Fürnberg, Louis

AUTHOR, COMPOSER, DIPLOMAT (AUSTRIAN EMPIRE)
BORN 24 May 1909, Iglau (now: Jihlava) - DIED 23 Jun 1957, Weimar, Thüringen
GRAVE LOCATION Weimar, Thüringen: Historischer Friedhof, Poseckscher Garten (Ehrenfeld)

Louis Fürnberg grew up in Karlovy Vary, where he also went to school. When he was seventeen he became a member of the Socialist Youth Movement and in 1927 he went to Prague, where he attented the German Trade Academy. He published his first poems at that time. He founded the Echo group for communist propaganda and agitation and he wrote for them under the name of Nuntius.

In 1939 he was arrested by the nazis. He was imprisoned and tortured. After paymentw were made for his release he was deported to Italy. From there he fled to Palestina with his wife Lotte Wertheimer. In 1946 he returned to Prague. He worked in Berlin as a diplomat and in 1949 he wrote the "Lied der Partei" ("Song of the Party") that became the official song of the SED.

In 1952 he returned to Czechoslovakia, but in 1954 he left it for good because of the antisemitical tendencies in the country. He settled in East Germany, where he became a member of the German Academy of Arts in 1955. He died in 1957 in Weimar.

Images

The grave of Louis Fürnberg at the Friedhof vor dem Frauentor, Weimar.
Picture by Androom (01 Aug 2016)

 

Bust of Louis Fürnberg in Weimar.
Picture by Androom (01 Aug 2016)

 

Sources
Louis Fürnberg – Wikipedia


Furtwängler, Walter

Published: 18 Nov 2017
Last update: 20 Apr 2022