Rudi Strahl


Rudi Strahl was a German playwright, novelist and poet. He was one of the most played theatre playwrights of the GDR.

Life and work

As son of a locksmith he migrated in 1948 to the Soviet occupation zone. His mother was named Emilie Anna L. Strahl, his father was Rudolf Strahl. Since 1950 he served in the Volkspolizei, later in the Kasernierte Volkspolizei and went to an Officer Candidate School. His military term of service lasted eight years, at his retirement in the year 1959 he was lieutenant of the NVA. During his term of service he was an employee of the publishing house of the Ministry of National Defense. 1956 he married Alice Strahl, with whom he had two sons, Bob Strahl, likewise a writer, and Stefan Strahl, who makes music. His two brothers were Harry Strahl and Manfred Strahl.
1955 he published with Sturm auf Stollberg his first narrative. 1957/58 he visited the Institute for Literature „Johannes R. Becher“. From 1959 until 1961 he was editor of the satirical magazine „Eulenspiegel“. Afterward, he worked in Berlin as a freelancer. 1973 he became a member of the GDR's Writer Union and was belonging to its presidium since 1978. 1980 he joined the GDR PEN centre. His grave is located on the Dorotheenstadt cemetery in Berlin.
His books reached a total edition of about 4.6 million copies, his theatre plays had more than 560 stagings. Rudi Strahl's works were translated into 26 languages. He scripted numerous movies and television plays. Also his juvenile book Du und ich und Klein-Paris, published in Berlin's Verlag Neues Leben, was filmed 1970 by the DEFA. His piece Er ist wieder da grounded an original adaptation by Peter Hack with the title Barby. Rudi Strahl's relation to the reality of real socialism was that of a sceptical GDR patriot, who – especially as theatre comic poet – has faith in the changeability of circumstances and wants to convey this faith in a cheerful way, but his pieces also definitely show lackings in the system and moral-political problems of an affluent society.

Awards

Dramas
Scripts
Children's books
Satires