Deutsche Sex Illustrierte No 17 1976
Although he was a supporter of the Social Democrat politicians Gustav Heinemann and Willy Brandt, Troll's approach to politics was essentially non-partisan and, like his poetry, was often playful.[1] In 1950 he became one of the founding members of Werner Finck's Radikale Mitte (Radical Middle) party. Describing themselves as an "Association for Combating the Deadly Seriousness of the Time" and a "Parody Party", they were in favour of radicalism but opposed to extremism of both the Left and the Right. The party's symbol was a safety pin.[17] In his later years Troll was an active campaigner for libraries and for support, pension rights, and fair publishing contracts for authors.[15] He was one of the founders of the Förderkreis deutscher Schriftsteller, an organization that supports and sponsors writers in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and served as its first chairman from 1968 to 1977. He also served on the executive councils and committees of Verband deutscher Schriftsteller [de] (General Association of German Writers) and Süddeutschen Rundfunk (South German Radio). In 1978 he was elected Vice-President of the German branch of PEN International.[18]
Deutsche Sex Illustrierte No 17 1976
After a lengthy and severe depression, Thaddäus Troll committed suicide in his Stuttgart apartment with an overdose of sleeping pills on 5 July 1980.[14] He was 66 years old and had planned his own funeral before his death. At his wake the mourners were served his favourite dumplings and Trollinger wine. A Dixieland band accompanied him to his grave in the Steigfriedhof cemetery in Bad-Cannstatt.[19] He specified no lengthy graveside sermons, only the Lord's Prayer and a reading of his self-written obituary.[20] In the year following his death, the Förderkreis deutscher Schriftsteller established a literary award in his honour, the Thaddäus-Troll-Preis. That same year, Hoffmann & Campe published a posthumous anthology of his writings, Das große Thaddäus Troll-Lesebuch, which included Troll's self-written obituary.[21]
Krauß, Matthias. Die große Freiheit ist es nicht geworden. Was sich für die Ostdeutschen seit der Wende verschlechtert hat [It has not become the great freedom. What has worsened for East Germans since Reunification]. Berlin: Das Neue Berlin, 2019. 041b061a72