Buchheim, Lothar-Günther 1918-2007

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born February 6, 1918, in Germany; died of heart failure, February 22, 2007, in Germany. Author. Buchheim was famous as the author of the 1973 novel Das Boot, and was also a noted art collector. Having studied art at the Dresden Academy and Munich's Art Academy, he was a reporter during World War II. Part of his journalism work included an assignment about the German U-96 submarine. It was this experience that the writer later turned into Das Boot, which was translated in 1975 as The Boat and also adapted as an acclaimed film about the futility of war. He was also the author of the nonfiction title U-Boot-Krieg (1976), published as U-Boat War (1978). Although his writing gained him much acclaim, Buchheim was even more involved with the art world. He founded the Buchheim Museum, which grew from his personal collection and was noted for its expressionist artworks from Germany, as well as art from Africa, South America, Asia, and the Pacific. In 2001, Buchheim also opened the Fantasy Museum located on the shore of Lake Starnberg. He was the author of numerous books on art in his native German. Two of these have been translated into English as Picasso: A Pictorial Biography (1959) and The Graphic Art of German Expressionism (1960)

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, February 25, 2007, Section 4, p. 7.

Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2007, p. B10.

New York Times, February 24, 2007, p. B10.

Times (London, England), February 28, 2007, p. 64.

Washington Post, February 27, 2007, p. B7.