Reiner Kunze
German poet, writer, translator, and GDR dissident · Germany · On the map · Writers · Born 1933 · age 93
Reiner Kunze is a German writer and GDR dissident. He studied media and journalism at the University of Leipzig. In 1968, he left the GDR state party SED following the communist Warsaw Pact countries invasion of Czechoslovakia in response to the Prague Spring. He had to publish his work under various pseudonyms.
Reiner Kunze is read about 103 times a day, in 23 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 12 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 114 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
Media & music
Awards
About this person
In 1976, his most famous book The Lovely Years, which contained critical insights into the life, and the policies behind the Iron Curtain, was published in West Germany to great acclaim. In 1977, the GDR regime expatriated him, and he moved to West Germany (FRG). He now lives near Passau in Bavaria.
