12 Facts About Christa Wolf

Christa Wolf is considered one of the most important writers to emerge from the former East Germany.

Christa Wolf studied literature at the University of Jena and the University of Leipzig.

Christa Wolf's writings discuss political, economic, and scientific power, making her an influential spokesperson in East and West Germany during post-World War II for the empowerment of individuals to be active within the industrialized and patriarchal society.

Christa Wolf joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in 1949 and left it in June 1989, six months before the Communist regime collapsed.

Christa Wolf was a candidate member of the Central Committee of the SED from 1963 to 1967.

Christa Wolf was herself then closely monitored for nearly 30 years.

In many of her works, Christa Wolf uses illness as a metaphor.

Christa Wolf was buried on 13 December 2011 in Berlin's Dorotheenstadt cemetery.

Nicholas Shakespeare wrote that in East Germany "writers such as Christa Wolf became irrelevant overnight once the Berlin Wall was broached".

The emphasis placed by Cercignani on heroism of women in Christa Wolf's works has opened the way to subsequent studies in this direction.

Christa Wolf received the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1963, the Georg Buchner Prize in 1980, and the Schiller Memorial Prize in 1983, the Geschwister-Scholl-Preis in 1987, as well as other national and international awards.

Christa Wolf became the first recipient of the Deutscher Bucherpreis in 2002 for her lifetime achievement.