The estate of Heinz Piontek (1925–2003) – BSB Ana

Heinz Piontek (1925–2003), born in Upper Silesia and resident in Munich, won several awards. He not only shaped German post-war literature with his work which covered almost all literary genres, but also made a name for himself as a translator and editor.

It was not until the monetary reform of 1948 that Piontek was able to make a living from his writings. After the war and his release from American war imprisonment, which he had incurred in Bavaria in 1945, Piontek had temporarily hired himself out for heavy physical labour in a quarry and as a builiding worker. In Lauingen, where he moved to in 1947, Piontek continued his education, which he had had to interrupt due to the war, and got his A-levels. He then studied German language and literature at the Philosophical-Theological University in Dillingen for three semesters, where he settled in 1955. The work of Piontek was awarded with numerous literary prizes, including the award of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste (Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts) (1958), the Eichendorff Literature Prize (1971), the Tukan Prize of the City of Munich (1971) and the Georg-Büchner Prize (1976).

The estate holdings consist of 49 files, folders and boxes. The literary legacy contains Piontek’s drafts and versions of poems later published as well as handwritten revised typographical scripts of several works (including travelogues, tales, essays, radio plays, lectures, texts of literary theory and reviews). Piontek’s correspondence with over 500 correspondents includes Heinrich Böll (1917-1985), Elias Canetti (1905-1994), Christa Wolf (1929-2011), Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Paul Celan (1920-1970), Marcel Reich-Ranicki (1920-2013), Walter Kempowski (1929-2007) and Wolfgang Koeppen (1906-1996). The purely literary core holdings of the estate are supplemented by the specimen copies of domestic and foreign works that Piontek received from publishers and editors, as well as his diaries, which are released for use. The collection also includes photographs, financial documents and 34 drawings and watercolours.

Parts of the estate have been digitised for bavarikon and are available here:

• The objects of the estate of Heinz Piontek (1925–2003) – BSB Ana available on bavarikon
• Piontek, Heinz: 80 Poems – Ana 465 A.1-80

>> This estate belongs to the collection of estates from the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library).