Fifty years ago, Ivo Andrić (1892-1975) received the Nobel Prize for Literature. In his opening remarks, DGAP President Arend Oetker stressed the dual nature of the commemoration: the diplomat and first resident of the Rauchstraße building and the Nobel Prize Laureate. Dr. Gereon Schuch, program director of the Center for Middle and Eastern Europe of the Robert Bosch Foundation and the organizer of the event, noted that foreign policy can be experienced through literature. This was made clear in Andrić’s most famous book, 1945’s “The Bridge on the Drina,” which was quoted by actress Cornelia Kühn-Leitz at the event.
The book is about the history of a bridge that connected the two parts of the city of Višegrad, which was divided by the river Drina, and created a multiethnic society. He had some good childhood memories in Višegrad even though there were differences between the ethnic groups, said author Saša Stanišić, who was born in Višegrad. But the situation escalated when Serbian troops overran the city in 1992, and his dream of a safe home was shattered. “The bridge will never again be only a bridge for me because of all the horrible things that took place there.” Stanišić wrote about his wartime experiences in “How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone, “ from which he read during the event. He describes the escape of a Bosnian-Serbian family from Višegrad to Germany and their horrible experiences.
French scholar Daniel Baric gave a lecture on today’s perception of Andrić’s work and the contemporary discussion on his political interpretation. During his lifetime, Andrić was in favor of the Yugoslav multinational state, but his work turned out to be controversial in a number of the successor states of former Yugoslavia. However, several states claimed him as their national hero and argued over who held the rights to publish his books.
The Western Balkans continues to face a number of problems, said former federal minister and High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina Christian Schwarz-Schilling during the post-lecture discussion. In his opinion, the international community has an obligation to support the states of the Western Balkans to return to Europe: “Germany and the EU could have prevented this horrible war back then.”. Because the German government did not support his proposal to intervene, he resigned from the government. Germany has accepted most refugees from Bosnia. He made a passionate plea for not returning them to misery in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
