As son of a
locksmith he migrated in 1948 to the
Soviet occupation zone. His mother was named Emilie Anna L. Strahl (1902–1981), his father was Rudolf Strahl (1900–1944). Since 1950 he served in the
Volkspolizei, later in the
Kasernierte Volkspolizei and went to an
Officer Candidate School. His military term of service lasted eight years, at his retirement in the year 1959 he was
lieutenant of the
NVA. During his term of service he was an employee of the publishing house of the
Ministry of National Defense. 1956 he married Alice Strahl, with whom he had two sons, Bob Strahl (1959–1997), likewise a writer, and Stefan Strahl (born 1969), who makes music. His two brothers were Harry Strahl (1924–1945(?)) and
Manfred Strahl (1940–2000). 1955 he published with
Sturm auf Stollberg (
Storming of Stollberg) his first narrative. 1957/58 he visited the
Institute for Literature „Johannes R. Becher“. From 1959 until 1961 he was editor of the satirical magazine „
Eulenspiegel“. Afterward, he worked in Berlin as a freelancer. 1973 he became a member of the
GDR's Writer Union and was belonging to its presidium since 1978. 1980 he joined the GDR
PEN centre. His grave is located on the
Dorotheenstadt cemetery in Berlin. His books reached a total edition of about 4.6 million copies, his theatre plays had more than 560 stagings. Rudi Strahl's works were translated into 26 languages. He scripted numerous movies and television plays. Also his juvenile book
Du und ich und Klein-Paris (
You and I in litte Paris), published in Berlin's
Verlag Neues Leben, was filmed 1970 by the
DEFA. His piece
Er ist wieder da (
He is back again) grounded an original adaptation by
Peter Hack with the title
Barby. Rudi Strahl's relation to the reality of
real socialism was that of a sceptical GDR patriot, who – especially as theatre comic poet – has faith in the changeability of circumstances and wants to convey this faith in a cheerful way, but his pieces also definitely show lackings in the system and moral-political problems of an
affluent society. == Awards ==