The cardmaker's secret
The secret of the card maker is a historical novel by Rainer M. Schröder , which is set in and around Augsburg in 1490 . It was published in 2002 by Arena Verlag .
action
The 16-year-old Caspar is forced to break off his apprenticeship as a painter and sentenced to dungeon and pillory due to the defacement of the portrait of the canon . When he comes home, his brother and father despise him. Caspar's father is the owner of an inn. Caspar constantly dreams of discovering distant lands and exciting adventures. He has a special gift, a photographic memory with which he can memorize extremely complicated patterns.
The engraver Bartholomäus Wolkenstein, who owns an old mill outside the city wall, takes him to his apprenticeship. There he meets Klara, a girl of the same age who Bartholo has been doing the housework for several years. Master Bartholomew is a mysterious man who often locks himself up in a room that no one else is allowed to enter. He taught Caspar how to engrave as well as fencing, which he found very strange. In addition, Bartholo gets into trouble with the Inquisition because of his critical remarks about the conditions in the church . When the inquisitor Heinrich Institoris comes to Augsburg, Caspar is forced to report on alleged heretical statements. But through the warning of an abbot friend, Bartholomäus and Caspar are able to find suitable statements that exonerate Bartholomew.
After one day the traveling bookseller Quentel crawled half-dead into the courtyard, Bartholomäus lets Caspar and Klara in on his secret: he collects cards; especially maps that describe the west coast of Africa, the sea route to India. An old Viking map that gives hope for a western sea route is particularly important to him. Bartholomew's archenemy, Estevao de Serpa, is also after the map and ambushed Quentel, who had the map. He lures Bartholomew into a trap, but with the help of Caspar and Klara, Bartholomew manages to repel the attackers. In the fight, Estevao loses his sight. Shortly after their return, the cathedral henchmen come to the farm to arrest Bartholomew for heresy. The three try to flee, but only Caspar and Klara can hide. Bartholomew is arrested and taken to Augsburg. Together with Quentel, Klara and Caspar manage to free Bartholomew. Then the three travel together to Spain , where Caspar and Klara get married and in 1492 Caspar, together with Bartholomew's childhood friend Christoph Columbus, embarks on a journey of discovery to the west.
Awards
In 2003 the novel received both the Moers Youth Book Prize and the Book of the Month Prize from the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Jugendbuch Göttingen”.
literature
- Schröder, Rainer M .: The secret of the card maker . Arena Verlag, 2002