<!-- Deleted image removed: JPEG Image|right|210 x 150|| --> '''Adolf Endler''' (10 September 1930 &ndash; 2 August 2009) was a German writer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Adolf Endler |url=https://www.deutscheakademie.de/de/akademie/mitglieder/adolf-endler |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung |language=de}}</ref> Endler challenged the socialist realist art movement of the German Democratic Republic and was active in the literary scene of Prenzlauer Berg, in East Berlin.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Berendse |first=Gerrit-Jan |date=2009-01-06 |title=Fractured Memories: Life Writing in Adolf Endler's Surrealist Anti-Autobiography ''Nebbich'' |url=https://utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/seminar.45.1.31 |journal=Seminar |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=31–43 |doi=10.3138/seminar.45.1.31 |issn=0037-1939|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 2005, he became a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (German Academy for Language and Literature).<ref name=":0" />

==Early life== Endler was born in Düsseldorf in 1930.<ref name=":0" />

He moved to East Germany in 1955 and studied at the Johannes R. Becher-Institut für Literatur in Leipzig from 1955 to 1957.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adolf Endler |url=https://www.lyrikline.org/de/autoren/adolf-endler |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Lyrikline.org}}</ref>

== Career == He was an acclaimed poet popular in both the East and the West.{{Clarify|date=April 2026}} At the same time, he was shunned by party functionaries{{Who|date=March 2026}} because of his opposition to socialist realism. He defied the cultural directives of the state and communicated secretly with his peers.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}

Endler coined the term {{Interlanguage link|Saxon School of Poetry|lt=Sächsische Dichterschule|de|Sächsische Dichterschule}} (Saxon School of Poetry) to describe German writers born in the 1930s who were influential in poetry, such as Karl Mickel, Heinz Czechowski, Sarah Kirsch, and Volker Braun.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Die wandlose Werkstatt – Versuch, mit der 'Sächsischen Dichterschule' literaturhistorisch umzugehen |url=https://petergeist.hier-im-netz.de/die_wandlose_werkstatt.htm |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Peter Geist}}</ref> British poet Michael Hamburger commended the group for their creativity in the hostile environment of East Germany at the time.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}} Hamburger secretly recorded the correspondence between individual poets.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}} Some of the correspondence was also documented by Erich Fried, a colleague of Endler's, in his review of "In diesem besseren Land" (In this better land).{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}

Endler continued to be a controversial figure in East Germany into the 1970s. He was expelled from the Authors’ Association of the GDR in 1979, after declaring his solidarity with his previously reprimanded colleague Stefan Heym.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bazarkaya |first=Onur Kemal |date=2018 |title=The Grain of Sand, Wagenbach and Co.: On the Prehistory of Adolf Endler’s Expulsion from the Author’s Association of the GDR |url=https://www.kafkas.edu.tr/dosyalar/sobedergi/file/21/02.pdf |journal=Kafkas Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi |language=en |doi=10.9775/kausbed.2018.002 |issn=1307-5500}}</ref> Throughout the 1980s, he contributed to various Berlin and Leipzig underground magazines.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Widmann |first=Arno |date=2020-02-10 |title=Diese prachtvolle Zankapfelernte heuer |url=https://www.perlentaucher.de/vom-nachttisch-geraeumt/ueber-adolf-endlers-die-gedichte.html |website=Perlentaucher}}</ref>

In the 1990s, Adolf Endler became known to a wider public through a volume of memoirs entitled ''Tarzan am Prenzlauer Berg'' (Tarzan at Prenzlauer Berg).<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-08-03 |title='Tarzan vom Prenzlauer Berg': DDR-Autor Adolf Endler gestorben |url=https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/tarzan-vom-prenzlauer-berg-ddr-autor-adolf-endler-gestorben-a-640100.html |access-date=2026-04-02 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref> From 1991 to 1998, with Brigitte Schreier, he organized the Orplid & Co. series of readings in Café Clara in Berlin-Mitte.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-31 |title=Orplid & Co. – Lesungen im Café Clara 1991–1998 |url=https://www.planetlyrik.de/orplid-co-lesungen-im-cafe-clara-1991-1998/2024/08/ |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=planetlyrik.de |language=de}}</ref>

== Death == Endler died in August 2009, at the age of 78.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Literatur: Adolf Endler ist tot - ein Nachruf |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/literatur/adolf-endler-ist-tot-ein-nachruf-1777801.html |access-date=2026-02-21 |work=Der Tagesspiegel Online |language=de-DE |issn=1865-2263|last=Dotzauer|first=Gregor|date=2009-08-04}}</ref>

