Bettina Hürlimann

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Bettina Hürlimann (born June 19, 1909 in Weimar ; † July 9, 1983 in Zollikon , Switzerland ) was a German-Swiss children's book author and publisher .

Life

Bettina Hürlimann came as the daughter of the bookseller Gustav Kiepenheuer and Irmgard Kiepenheuer, nee Spark to the world. In the same year Kiepenheuer founded the Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag . The mother also helped with the publishing house. Bettina was the oldest daughter, which is why she had to look after her siblings when their parents worked in the publishing house. As a little girl she was fascinated by the publishing profession.

At the end of the First World War, the Kiepenheuers moved to Potsdam , where their parents divorced some time later. Afterwards, the parents lived separately on two houseboats; In 1921 Irmgard moved with the children into a house called "Fasanerie", but their father stayed close to them. The mother teamed up with Hans Müller, who had founded his own publishing house in 1919, which was renamed "Müller & I. Kiepenheuer Verlag" in 1925.

In addition to attending grammar school, Bettina Hürlimann began painting at an early age and became enthusiastic about art. “Painting and drawing, even on school trips, opened my eyes to the beauties of the world and art,” she noted in her diary. This passion stayed with her for a lifetime.

After graduating from high school, Bettina Hürlimann trained at the Academy for Graphic Arts and Book Industry and at the Bibliographical Institute in Leipzig . Then she applied for the first time at Atlantis Verlag , but she still had too little professional experience. The following years took Bettina Hürlimann as an intern for typography, first to Bristol , and later to Berlin , where she started a traineeship at Atlantis Verlag in 1931. It was around this time that she began to publish her first articles. Two years later, in 1933, she married the Swiss publishing director Martin Hürlimann . They had four children; her second daughter is the well-known children's and youth author Regine Schindler .

Shortly before the start of the Second World War, the family moved to Zollikon . Since then, Bettina has been working at the publishing house again, where she concentrated on managing the children's and picture book department.

In the 1950s, Bettina discovered a new passion: traveling. She has been to Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada and the USA, among others. During a stay in Japan in 1961, thanks to a Swiss book exhibition supervised by her husband, she was able to make important contacts with children's book experts.

Bettina also devoted herself more and more to writing. In addition to numerous articles, her book Die Welt im Bilderbuch , an internationally successful work on the literary history of children's books, was also published . Bettina Hürlimann worked for the publishing house until 1974. In the last ten years of her life she was known worldwide as a children's book specialist. She has worked for several newspapers, lectured all over the world, including the International Board of Trustees for Young People's Books , and was a jury member for the Biennale of Illustrations in Bratislava (BIB). In addition to her work as an author, she also translated children's books. Thanks to her passion and work, she left behind an extensive children's book collection that is accessible at the Swiss Institute for Children's and Youth Media (SIKJM).

On July 9, 1983, Bettina Hürlimann died after years of illness.

plant

Non-fiction

  • European children's books in three centuries . Atlantis, Zurich 1959
  • Jean de Brunhoff . A picture book author . Maier, Ravensburg 1959
  • Sound in the Creator's hand . Ueberreuter, Vienna 1963
  • The world in a picture book. Modern children's picture books from 24 countries . With Elisabeth Waldmann. Atlantis, Zurich 1965
  • Seven houses. A bookwife's notes . Autobiography. Artemis, Zurich 1976

Books for children and young readers

  • Michael's house. A story from the years after the Second World War . Atlantis, Zurich 1949
  • The ship from Byzantium. A story . Fretz, Zurich 1951
  • Small and big . Pictures by Marianne Scheel. Atlantis, Zurich 1965
  • Tell's boy . Based on a story by Jeremias Gotthelf . With pictures by Paul Nussbaumer. Atlantis, Zurich 1965
  • Barry . Picture book . With illustrations by Paul Nussbaumer. Atlantis, Zurich 1967
  • Incident in Lerida and other texts by Bettina Hürlimann . Atlantis, Zurich 1979

literature

  • Regine Schindler-Hürlimann (compilation), Ruth Fassbind-Eigenheer (editing): The children's book collection Bettina Hürlimann. Complete catalog. Swiss Youth Book Institute Zurich 1992, ISBN 3-9520242-0-1

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hürlimann, Bettina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kiepenheuer, Bettina (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Swiss publisher and children's book author
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Weimar
DATE OF DEATH July 9, 1983
Place of death Zollikon