German writer and poet. He is a member of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and he received the Großes Verdienstkreuz for his major contribution to German literature.
Härtling had his first collection of poetry published in 1953. From 1967 to 1973, Härtling was the managing director of the German publishing house S. Fischer Verlag, located in Frankfurt. He has worked as the editor of the magazine Der Monat and as the president of the Hölderlin society. His autobiographical novel Zwettl (1973) deals with the period he spent living in Lower Austria after his family fled from the Red Army. Nachgetragene Liebe (1980) recounts Härtling’s earliest memories of his deceased father. Härtling has written fictionalised biographical works on the writers Friedrich Hölderlin, Wilhelm Waiblinger and E. T. A. Hoffmann, and the composers Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann. In 1969, Härtling began writing books for children, including Und das ist die ganze Familie (1970). His children’s literature has often focused on social problems involving children. In Das war der Hirbel (1973) he wrote about the home of a maladjusted child, Oma (1975) talks about aging and death, whilst Theo haut ab (1977) deals with being uprooted from home and family. Härtling has been the moderator of the Literatur im Kreuzverhör show on hr2, the cultural radio station of Hessischer Rundfunk.
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