Christoph Hein

After his Abitur he jobbed inter alia as assembler, bookseller and assistant director. From 1967 to 1971 Hein studied philosophy in Leipzig and Berlin. Upon graduation, he became a dramatic adviser at the Volksbühne in Berlin, where he worked as a resident writer from 1974. Since 1979 Hein has worked as a freelance writer. Hein first became known for his 1982 novella Der fremde Freund (The Distant Lover). From 1998 to 2000 Hein was the first president of the pan-German PEN-Centre. According to Hein, the acclaimed film drama The Lives of Others is loosely based on his life story. In a 2019 article, he claims that after attending the premiere screening, he asked author and director von Donnersmarck to have his name removed from the credits, because he felt that the movie was a "scary tale taking place in a fantasy land, comparable to Tolkien's Middle-earth," that "does not depict the 1980s in the GDR".

The recorded working language is French and German. The field of work recorded is German-language literature and children's and young adult literature. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are drama, prose and essay. Places of work recorded in the authority are Berlin. Work by Christoph Hein is recorded in the collections of Theatre in der Wende Collection. Distinctions recorded are Walter-Hasenclever-Literaturpreis, Schiller Memorial Prize, Stefan Heym International Award and Heinrich Mann Prize.

Source: 1982: Heinrich Mann Prize of the Akademie der Künste der DDR 1983: Deutscher Kritikerpreis 1986: Mara-Cassens-Preis des Hamburger Literaturhauses für den Ersten Roman 1989: Stefan-Andres-Preis (Stadt Schweich an der Mosel) 1989: Lessing-Preis der DDR (Ministerium für Kultur) 1990: Erich Fried Prize (Wien) 1992: Ludwig-Mülheims-Theaterpreis für religiöse Dramatik 1992: Berliner Literaturpreis of the Stiftung Preußische Seehandlung 1994: Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz (5. Oktober 1994) 1998: Peter-Weiss-Preis of the city of Bochum 2000: Solothurner Literaturpreis 2000: Zonser Hörspielpreis 2002: Brothers Grimm Poetics Professorship 2002: Österreichischer Staatspreis für Europäische Literatur 2003: Calwer Hermann-Hesse-Stipendium 2004: Schiller-Gedächtnispreis des Landes Baden-Württemberg 2004: Ver.di-Literaturpreis Berlin-Brandenburg 2008: Walter-Hasenclever-Literaturpreis 2010: Eichendorff-Literaturpreis 2011: Gerty-Spies-Literaturpreis 2011: Honorary citizenship of Bad Düben 2012: Uwe Johnson Prize 2013: International Stefan Heym Prize 2017: Grimmelshausen-Preis for Glückskind mit Vater 2020: Kinderbuchpreis des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (together illustrator Rotraut Susanne Berner) for Alles was Du brauchst – Die 20 wichtigsten Dinge im Leben