Becher, Johannes R (1891–1958)

German expressionist poet. His revolutionary antiwar sentiments were embodied in his exuberant early verse, which includes Verfall und Triumph/Decline and Triumph (1911–14) and An Europa/To Europe (1916). His work was characterized by apocalyptic images and telegrammatic exclamation.

At the end of World War I, Becher took part in the failed left-wing Spartacist revolt in Berlin. He joined the Communist Party, and was forced into exile when the Nazis came to power. He returned from the USSR in 1945 and settled in East Germany, where he was appointed minister for culture in 1954. Becher's later work, which was more conventional in tone, includes Heimkehr/Homecoming (1946), Nationalhymne der DDR/National Anthem of the GDR (1949), Liebe ohne Ruh/Love without Rest 1957, and Du bist für alle Zeit geliebt/You Are Loved for All Time (1960).