Anna Seghers: a distinctive figure; a biography marked by the dramas of the 20th century; novels that brought her international fame. The writer, who was committed to her work throughout her life, was born in Mainz 125 years ago.
When Anna Seghers was born on 19 November 1900, her name was Netty Reiling. The daughter of art and antiques dealer Isidor Reiling and his wife Hedwig, she studied art history, history, sinology and philology in Heidelberg and Cologne. In 1924, she not only published her dissertation Jude und Judentum im Werk Rembrandts (Jews and Judaism in the Work of Rembrandt), but the Frankfurter Zeitung also published her first story, Die Toten auf der Insel Djal (The Dead on the Island of Djal), under the name “Antje Seghers.” In 1927, the story Grubetsch came out. Because only “Seghers” was listed as the author, one critic assumed it was written by a man.Literary productivity, political engagement
While studying in Heidelberg, the writer meets and falls in love with László Radványi, an exiled Hungarian sociologist and communist. The couple married in 1925 and found a new home in Berlin. Their son Peter was born in 1926, followed by their daughter Ruth in 1928. This year was also a biographical milestone in another respect: as Anna Seghers – the name she would retain for the rest of her life – the author published her first book, Der Aufstand der Fischer von St. Barbara (The Revolt of the Fishermen of St. Barbara). At the suggestion of fellow writer Hanns Henny Jahn, the work was awarded the prestigious Kleist Prize in 1929. Also in 1928, Anna Seghers became a member of the KPD and, from 1929, was active in the newly founded League of Proletarian Revolutionary Writers.As a Jew and a communist, Anna Seghers was particularly threatened after the National Socialists came to power in Germany. So she did not wait long and fled via Switzerland to Paris, with her family following soon after. During this time, Anna Seghers was literarily and politically productive and engaged. In her first work in exile, the novel Der Kopflohn (The Headhunter), she explored the causes of National Socialism in Germany. She also contributed to anti-fascist exile magazines.
Escape destination Mexico
1940: German troops march into France – László Radványi is interned, but Anna Seghers manages to secure his release. The family is forced to flee again: their first destination is Marseille in the still unoccupied part of France, then they travel via Martinique, Santo Domingo, Ellis Island and Veracruz to Mexico City. All these experiences are incorporated into her novel Transit, which she began writing in France. The writer manages to save herself, her husband and her children from the Nazis, but her mother is deported to a ghetto near Lublin and murdered there.Foundations for world fame
Despite many strokes of fate and turbulent events, Anna Seghers never tired of campaigning for anti-fascist causes, even in exile in Mexico: she founded the Heinrich Heine Club and became its president, she launched the Free Germany movement and served as editor of the magazine of the same name. In 1942, Das siebte Kreuz (The Seventh Cross) was published – in English in the USA and in German by the Mexican exile publishing house El libro libre. The novel, about the escape of seven prisoners from a concentration camp during the Nazi dictatorship, established Anna Seghers' fame as an important German writer. The 1944 film adaptation of the work by Hollywood director Fred Zinnemann increased its worldwide success. In the same year, Transit was published in English. The Spanish edition followed in 1945, and the German version of this quintessential exile novel did not appear until 1948.Official in the GDR
Anna Seghers returned to Germany in 1947. She initially lived in West Berlin, but as a staunch communist she became a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), founded in the Soviet occupation zone of the former capital. Also in 1947, she was awarded the Büchner Prize for Das siebte Kreuz (The Seventh Cross). The book Die Toten bleiben jung (The Dead Stay Young), a socialist social novel, was published by Aufbau Verlag Berlin-Ost and Suhrkamp Verlag in Frankfurt/Main.In 1950, Seghers decided to move to East Berlin, where she soon held many positions, including member of the Presidium of the World Peace Council, founding member of the German Academy of Arts, and chairwoman of the Writers' Association of the GDR. She refrained from making public statements in favour of critical colleagues who had fallen out of favour with the party and state government. Even during events such as the popular uprising in the GDR in 1953 and the uprising in Hungary in 1956, Seghers remained loyal to the SED line. “In retrospect,” according to a text by MDR on the occasion of Anna Seghers' 120th birthday, “there remains ... undoubtedly a contradiction between her combative humanism during her time in exile and her increasing conformity afterwards.”
In addition to her activities as a functionary, Anna Seghers continued to write literature. Die Überfahrt (The Crossing) is considered the highlight of her later work. Her husband died in 1978, whereupon Anna Seghers withdrew from public life. She died on 1 June 1983 and was buried in a state funeral at the Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof cemetery in Berlin.
Still relevant today
Is the work of writer Anna Seghers, who was made an honorary citizen of her hometown Mainz in 1981, still relevant today? Her books Das siebte Kreuz and Transit, written during the Nazi era and in exile, are undisputed literary classics. For Claudia Cabrera, who has retranslated Anna Seghers' works into Mexican Spanish, one thing is certain: “She was the most important writer in German exile.” It is very important to keep the memory of this period alive, because “right-wing and right-wing populist movements are currently gaining strength all over the world, in Europe and also in the USA. ... Fascism is on the rise again.” The work and influence of the anti-fascist Anna Seghers stand in opposition to this.German director Christian Petzold also believes that “the present and the past exist simultaneously,” referring to his film adaptation of Seghers' novel Transit. This is because “the refugees who fled from the Nazis in 1940 and were stranded in the port cities of Casablanca, Marseille and Lisbon correspond to the people who are currently fleeing.” His film of the same name is not about what it was like in Marseille at that time. Rather, he wanted to show that it is still the same today. Because history is not past, it can still be felt. “That's what matters: opening your eyes.” The writer Anna Seghers has been exemplary in opening people's eyes with her literature over decades.
November 2025