Siegfried Lenz, Heimatmuseum [The Heritage]

Marc J. Schweissinger (Cardiff University)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1978

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Siegfried Lenz’ Heimatmuseum, first published in 1978, is an historical novel, successfully released and well known in English as The Heritage (1981), in a translation by Krishna Winston. The novel recounts the history of parts of the former East Prussia (more accurately: Masuria), part of Germany before World War II, which previously was and today is again part of Poland. The narrative is, as usual within Lenz’ novels, artfully arranged. The plot is split into different time levels. Present and past interact directly, and local history can be understood as a metaphor for the condition of a whole country in the first half of the twentieth century. In quick succession, horrible events are presented beside almost …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2318 words

Citation: Schweissinger, Marc J.. "Heimatmuseum". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 September 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21239, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Save this article