Martin Walser: Leipzig's powerful reading culture as inspiration!

Martin Walser: Leipzig's powerful reading culture as inspiration!

Martin Walser, who died in 2023, described Leipzig as the “city of cities” and the “number one reading city”. This enthusiasm for the book metropolis is no coincidence, because for Walser Leipzig was not only a place for readings, but also a central point of reference in his literary career. The writer, who was a traveling author for many years, gave his first reading in Leipzig in 1981. At this place he found an audience that was particularly close to his heart and responded sensitively to his works. Walser placed this positive experience in the context of the city's rich book tradition and the world-famous book fair that characterizes Leipzig.

During his readings, Walser not only discussed his own books, but also advocated for other authors. He advocated for Gerd Neumann's book “Eleven O'clock,” which could not be published during the GDR era due to censorship. At a time when many of the GDR's important novels were only published in the West, Walser was an important ally in the literary landscape of divided Germany.

The response from readers

Walser noticed that the Leipzig audience often discovered sentences and ideas from his texts that did not immediately seem particularly important to him. This response, which he valued so much, led him to prefer readings in Leipzig. “The listeners react more finely and more atmospherically compared to other cities,” says Walser. This observation underscores his view that the interaction between author and reader is crucial to the literary scene and that literature has the ability to “make things more beautiful than they are.”

This insight about readers is part of Walser's larger literary concern. In his works he addresses complex emotional conflicts and social identity crises. His characters often reflect the challenges of life after the Second World War and the moral self-assurance of post-war Germans. Walser encourages people to look critically at their own history and emphasizes the responsibility of telling memories.

An influential author

Walser is often described in literary discussion as a representative of a generation shaped by the horrors of the 20th century. Frank Schirrmacher, who gave a eulogy for Walser, emphasized how important the reading was for the author himself. “Reading,” says Walser, “is an important life activity” that brought him joy and helped him understand his “illness,” which he discovered during his time in a prisoner of war camp.

Encounters with the works of other authors, such as Adalbert Stifter, shaped Walser's literary work. His books are not only an expression of his personal experiences, but also a reflection of the overall German identity and the breaks that are rooted in history. With a critical look at one's own history, Walser challenges readers to survive in an unfriendly world and to creatively shape the challenges that life brings with it.

In this sense, Martin Walser's legacy remains alive in Leipzig and beyond. The city he described as the “number one reading city” will continue to be a place of dialogue and resonance for readers and authors.