Life
Ernst Hinterberger was born and died in Vienna. He was the son of an unemployed typesetter, who died when Ernst was seven. He completed training as an electrician, then from 1950 to 1952 he trained at the Vienna Police School to be a police officer, but had to leave a few weeks after beginning work because he suddenly needed glasses, which was not acceptable at the time. Following his time with the police, he first worked as a labourer. In 1958 he married and attended the City of Vienna's Library School, following which he worked for ten years as a librarian in adult education centres. After these libraries were closed in 1968, he worked in shipping in a factory until his retirement in 1991. He was unwilling to rely on writing to provide his entire income. He has lung damage from the factory work.
Hinterberger discovered literature in the 1950s through the Bavarian author Oskar Maria Graf; he began writing when he was 24 or 25 years old.
Since approximately 1954, Hinterberger had lived in a 44 square metre city-owned flat on the Margaretengürtel in Vienna. His first wife, Margarete ("Gerti") died in 2001 after 45 years of marriage, nine months before the 2002 publication of his book Ein Abschied. Lebenserinnerungen ("A Farewell: Life Memories"). In that book he said he was resigned and wanted nothing more to do with the world. Hinterberger had since remarried, to Karla.
Hinterberger was a practising Buddhist and had written poems in Chinese style, but they have never appeared in German.
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