==Works== {{div col}} *''Erwacht ohne Furcht, Gedichte 1960'' *''Weg in die Wische, Reportagen und Gedichte 1960'' *''Das Sandkorn, Gedichte, Mitteldeutscher Verlag 1974/1976'' *''Die Kinder der Nibelungen, Gedichte 1964'' *''In diesem besseren Land, Lyrik-Anthologie gemeinsam mit Karl Mickel 1966'' *''Nackt mit Brille, Gedichte 1975'' *''Zwei Versuche, über Georgien zu erzählen, Reisebericht 1976'' *''Verwirrte klare Botschaften, Gedichte 1979'' *''Nadelkissen, Prosa 1980'' *''Akte Endler, Gedichte aus 30 Jahren 1981/1988'' *''Tarzan am Prenzlauer Berg, Tagebuch 1984'' *''Ohne Nennung von Gründen, Prosa 1985'' *''Schichtenflotz, Prosa 1987'' *''Nächtlicher Besucher, in seine Schranken gewiesen. Eine Fortsetzungszüchtigung, Berliner Handpresse, Berlin 1989. Wallstein, Göttingen 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-8353-0331-7}}'' *''Vorbildlich schleimlösend, Prosa 1990'' *''Den Tiger reiten, Essays 1990'' *''Die Antwort des Poeten, Roman 1992'' *''Tarzan am Prenzlauer Berg. Sudelblätter 1981–1993, Reclam Leipzig, Leipzig 1994, {{ISBN|3-379-01565-2}}'' *''Warnung vor Utah, Reisebuch 1996'' *''Der Pudding der Apokalypse. Gedichte 1963–1998, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1999, {{ISBN|3-518-41056-3}}'' *''Trotzes halber, Gedichte 1999'' *''Das Greisenalter, voilà 2001'' *''Schweigen Schreiben Reden Schweigen. Reden 1995–2001, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 2003, {{ISBN|3-518-12299-1}}'' *''Uns überholte der Zugvögelzug. Alte und neue Gedichte, UN ART IG, Aschersleben 2004, {{ISBN|3-9808479-8-5}}'' *''Nebbich. Eine deutsche Karriere, Wallstein, Göttingen 2005, {{ISBN|3-89244-839-6}}'' *''Krähenüberkrächzte Rolltreppe. Neunundsiebzig kurze Gedichte aus einem halben Jahrhundert, Wallstein, Göttingen 2007 {{ISBN|978-3-8353-0165-8}}'' *''Nächtlicher Besucher, in seine Schranken gewiesen. Eine Fortsetzungs-Züchtigung, Wallstein, Göttingen 2008, {{ISBN|3-8353-0331-7}} (editierte Neuauflage)'' {{div col end}}

==Literary awards== *1978: Förderpreis Literatur zum Kunstpreis from the Academy of Arts, Berlin<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Adolf Endler - Autorenlexikon |url=https://www.literaturport.de/en/lexikon/adolf-endler/ |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=www.literaturport.de}}</ref> *1990: Heinrich-Mann-Preis from the Akademie der Künste der DDR – co-winner with Elke Erb<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heinrich Mann Prize |url=https://adk.de/en/about-us/prizes-fellowships-foundation/heinrich-mann-prize?x-craft-preview=e66b1c59767facce47db1b93062df384761483c8ea6dc97f1526f23817dc4a43liktskcrgu |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Akademie der Künste |language=de}}</ref> *1994: Brandenburgischer Literaturpreis<ref>{{Cite news |date=1994-12-13 |title=Literaturpreis für Adolf Endler |url=https://taz.de/Literaturpreis-fuer-Adolf-Endler/!1529497/ |access-date=2026-04-02 |work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |language=de |issn=0931-9085}}</ref> *1995: Kritikerpreis from the SWF-Bestenliste<ref name=":1" /> *1995: Brothers Grimm Prize of the City of Hanau<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brüder-Grimm-Preis |url=https://www.hanau.de/aktuelles/preise-und-ehrungen/brueder-grimm-preis/index.html |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Stadt Hanau |language=de}}</ref> *1996: Rahel Varnhagen von Ense-Medaille Stiftung Preußischer Seehandlung – co-winner with Brigitte Schreier-Endler<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rahel Varnhagen von Ense-Medaille |url=https://www.stiftung-seehandlung.de/preise-juroren/rahel-varnhagen-von-ense-medaille |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung |language=en}}</ref> *1998: Otto Braun-Ehrengabe from the Deutsche Schillerstiftung<ref>{{Cite web |title=Adolf Endler |url=https://www.schillerstiftung.de/preistraeger/preistraeger-einzelansicht/adolf-endler |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=www.schillerstiftung.de |language=de}}</ref> *2000: Peter Huchel Prize<ref name=":1" /> *2000: Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen<ref name=":1" /> *2001: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1st Class<ref name=":1" /> *2003: Hans-Erich Nossack Prize<ref name=":1" /> *2008: Rainer Malkowski Prize – co-winner with Kurt Drawert<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rainer-Malkowski-Preisträger 2008 |url=http://www.rainer-malkowski.de/stiftung08.html |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Rainer Malkowski}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.lyrikline.org/en/authors/adolf-endler Poet page] at Lyrikline.org

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endler, Adolf}} Category:1930 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Writers from Düsseldorf Category:Writers from the Rhine Province Category:East German writers Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:German male poets Category:20th-century German poets Category:German-language poets Category:Members of the German Academy for Language and Literature Category:20th-century German male writers