Heinz, Stefan (pseudonyms: Hans Kehrer, Vetter Matz vun Hopsenitz)
Banat Teacher, Actor, Playwright & Poet
Born 28 Feb 1913 in Kleinsanktpeter (Totina),
son of Peter Heinz and Anna.
Lived in Temeswar, teacher, actor, playwright, member of the Writers’ Association of the RSS; prize of the Writers’ Association of the RSS 1975.
Stefan Heinz author of text to notable Banat artist Franz Bittenbinder, who created hundreds of inimitable caricatures for the dialect supplement of the Neue Banater Zeitung, together they shouldered the effort of innumerable journeys.
STEFAN HEINZ KEHRER died on December 18, 2009 in Berlin, at the age of 96 years.
He was closely connected to the fate of the Banat Swabians and especially with the history of German theater in Romania.
Stefan Heinz was born 1913 in Kleinsanktpeter (Totina) in the Banat. He attended high school (Realgymnasium) and die German Catholic Teachers’ College (Lehrerbildungsanstalt) in Temeswar. From 1932 to 1952 (with interruptions due to WWII) he worked as a teacher in several Banat-Swabian villages. Under pseudonym Hans Kehrer, he published poetry and prose, including the beloved stories in Banat-Swabian dialect.
In 1953 he joins the newly-created German State Theatre of Temeswar. His career as actor and playwright will be closely identified with that theatre.
Since 1980 Kehrer lived in Germany, where he continued his public and artistic endeavors, in the service of his Banaters. In 2001 he received the German Federal Order of Merit, First Class (Bundesverdienstkreuz I. Klasse), for his merits in the promotion of Banat-German culture in his old and his new homeland.
[abbreviated translation by Nick Tullius]
Author of:
IM ZANGENGRIFF DER ZEITEN – Ein langes Leben-in kurzen Geschichten
“A long life in short stories”
Und es wird Friede sein [And there will be peace], poems, 1953
Und wir marschierten [And we were marching], poems, 19561
Mein Sportbuch [My sports book], 1957
Versunkene Acker [Sunken acres], Drama, 1962
Es geht am die Heirat [It is about marriage], comedy in dialect, 1966
Braut mit Auto [Bride with a car], comedy, 1970
Narrenbrot[Fools’bread], drama, 1974, auch rumänisch
Meister Jakob and seine Kinder [Master Jakob and his children], dramatization of the novel by Adam Müller‑Guttenbrunn, 1977
Der Spatzenbaum [The sparrow tree], Children’s’ book, 1977
Gschichte vum Vetter Matz [Stories by Cousin Matz], Timisoara: 1979 ; 143 S. (12:16) Kart. — * 1913 in Kleinsanktpeter Krs. Temesch
Co-author of:
Schwowische Gsätzle [Swabian Verses], dialect poems, 1969
Schwowisches Volksbuch [Swabian People’s Book], prose and plays in dialect, 1970
Pipatsch-Buch [Poppies-Book], prose in dialect, 1972
Publisher of:
Adam Müller‑Guttenbrunn: Meister Jakob and seine Kinder [Master Jakob and his children], 1978
Sources:
1Banater deutsche Autoren der Gegenwart 1980 von Edward Schneider, NBZ –Volkskalender 1980 Banat-German Authors of the Present – A bio-bibliographic list by Eduard Schneider. Bio information translated by Nick Tullius; contributed and published by Jody McKim 10 Nov 2009.
2Deutsche Literatur im Banat (1840-1939): der Beitrag der Kulturzeitschriften zum banatschwäbischen Geistesleben. Author: Engel, Walter. Publisher: Julius Groos Verlag, Heidelberg, 1982. [Published by Jody McKim, DVHH.org 10 Nov 2009]
Antiquariat Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Einhorn
Published at DVHH.org by Jody McKim Pharr
Last updated: 07/25/2025