To mark the 100th anniversary of the author and publisher’s birth
A hundred years ago, on 14 July 1926, Fred Rodrian was born in a small flat in a rear courtyard in Berlin-Friedrichshain. The boy Alfred went on to become not only a writer, but also a defining figure in the GDR children’s book market: As an editor (1952–1955), long-serving chief editor (1955–1974) and, finally, director of the Kinderbuchverlag Berlin (1975–1985), he played a significant role in shaping the world of children’s and young adult literature in the GDR. Fred Rodrian passed away far too soon, on 25 May 1985.
Image gallery
Fred Rodrian im Grünen – bei der Lektüre von Manuskripten
This event commemorates the outstanding publisher and writer with a staged reading of texts, interviews and letters that reflect Rodrian’s (working) life. The musical backdrop is provided by poems set to music by Peter Hacks, a close friend of Rodrian’s.
Afterwards, Prof. Dr Kohl will place Fred Rodrian’s work and significance within the broader contemporary context and highlight the impact of his work, which continues to leave its mark to this day.
A small display case exhibition featuring Rodrian’s works and personal artefacts rounds off the evening.
Prof. Dr Eva Maria Kohl is a writer and retired professor of primary school didactics/German at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. As a young academic, she worked at the GDR Centre for Children’s Literature in East Berlin, and to this day she has remained enthusiastically committed to researching and promoting children’s and young adult literature. Professor Kohl is one of the few people who can assess and describe the GDR children’s book market and its background both from her own first-hand experience and, with the benefit of hindsight, from an academic perspective. Together with Michael Ritter, she published the volume *Kindheitsgeschichten: Eine Spurensuche in der ostdeutschen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur* in 2022.
Additional information
Accessibility
The event hall is accessible to people with disabilities. There is a lift.
Participating artists
Nate Bernardini
Dates
October 2026
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