Gisela Karau
Encyclopedia
Gisela Karau was an East German
journalist
and author
of children's literature
. Born in Berlin, she was married and had two children.
. She worked as a reporter and a columnist for that newspaper until 1990 on a free-lancing basis. In the 1960s she began writing children's literature. Her first work was the novel Der gute Stern des Janusz K. (1972). The book is about the destiny of Polish children in the Buchenwald concentration camp
. The book became famous und was also reprinted after 1990. More popular children's books in the GDR written by Gisela Karau are for example: Darf ich Wilhelm zu Dir sagen? (1979) about Wilhelm Pieck
's life and Loni (1982) about a girl in Berlin a few years after World War II
. Further she wrote screenplays to many children's films of the DEFA
. The motion picture Mein blauer Vogel fliegt based on Der gute Stern des Janusz K..
She also published books for adults like the novels Berliner Liebe (1984) and Familienkrach (1988) in the GDR. In 1986, Karau was awarded the Goethe prize of the City of Berlin. After the German reunification
she wrote some novels about the destiny of people in the GDR, in the Wende
and in the New states of Germany after 1990. She published also more children's books like Bolle, der freundliche Hund (1994), Küsse auf Eis (1997) and Das kommt in der besten Familie vor (2003).
Gisela Karau married Günter Karau with whom she had two children. After the death of her first husband in 1986, she married Hans-Jürgen Dörry, 18 years her junior, in 1988. She died in 2010 in a Berlin hospital.
Novels:
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of children's literature
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
. Born in Berlin, she was married and had two children.
Life
Gisela Karau was born in Berlin 1932. After finishing her examination in 1950 (A-level) she began a five year job training at the newspaper BZ am AbendBerliner Kurier
The Berliner Kurier is a regional, daily newspaper published by the Berliner Verlag GmbH for the Berlin metropolitan area in Germany....
. She worked as a reporter and a columnist for that newspaper until 1990 on a free-lancing basis. In the 1960s she began writing children's literature. Her first work was the novel Der gute Stern des Janusz K. (1972). The book is about the destiny of Polish children in the Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
. The book became famous und was also reprinted after 1990. More popular children's books in the GDR written by Gisela Karau are for example: Darf ich Wilhelm zu Dir sagen? (1979) about Wilhelm Pieck
Wilhelm Pieck
Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck was a German politician and a Communist. In 1949, he became the first President of the German Democratic Republic, an office abolished upon his death. He was succeeded by Walter Ulbricht, who served as Chairman of the Council of States.-Biography:Pieck was born to...
's life and Loni (1982) about a girl in Berlin a few years after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Further she wrote screenplays to many children's films of the DEFA
Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft
Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft, better known as DEFA, was the public-owned film studio in East Germany throughout that country's history.-History:...
. The motion picture Mein blauer Vogel fliegt based on Der gute Stern des Janusz K..
She also published books for adults like the novels Berliner Liebe (1984) and Familienkrach (1988) in the GDR. In 1986, Karau was awarded the Goethe prize of the City of Berlin. After the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
she wrote some novels about the destiny of people in the GDR, in the Wende
Die Wende
marks the complete process of the change from socialism and planned economy to market economy and capitalism in East Germany around the years 1989 and 1990. It encompasses several processes and events which later have become synonymous with the overall process...
and in the New states of Germany after 1990. She published also more children's books like Bolle, der freundliche Hund (1994), Küsse auf Eis (1997) and Das kommt in der besten Familie vor (2003).
Gisela Karau married Günter Karau with whom she had two children. After the death of her first husband in 1986, she married Hans-Jürgen Dörry, 18 years her junior, in 1988. She died in 2010 in a Berlin hospital.
Works (Selection)
Children's literature:- Der gute Stern des Janusz K. Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, Berlin 1972 (The good star of Janusz K.)
- Darf ich Wilhelm zu Dir sagen? Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, Berlin 1979 (Can I call you Wilhelm?)
- Loni. Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, Berlin 1982
- Bolle, der freundliche Hund. Kiro-Verlag, Schwedt 1994 (Bolle, the friendly dog)
- Küsse auf Eis. Karl-Dietz-Verlag, Berlin 1997 (Kisses on ice)
- Das kommt in der besten Familie vor. Cecilie-Dressler-Verlag, Hamburg 2003
- Toni und Ali. Bilder einer Jugendliebe. Edition Hamouda, Leipzig 2007
- Cosima. Verliebt in Sanssouci. Edition Hamouda, Leipzig 2007
Novels:
- Berliner Liebe. Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin 1984 (Berlin love)
- Familienkrach. Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin 1988 (Family quarrel)
- Ein gemachter Mann. Verlag Neues Leben, 1991 (A made man)
- Marthas Haus oder Der Kopf im Keller. Kiro-Verlag, Schwedt 1994 (Martha's house or the head in the basement)
Literature
- Bernd-Rainer Barth, Andreas Kölling: Karau, Gisela. In: Wer war wer in der DDR? 4. Ausgabe. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-86153-364-2, Band 1, S. 485. (Who was who in the GDR?)