Departures of note

Karl Corino, born 1942 in Ehingen, Franconia, studied German literature, classical philology, and philosophy, completing a dissertation on Robert Musil. From 1970 he worked as a literature editor for Hessischer Rundfunk, where he developed a deep interest in East German literature and the writers who produced, enabled, or hindered it. He hosted the magazine 'Transit' devoted to culture in the GDR, traveling there frequently and drawing the attention of the Stasi, whose surveillance file on him ran to nearly a thousand pages. He gave persecuted East German authors such as Reiner Kunze, Ulrich Plenzdorf, Martin Stade, and Wolf Biermann a voice in the West and supported those who emigrated. He also acted as a mentor to Wolfgang Hilbig, inviting the then little-known poet to the Bachmann competition in Klagenfurt, where Corino served as a juror. After reunification he worked as an investigator, confronting figures such as Stephan Hermlin and Hermann Kant with the results of his research when they sought to whitewash their roles in the GDR literary establishment. Corino was also a poet and editor, publishing the classic volume 'Genie und Geld' in 1987. His books on Musil, especially his major biography of the author, are milestones in the field. He received several honors, including the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande, and held guest professorships in St. Louis and Pisa. He died on 8 September 2026.