Spain in Our Hearts The Spanish Civil War in the Memory of German Literature

Abstract

On July 4, 1937, in the city of Valencia, the Second International Congress of Antifascist Writers

began its work. At that time, the civil war had already become a war of a significant dimension

internationally. Nonetheless, several German writers dared to visit Spain in order to participate in

the congress and others even took part of the International Brigades. Some of their experiences

were later described in their literature that will be the object of this contribution. It is going to

analyze the transformation of these memories into fictional literature and also how these personal

memories have been converted into memory in literature. That s why the analysis will not be

limited to the works of those writers who experienced the war themselves (like Wille Bredel,

Anna Seghers). It will moreover also include works of the next generations (like Hans Magnus

Enzensberger and Erich Hackl) and have a closer look at the transformation, the original

memories have suffered ever since.