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Hermann Burger

ヘルマン・ブルガー

Hermann Burger

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1942-07-10 （Menziken, Switzerland）
Died
1989-02-28 （Brunegg, Switzerland） age 46
Nationality
Swiss
Languages
German
Residence History
Menziken (birthplace) → Zürich (studies and teaching) → Bern (teaching; literary archive) → Fribourg (teaching) → Brunegg (place of death)

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, essayist, literary scholar, editor
Active Years
1967-1989
Influenced By
Paul Celan, Franz Kafka, Thomas Bernhard, Ludwig Wittgenstein (philosophical influence)

Education

ETH Zurich
Architecture (1962–1964) → German literature and art history (from 1964) / German literature and art history
Period: 1962–（学部転向により以後ドイツ文学・美術史）
Country: Switzerland
Started in architecture and switched to German literature and art history in 1964. Wrote thesis on Paul Celan and a habilitation treatise on contemporary Swiss literature.

Awards

Award of the Schweizerische Schillerstiftung
1977
Work: Schilten
Organization: Schweizerische Schillerstiftung
Result: 受賞
Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer Prize
1980
Organization: Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer Foundation
Result: 受賞
Friedrich Hölderlin Prize (Bad Homburg)
1983
Work: Die künstliche Mutter
Organization: Bad Homburg (Friedrich Hölderlin Prize)
Result: 受賞
Aargau Literature Award
1984
Organization: Aargau literary organizations
Result: 受賞
Ingeborg Bachmann Prize
1985
Work: Die Wasserfallfinsternis von Badgastein (in Blankenburg)
Organization: Ingeborg Bachmann Prize organization
Result: 受賞
Work order / commission of the Pro Helvetia Foundation
1986
Organization: Pro Helvetia
Result: 受賞
Schweizerische Schillerstiftung Gesamtwerkspreis
1988
Organization: Schweizerische Schillerstiftung
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Rauchsignale (Smoke Signals)

1967 poetry

Early poetry collection marking the beginning of Burger's literary career.

lonelinesslinguistic experimentation

Bork

1970 prose pieces

Collection of prose pieces showing Burger's early prose tendencies.

human relationsself-analysis

Schilten. School Report for the Attention of the Inspectors' Conference

1976 monologue novel

A teacher reports to an inspectors' conference while obsessively describing death, graveyards and burials. Adapted into a film by Beat Kuert in 1979.

deathsociety's outsiderslanguage and form
Adaptations
  • [film] Schilten (film) / Beat Kuert (1979)

Diabelli

1979 stories

Collection of stories showcasing linguistic virtuosity and meticulous research.

artwordplayoath and transgression
Translations
  • English translation by Adrian Nathan West (2025)

Die künstliche Mutter (The Artificial Mother)

1982 novel (autobiographical elements)

A loosely autobiographical novel dedicated to his wife; won the Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer Prize in 1980.

familylossself

Blankenburg

1986 stories

Collection of stories including 'Die Wasserfallfinsternis von Badgastein'.

lonelinessdepictions of death

Tractatus Logico-Suicidalis: On Killing Oneself

1988 aphorisms

Collection of 1,046 aphorisms about suicide, referencing Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Critics largely received it with sarcasm and skepticism regarding the seriousness of suicide advocacy.

suicidephilosophical reflectiondeath
Translations
  • English translation by Adrian Nathan West (Wakefield Press, 2022)

Brenner. Volume 1: Brunsleben

1989 novel (roman à clef)

A largely autobiographical novel in which the protagonist recounts his life; 25 chapters (each named after a cigar brand). Volume 1 published in 1989; later volumes were planned or published posthumously.

autobiographygriefdeath
Translations
  • English translation by Adrian Nathan West (Archipelago Books, 2022)

Bibliography

  • Rauchsignale (1967)
  • Bork (1970)
  • Schilten. Schulbericht... (1976)
  • Diabelli (1979)
  • Kirchberger idyllen (1980)
  • Die künstliche Mutter (1982)
  • Ein Mann aus Wörtern (1983)
  • Die allmähliche Verfertigung der Idee beim Schreiben (1986)
  • Blankenburg (1986)
  • Als Autor auf der Stör (1987)
  • Der Schuss auf die Kanzel (1988)
  • Tractatus logico-suicidalis (1988)
  • Brenner. Volume 1: Brunsleben (1989)
  • Brenner. Volume 2: Menzenmang (1992, posthumous)

Adaptations

  • Film adaptation of Schilten (1979, dir. Beat Kuert)

Translations of Works

  • Tractatus Logico-Suicidalis: On Killing Oneself — trans. Adrian Nathan West (Wakefield Press, 2022)
  • Brenner — trans. Adrian Nathan West (Archipelago Books, 2022)
  • Diabelli — trans. Adrian Nathan West (Wakefield Press, 2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
meticulous and lexically rich proseresearch-informed realismblend of autobiographical elements and formal experimentation
Recurring Motifs
deathlonely outsidersgraveyards and burialobsession with languageindications and depictions of suicide

Health

  • depression
    1980年代（晩年）
    Depressive moods increasingly informed his work's themes and are associated with his eventual suicide by overdose.

Legacy

Hermann Burger is known for his linguistic precision and meticulous style. His works, often concerned with death and loneliness, provoked both critical acclaim and controversy; his literary estate is preserved in the Swiss Literary Archives.

Museums

  • Swiss Literary Archives Bern, Switzerland

Archives

  • Literary estate archived at the Swiss Literary Archives (Bern)

In Popular Culture

  • Film adaptation of Schilten (1979)

Quotes

  • Hermann Burger was an artist who gave everything of himself, never held back. He was a man with a great longing for happiness. German literature has lost one of its most inventive literary artists.
    Source: Marcel Reich-Ranicki (obituary, Tagblatt) (1989)

Trivia

  • Burger was a cigar smoker and descended from cigar producers.
  • The novel Brenner, vol. 1, has 25 chapters, each named after a famous cigar brand.
  • He committed suicide by an overdose of sleeping pills in 1989.
  • His literary estate is held at the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern.