of Cologne, as they essentially exiled him in his own town. Additionally, the destruction of Cologne as a result of the Allied bombing during World War II scarred him for life; he described the aftermath of the bombing in The Silent Angel. Architecturally, the newly-rebuilt Cologne, prosperous once more, left him indifferent. Throughout his life, he remained in close contact with the citizens of Cologne, rich and poor. When he was in hospital, the nurses often complained about the "low-life" people who came to see their friend Heinrich Boell.His villains are the figures of authority in government, business, the mainstream media, and in the Church, whom he castigates, sometimes humorously, sometimes acidly, for what he perceived as their conformism, lack of courage, self-satisfied attitude and abuse of power. His simple style made his work a favourite for German-language textbooks in Germany and abroad.
Many of his books became movies, The Bread of Those Early Years (Das Brot der fruehen Jahre) from 1962 is based on the novel The Bread of Those Early Years.The Clown ( Ansichten eines Clowns) is a 1976 film based on the 1963 novel of the same name.Group Portrait with a Lady (Gruppenbild mit Dame) is a 1977 German-French drama film. It is based on the novel of the same name.The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, or: How violence develops and where it can lead (German original title: Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie fuehren kann) is a 1975 film adaptation of the novel of the same name.Not Reconciled (German: Nicht versoehnt) is a 1965 West German drama film directed by Jean-Marie Straub. It has the subtitle Only Violence Helps Where Violence Reigns (Es hilft nur Gewalt wo Gewalt herrscht). The film is an adaptation of the 1959 novel Billiards at Half-past Nine.Boell received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972 and most of his works have been translated into English and are still published.
