Brigitte Birnbaum
Brigitte Birnbaum is a German author of books, mainly for children and young people.Life
Brigitte Birnbaum was born in Elbing, a manufacturing town and administrative centre in East Prussia, positioned near the coast between Danzig and Königsberg. War broke out shortly after her first birthday. In 1945 her family was caught up in the "ethnic cleansing" of the time, ending up in Mecklenburg, the northern part of what had now become the Soviet occupation zone. She passed her school leaving exams, a necessary hurdle along the way to a university level education, and embarked on an apprenticeship as an assistant pharmacist.
She next spent three years studying literature at the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig. Armed with her degree, she became an antique books dealer. Her books for children began to appear in the early 1960s. She lived in Schwerin between 1960 and 2003, supporting herself as a freelance author, formally, from 1968. She lived in Hamburg for ten years from 2003, after which she relocated back to Schwerin.Awards and honours
... for children and young people
- Bert, der Einzelgänger. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1962
- Reise in den August. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1967
- Winter ohne Vater. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1977
- Ab morgen werd ich Künstler. A tale from the life of Heinrich Zilles. Kinderbuchverlag Berlin 1977
- Das Siebentagebuch. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1981
- Der Hund mit dem Zeugnis. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1971
- Löwen an der Ufertreppe. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1981
- Tintarolo. Ein Buch für Kinder über Käthe Kollwitz mit Zeichnungen von Käthe Kollwitz. Elefanten Press, Berlin 1981.
- Alexander in Zarskoje, Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1982
- Kathusch. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1986
- Fragen Sie doch Melanie! Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1987.
- Von einem, der auszog, neue Eltern zu suchen und andere Erzählungen. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1989.
- Die Maler aus der :de:Ostbahnstraße |Ostbahnstraße. From the lives of Hans and Lea Grundig. Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1990.
- Wider die kleinen Mörder. Kiro-Verlag, Schwedt 1994.
- Noch lange kein Sommer. Verlag Reinhard Thon, Schwerin 1998
... other
- Ernst Barlach. Annäherungen. Demmler Verlag, Schwerin 1996.
- Fontane in Mecklenburg. Demmler Verlag, Schwerin 1994.
- Spaziergänge durch Güstrow. Ein Stadtführer. Thon, Schwerin 1992.
