Appeared
in the article "Robert Reiter - Übersetzer und Essayist,
Frühe Beiträge in der Banater deutschen Tagespresse der
1920er Jahre" by Eduard Schneider, published in the book
"Österreich und die Banater Schwaben", editor: Hans
Dama,
Translated by Nick Tullius
Published at DVHH.org 19 Oct 2007 by Jody McKim Pharr.
Robert Reiter (1899-1989) was born in Temeswar as the
son of a shoemaker and a laundress. After attending a
Hungarian high school, he studied language, literature,
and philosophy in Budapest and Vienna. He was on the
staff of the avant-garde newspaper "Ma" ("Today") in
Budapest and Vienna, with interruptions, until 1924. As
a student with social-democratic inclinations, he
published articles and translations in both the German
and Hungarian newspapers of Temeswar. In the summer of
1925 he became editor of the "Banater Deutsche Zeitung",
and then editor-in-chief (1929 - 1941). After the
conformity imposed by the national socialists, and the
renaming of the newspaper to "Südostdeutsche
Tageszeitung, Ausgabe Banat", he remained there until
August 1944, in charge of cultural policy, under a
newly-appointed chief editor. In January 1945 Reiter was
deported to forced labour in the Soviet Union. Upon his
return in 1948 he took part once again in the cultural
life of the Banat Germans, which was being reoriented by
Communist Romania along Marxist-Leninist guidelines.
Using the alias Franz Liebhard, the commentator now also
publishes original poems in German. From the
establishment of the German Theatre (Deutsches
Staatstheater Temeswar) in 1953, until 1968, he was its
dramatic advisor. Liebhard published several collections
of poems, such as "Glück auf " (1959) and "Miniaturen"
(1972), as well as books on regional culture and history
("Menschen und Zeiten" in 1970; "Banater Mosaik" in
1976; "Temeswarer Abendgespräch" in 1977). With poems
mostly translated from the Hungarian by Erika Scharf,
there is a rediscovery, before the end of his life, of
the avant-garde poet ("Abends ankern die Augen", 1989).
He won multiple prizes for his works. Robert
Reiter/Franz Liebhard died in Temeswar at the age of 90.
Also see:
Shift of Languages in the Works of
Robert Reiter by
Imre J. Balázs (Cluj/Romania)
