Childhood

In the spring of 1959, at the first Bitterfelder Konferenz, a young poet named Werner Lindemann (1926-1993) met the woman who would soon become his wife. Her name was Brigitte Hildegarde (last name has eluded all efforts to track it down), better known to all as Gitta, already an accomplished writer and journalist. Gitta recalled in a 2011 interview with Radio Audition that Werner constantly gazed at her during the presentation, and that he invited her to coffee afterwards. Other details of their courtship are unknown, as is the date and location of their marriage.

Whenever and wherever...