Heinar Kipphardt (born in 1922 in Heinersdorf, died in 1982) studied Medicine at the University of Bonn. Whilst studying, he was conscripted into military service and sent to the Eastern Front where he deserted shortly before the end of the war. In 1947, he finished his studies and worked as a doctor for two years until he moved to East Berlin in 1949 where he worked as a dramaturge at the Deutsches Theater from 1950 to 1959. He came third in the National GDR Award for the play Shakespeare dringend gesucht. In 1958, he fell out with the cultural politics of the GDR Politbüro and moved to West Germany. Kipphardt had a considerable success with the play In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer (1964) (In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer) in both parts of divided Germany. In the following years, he was given numerous awards, among them the Gerhart Hauptmann Award (1964), and the Adolf Grimme Award (1965).