Hellmuth Karasek dies

Literary critic Hellmuth Karasek died. His family confirmed his death with the German news agency DPA. According to the newspaper Bild, Karasek passed away in a hospital in Hamburg.

Karasek became well known for his participation in the German TV program "Das literarische Quartett," which translates as 'the literary quartet.' The show was dedicated to debating literary issues, which he did along with his co-hosts Marcel Reich-Ranicki (1920-2013), Austrian journalist Sigrid Löffler, and German author Ulrich Greiner. Karasek was part of the show for twelve years until it was cancelled in 2001.

Career path as a journalist

Karasek was born January 4, 1934 in the city of Brünn in Moravia, which is located in the present-day Czech Republic. He started his career as a journalist at the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and moved on to work for the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit," where he was a theatre critic.

Later he worked for more than 20 years for the culture department of "Der Spiegel," one of Germany's most revered news and current affairs magazines, while contributing to a number of German newspapers, including "Die Welt" and "Hamburger Abendblatt."

Karasek published a book about his experience in culture journalism called "Das Magazin" (English translation: 'The Magazine') in addition to various other novels, which he had written over the years.

He continued to pen stories until 2013 and enjoyed taking part in book tours to introduce his work to audiences across Germany.

ss/bw (dpa, bild.de)