Christian Holsten

Christian Holsten , Low German Krüschan Holschen (born October 17, 1922 in Otterstedt ; † August 8, 1993 in Bremen ) was a Low German writer . He also worked as a lecturer and speaker in Low German broadcasts on Radio Bremen .

biography

The son of a designer went to secondary school in Bederkesa from 1937 after attending primary school in his birthplace . In 1941 he became a soldier in World War II. Even before he began studying German and philosophy in 1949 at the University of Hamburg , the young poet came out as "Holschen" with his first humorous volume of poems, stories and a one-act act in Low German. This was later reissued several times.

After completing his studies, the author worked as a freelance writer in Bremen and published other successful books with Low German poetry and prose, but a travelogue was also published in book form. Holsten also tried his hand at a playwright, for example with the three-act play Koornblomen for the Smuuskater , which was first performed as Kattenjammer on January 15, 1984 by the Ohnsorg Theater . Most recently, he and his wife Marion wrote the play De Bregendöscher (1991), a “flat düütschen Smüsterkrimi in 5 Optöög”.

However, Holsten had gained notoriety above all through his extensive recitation activities with regard to his own works. His profoundly humorous to grotesque texts were particularly suitable for lectures. Holsten himself often brought them without a manuscript, which means that texts sometimes developed over the years. Many radio broadcasts of his poems or short stories were broadcast on Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Radio Bremen , where he also worked elsewhere as a speaker. Holsten also spoke his texts for records, for example within the series Low German Voices .

Holsten was married to Marion Holsten, b. Haubold. They both had two children. He lived in Bremen- Horn in the 1960s and then in Borgfeld (Rethfeldsfleet).

Act

Holsten is considered one of the classics of modern Low German literature. Within Low German, the author is also considered to be the creator of some neologisms . Lyrical works by Holsten were partly set to music as songs.

An audio book published by Quickborn-Verlag , Pinneberg , in which the speaker Manfred Andersen, based on Holsten's inspiring way of speaking, for the first time presents the author's Low German stories, was published posthumously in 2005. Afterwards, more Holsten audio books with this speaker were published. Other Low German reciters such as Ivo Braak had also read Holsten texts for recordings beforehand.

Honors

• Holsten received the Fritz Reuter Prize from the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in 1976 .
• The Christian-Holsten Street in Bremen- Borgfeld was named in 2000 after him.

Works

Bibliography (selection)

• Holschen . 1948
• The healthy Karkenslaap and other Smüstergeschichten . 1962.
• With the big hummingbirds in Unkel Sam sien country . 1963.
• Hochtietsgrusen . 1969.
• Riemelreegen . 1974.

radio play

• 1961: Homuncula - A Low German radio game from the year 3000 - Producer: NDR - Composition: Fernando Seeger ;

Director: Heinz Lanker , with Hartwig Sievers (distributor), Gisela Wessel (Homunkula), Karl-Heinz Kreienbaum (Holschen), Walther Bullerdiek (Der Herr vun de Moral), as well as Otto Schröder , Gertrud Ziegeler-Norgall and Max Zawislak

Playing time: 24'05 minutes. The audio document is still preserved.

Discography (selection)

• Author readings
  • De Gesunne Karkenslaap - Dree Wunner (25 cm LP, EA 1966)
  • Dat souvenirs - Hochtietsgrusen (25 cm LP, EA 1967)
  • De Wiehnachtsmann - Zisch (30 cm LP, EA 1972)

Web links

• Literature by and about Christian Holsten in the catalog of the German National Library
• Christian Holsten in the Low German Bibliography and Biography (PBuB)