Editing Erich Kästner (section)

===Munich (1945&ndash;1974)===

After the end of the war, Kästner moved to [[Munich]], where he became culture editor for the ''[[Die Neue Zeitung|Neue Zeitung]]'' and publisher of ''{{ill|Pinguin (magazine)|de|Pinguin (Jugendzeitschrift)|lt=Pinguin}}'', a magazine for children and young people. He was also active in literary [[cabaret]], in productions at the Schaubude (1945–1948) and [[Theater Die Kleine Freiheit|Die kleine Freiheit]] (after 1951), and in radio. During this time, he wrote a number of [[Sketch comedy|skits]], songs, audio plays, [[Public speaking|speeches]], and essays about [[Nazism|National Socialism]], the war years, and the stark realities of life in post-war Germany. Most notable among these works are ''Marschlied 1945'' and ''Deutsches Ringelspiel''. He also continued to write children's books, including ''{{ill|Die Konferenz der Tiere|de|Die Konferenz der Tiere (Roman)}}'' (''The Animals' Conference''), a pacifist satire in which the world's animals unite to successfully force humans to disarm and make peace. This picture book was made into {{ill|Die Konferenz der Tiere (film)|de|3=Die Konferenz der Tiere (Film)|lt=an animated film}} by Curt Linda. Kästner also renewed his collaboration with [[Edmund Nick]], whom he had met in Leipzig in 1929, when Nick, then Head of the Music Department at Radio Silesia, wrote the music for Kästner's radio play ''Leben in dieser Zeit''. Nick, now the Musical Director at the Schaubude, set more than 60 of Kästner's songs to music.

Kästner's optimism in the immediate post-war era gave way to resignation as Germans in the West attempted to normalize their lives following the economic reforms of the early 1950s and the ensuing "economic miracle" ("[[Wirtschaftswunder]]"). He became further disillusioned as Chancellor [[Konrad Adenauer]] remilitarized West Germany, made it a member of [[NATO]], and rearmed it for possible military conflict with the [[Warsaw Pact]]. Kästner remained a pacifist and spoke out at anti-militarist demonstrations against the [[nuclear weapons]] in West Germany. Later, he also took firm stand against the [[Vietnam War]]. Kästner began to publish less and less, partly because of his increasing alcoholism. He did not join any of the post-war literary movements in West Germany, and in the 1950s and 1960s he came to be perceived mainly as an author of children's books.

His novel ''Fabian'' was made into a movie in 1980, as were several of his children's books. The most popular of these adaptations are [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]'s 1961 American film ''[[The Parent Trap (1961 film)|The Parent Trap]]'' starring [[Hayley Mills]] and its [[The Parent Trap (1998 film)|1998 remake]] starring [[Lindsay Lohan]], both based on his novel ''Das doppelte Lottchen'' (''[[Lisa and Lottie]]''). In 1960, Kästner received the [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]] for ''Als ich ein kleiner Junge war'', his autobiography.<ref name=andersen/><ref name=ibby-kastner/> The English translation by Florence and Isabel McHugh, published as ''When I Was a Little Boy'' in 1959, won the [[Lewis Carroll Shelf Award]] in 1961. [[File:ErichKästner1968.jpg|thumb|Erich Kästner (left) in the [[Englischer Garten]], Munich, 1968]]
Kästner received several other awards, including the [[Deutscher Filmpreis|Filmband in Gold]] for best screenplay for the German film version of ''Das doppelte Lottchen'' (1950), the literary prize of the city of Munich in 1956, and the [[Georg Büchner Prize]] in 1957.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erich Kästner |url=https://www.deutscheakademie.de/en/awards/georg-buechner-preis/erich-kaestner |website=Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung |access-date=12 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The government of West Germany honored Kästner with its order of merit, the Bundesverdienstkreuz ([[Federal Cross of Merit]]), in 1959. In 1968 he received the {{ill|Lessing-Ring|de}} together with the literary prize of the German [[Freemasonry|Masonic Order]].

In 1951, Kästner was elected President of the [[International PEN|PEN]] Center of West Germany, and he remained in office until 1961. In 1965 he became President Emeritus. He was also instrumental in the founding of the [[Internationale Jugendbibliothek]], a library in Munich that collects and preserves children's and youth books from all over the world. In 1953 he was founding member of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People).

Kästner never married. He wrote his last two children's books, ''Der kleine Mann'' and ''Der kleine Mann und die kleine Miss'', for his son Thomas Kästner, who was born in 1957. Kästner frequently read from his works. In the 1920s, he recorded some of his poems of social criticism and in some of the films based on his books he performed as the narrator, as he did for the first audio production of ''Pünktchen und Anton''. Other recordings for [[Deutsche Grammophon]] include poems, epigrams, and his version of the folk tale ''[[Till Eulenspiegel]]''. He also read in theaters, such as the [[Cuvilliés Theatre]] in Munich, and for the radio, for which he read ''Als ich ein kleiner Junge war'' and other works.

Kästner died of esophageal cancer on 29 July 1974 in the Neuperlach Hospital in Munich. He was buried in the St. George cemetery in the [[Bogenhausen]] district of Munich. Shortly after his death, the Bavarian Academy of Arts established a literary prize in his name. Many streets in Germany<ref>[https://www.suche-postleitzahl.org/orte/beta-suche?q=erich%20k%C3%A4stner%20stra%C3%9Fe "Erich-Kästner-Straße" in Germany], Postleitzahlen Deutschland [Postal codes in Germany]</ref> and the asteroid [[12318 Kästner]] are named after him.<ref>[http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=12318 "(12318) Kästner = 1992 HD7"], [[Minor Planet Center]]</ref>