EUROPE

by Dr. Thomas F. Schneider, Director

Erich Maria Remarque is one of the best known and most widely read authors of German literature in the twentieth century. He was born on June 22, 1898, in Osnabrück and he died on September 25, 1970, in Locarno, Switzerland. Remarque's biography is essentially marked and his writing fundamentally influenced by German history of the twentieth century: Childhood and youth in imperial Osnabrück, World War I, the Weimar Republic, and most of all his exile in Switzerland and the United States. With the novel All Quiet On the Western Front (1929) Remarque attained world-wide recognition continuing today. Examples of his other novels also internationally published are Three Comrades (1936), Arch of Triumph (1945), or The Night in Lisbon (1962). Remarque’s novels have been translated in more than sixty languages; globally the total edition comes up to several ten million copies. Also, most of Remarque’s novels were filmed. The complete works of Remarque are both highly interrelated with his Osnabrück background and speaking thematically of a critical examination of German history, whereby the preservation of human dignity and humanity in times of oppression, terror and war always are at the forefront of his literary creation. Remarque is therefore widely regarded as a credible representative of a “different Germany.”

The Erich Maria Remarque-Peace Center at Osnabrück/Germany was founded in 1996 by the city of Osnabrück in co-operation with the University of Osnabrück and is open to the public. The institution specializes in scientific investigation of the complete works of Erich Maria Remarque, but moreover and more widely framed in the representation of war and peace in the media (literature, film, radio, television, photography, theatre, and the arts) since the 20th century. A permanent exhibition Independence – Tolerance – Humour provides a detailed and richly illustrated insight into Erich Maria Remarqures life, works and worldwide reception. This presentation is complemented by non-permanent exhibitions in the field of »war and culture« such as Artists interpretation of Erich Maria Remarque and his themes, biographical and historical exhibitions on the author and on war and peace and their representation in the media of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Erich Maria Remarque-Archive holds the most extensive collection of material of and on Remarque worldwide, and is open for research for the broad public. Editions of Remarques writings, correspondence, research literature, criticism, photographs, movies, parts of Remarques library, and other material can be accessed here. The Research Center War and Literature – as a part of the Remarque Peace Center as well as the Remarque Archive – collects and registers research literature on “War and the Media” in the 20th and 21st centuries, organises conferences and publishes works on this subject.

The Peace Center publishes two bilingual scientific periodicals (Krieg und Literatur/War and Literature, and Erich Maria Remarque Jahrbuch/Yearbook), and runs the information database www.war-film.com, which presents information on international war- and antiwar films of all genres from feature films to documentaries.

The Erich Maria Remarque Peace Center is mostly interested in and already conducts international co-operations, from academic contacts to co-organized events such as conferences, research projects, and exhibitions in the field of the representation of war and peace in the media in order to pursue Erich Maria Remarque’s pacifist and humanist conviction.

Address: Markt 6, D-49074 Osnabrück
Tel: +49-541-969-2430
Homepage: http://www.remarque.de/
Days closed: None
Admission: Free

(Originally published on December 21, 2010)