Bertolt Brecht

The Biography of Bertolt Brecht Bertolt Brecht was born on February 10, 1898 in Augsburg, Germany. His first poems, heavily influenced by Rimbaud and Verlaine, were published at age 16. He served as an orderly in the German army during the First World War, but by its end was deeply disenchanted, not only with the war, but also with society in general. His first play, Baal, was written in 1918 in response to Hanns Johst's tragedy, The Lonely Man. …

…rtant European director; Suhrkamp Verlag in Frankfurt am Main (West Germany) and Aufbau Verlag (East Berlin) begin publishing the edition of Brecht's works 1955 Brecht accepts the Stalin prize in Moscow (he requests that Boris Pasternak translate his acceptance speech); Berliner Ensemble on tour in Paris for the second time, with Der kaukasische Kreidekreis; 1956 Rehearsals of Leben des Galilei under Brecht's direction and preparation of the Berliner Ensembles tour to London with that production.