Walter Jens facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Walter Jens
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Jens addressing the Academy of Arts, Berlin (2005)
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| Born | 8 March 1923 Hamburg, Germany
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| Died | 9 June 2013 (aged 90) |
| Occupation | Professor, philologist, writer |
Walter Jens (born March 8, 1923 – died June 9, 2013) was a famous German philologist, which means he studied language and literature. He was also a literature historian, a critic, a university professor, and a writer.
Walter Jens was born in Hamburg, Germany. He went to a special school called the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to 1941. After finishing school, he studied at the University of Hamburg.
During the early 1940s, Walter Jens was a member of the Hitler Youth and later the NSDAP. He said that he became a member automatically because he was already in the Hitler Youth, and that he never actually applied or got a membership card.
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Who Was Walter Jens?
During World War II, Walter Jens earned his doctorate degree in Freiburg. His work was about the ancient Greek writer Sophocles and his plays. At just 26 years old, he became qualified to teach at a university. This was for his work called Tacitus und die Freiheit (Tacitus and Freedom) at the University of Tübingen.
A Talented Writer and Professor
From 1950, Walter Jens became a member of a group of writers called the Group 47. This was a very important year for him because his novel Nein. Die Welt der Angeklagten became very popular. This book helped him become well-known.
From 1965 to 1988, Walter Jens was a professor at the University of Tübingen. He taught a subject called General Rhetoric. This special teaching position was created just to keep him at the university because he was so valued. He also wrote television reviews for a newspaper called Die Zeit using the pen name Momos.
Later Life and Achievements
Walter Jens held many important positions. From 1976 to 1982, he was the president of the International PEN center in Germany. This organization supports writers and free speech.
Later, from 1989 to 1997, he was the president of the Academy of Arts, Berlin. After that, he became their honorary president. He also led the Martin-Niemöller-Foundation from 1990 to 1995.
Personal Life
In 1951, Walter Jens married Inge Puttfarcken. They had two sons named Tillmann and Christoph. Later in his life, starting around 2004, Walter Jens suffered from dementia, which is a condition that affects memory and thinking. He passed away in 2013 in Tübingen when he was 90 years old.
Honours and Awards
Walter Jens received many awards and honours for his work throughout his life. Here are a few of them:
- 1951: Prize of Amis de la Liberté
- 1959: German Youth Literature Prize
- 1968: Lessing Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
- 1981: Heinrich Heine Prize of the city of Düsseldorf
- 1984: Adolf Grimme Award
- 1988: Theodor Heuss Prize (with his wife Inge Jens)
- 1992: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
- 2003: Grand Merit Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2003: Corine Literature Prize (with Inge Jens)
