Was 85 years old

Büchner Prize winner Kappacher has died

Walter Kappacher with the Georg Büchner Prize certificate at the Staatstheater in Darmstadt.

(Bild: EPA/Fredrik von Erichsen)

Walter Kappacher is dead. The writer was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 2009 and died at the age of 85.

The Salzburg author Walter Kappacher died today, Friday, at the age of 85. The Müry Salzmann publishing house confirmed this to APA. Kappacher, who worked as a freelance author from the age of 40, was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 2009.

Kappacher was one of the most modest and quietest in the literary world. He did not feel like a literary eccentric, Kappacher once said in an APA interview. "I have certainly been involved in various literary circles. But the conversations with the poets were always about marketing and success and hardly ever about the writing itself." The author said at the time that he preferred to focus on the creation of new texts rather than the literary business. "I walk, dream and meditate every day, I recharge the batteries of my imagination when I walk. Then I simply try to write down good sentences."

I walk, dream and meditate every day, recharging the batteries of my imagination as I go. Then I simply try to write down good sentences.

Autor Walter Kappacher

Martin Walser - an early, decisive supporter of Kappacher - called this trait of his colleague, who was nevertheless honored with the highest awards: the Hermann Lenz Prize (2004), the Grand Art Prize for Literature of the State of Salzburg (2006), the Georg Büchner Prize (2009), "brutal restraint".

Trained mechanic
Walter Kappacher was born on October 24, 1938 in the city of Salzburg. He trained as a motorcycle mechanic, flirted with a career in motor racing and also took his first steps as an actor. But literature was stronger - in 1967 he published his first short stories in the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" through Walser. Eight years later, his book "Morgen" was published. At the age of 40, he finally committed himself fully to writing, quit his day job as a travel agent and tried to make a living as a freelance author.

From then on, the novels "Rosina", "Silberpfeile" and "Selina oder das andere Leben", the stories "Die irdische Liebe" and "Wer zuerst lacht" as well as radio plays and screenplays, including "Die Jahre vergehen", followed. This was followed by the revised novel "Der lange Brief", the essay "Hellseher sind oft Schwarzseher" and the highly acclaimed novel "Der Fliegenpalast" (2009), in which Kappacher dedicated himself to Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

Last book 2018
Following the novel "Land der roten Steine" (2012), "Die Amseln von Parsch" (2013) and "Trakls letzte Tage & Mahlers Heimkehr" (2014) were published. "Abschied", Kappacher's monologue about Georg Trakl, was premiered at the Salzburg Festival at ARGEkultur in 2014 and won French director Nicolas Charaux the "Young Directors Award". In his prose volume "Ich erinnere mich", published in 2018, Kappacher loosely strung together memories of his life, succinctly but not always in a linear fashion: childhood impressions, apparent banalities of everyday life, encounters with books and people. It was his last book.

As modest and quiet as Walter Kappacher was in his personal appearance, his work speaks loudly and clearly for itself.

Kunst- und Kulturstadträtin Andrea Mayer (Grüne)

"As modest and quiet as Walter Kappacher was in his personal appearance, his work speaks loudly and clearly for itself," said Andrea Mayer (Greens), City Councillor for Arts and Culture, paying tribute to the author via a press release. His narrative art reflects "the unmistakable ability to condense human experiences and emotions into prose. It is comforting that his legacy will live on in his books."

On Sunday, June 16 (2:15 p.m.), Ö1 will broadcast a "Portrait of Man" about the late author. "Observing, drawing, describing - the writer Walter Kappacher" is the title of the 45-minute radio portrait.