Writer and art collector Lothar-Günther Buchheim studied at the Academies of Art in Dresden and Munich before becoming a reporter in the German navy during World War II. He was stationed aboard the U-96 in 1941 and took part in submarine operations in the Atlantic Ocean and Straits of Gibraltar. He photographed and wrote about his experience for propaganda purposes, but in 1973 he wrote the novel Das Boot or The Boat, which carried an underlying anti-war message. This novel was made into a German film in 1981. He also wrote U-Boat War, which is a non-fiction work that includes more than 5,000 of his photos from the U-96. He was an art collector that founded a museum to house his collection. He died from heart failure at the age of 89 on February 22, 2007.
