The little Vampire

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The Little Vampire is the title of a book series that was written by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg from 1979 onwards . The children's books have been sold over twelve million times and have been translated into over 30 languages. The adventures of the little vampire have also been published in the form of radio plays , comics , feature films , television series and musicals .

The basic idea for the story of the little vampire dates back to 1976, when Sommer-Bodenburg wrote short stories about the adventures of a little vampire and a human boy for her school class at the time.

The books are about the friendship between the human child Anton and the vampire child Rüdiger. Anton loves scary stories, especially about vampires, and so they quickly become friends when Rüdiger visits him surprisingly. However, Anton's parents are not allowed to find out that Rüdiger is a vampire.

Little by little, Anton gets to know other members of Rüdiger's vampire family. So his younger sister Anna and the capricious older brother Lumpi. Anna is mainly the reason that Anton is so little interested in the girls in his class. Anton's mother was particularly fond of classmate Tatjana, who lives in the next house. But Anton is only interested in Anna.

Anton's nocturnal excursions with the borrowed vampire cape create excitement, as do the nightly problems that the vampires have. For example rain (for which there are so-called rain skins made of rubber), garlic, moving with a coffin and the cat and mouse game with the vampire hunter Geiermeier.

In 2015 the last volume in the series was published, with which the series has come to a close.

Main characters in the books

Anton Bohnsack

Nine-year-old Anton is in the third grade and enjoys reading horror novels, preferably about vampires, e.g. B. stories by Sheridan Le Fanu or Hugh Walpole . He has numerous adventures to endure with his two vampiric friends and over time he himself becomes more and more courageous. Through his vampire friends, Anton learns more and more about their existence. Anton is very loyal and helpful to them. In this way he not only saves Rüdiger and Anna from numerous dangers, but also helps their dangerous relatives to get away with "life" safely. Of course, through his acquaintance with the vampires, he has trouble with his parents. When one day they drag him to a psychologist, Anton manages that they too have to go to marriage therapy. Anton later owed his holiday in Romania to this marriage therapy. But in the end Anton realizes how dangerous it can be to be friends with vampires when he is attacked and bitten by Rüdiger's friend Olga during a vampire party.

Rüdiger von Schlotterstein

The little vampire Rüdiger was born on October 18, 1810 and became a vampire at the age of ten. He is celebrating his eleventh birthday with Anton. Because of his strenuous existence he is mostly concerned with himself and his own gain; nevertheless, he never abandons his friends. He shows Anton the world of vampires and does something with him as often as he can. The little vampire is in love with Olga von Soapenschwein, but she doesn't hear him and just takes advantage of him. He has a lot of respect for his big brother Lumpi and he tries to emulate him. There are typical sibling disputes between his sister Anna and himself. When Rüdiger and his family returned to Romania, Count Dracula ensured that Rüdiger had to do an apprenticeship with him. Returning to Germany, Rüdiger is now obviously very proud that his little sister Anna has been chosen to succeed Elisabeth the Sweetie.

Anna von Schlotterstein

Anna is the little sister of Rüdiger and Lumpi and was born on December 18, 1812. She became a vampire at the age of nine after being bitten by her grandfather. Her nickname is "Anna the Toothless" at the beginning, because she doesn't have real vampire teeth yet and has to feed on milk. She is in love with Anton and tries not to become a complete vampire, which she cannot prevent. Since she is the most sensible of the vampire children, but still dares to do a lot as the smallest, she is nicknamed "the brave". When her family returned to Romania, Anna was forced to drink blood because of a lack of milk and thus became a real vampire. She and her siblings do an apprenticeship with Count Dracula, but quickly falls out with him. The result is that the entire family falls out of favor with Dracula. Aunt Dorothee is sent back to Germany with the children. There, after new adventures, Anna is chosen as her successor by the chief vampire Elisabeth the sweet tooth.

Lumpi von Schlotterstein

Lumpi, nicknamed "the strong one", is Anna and Rüdiger's big brother. He was born on June 18, 1806 and became a vampire at the age of 14. Since he was in the middle of puberty, he often has a changeable temperament. He is sometimes very quick-tempered and makes fun of it, terrifying Anton over and over again. Nevertheless, Lumpi also wants Anton to become his friend. Lumpi is a member of a vampire men's group that he founded with his friends Jörg the quick-tempered and Waldi the vicious. In this group of men there is constant competition as to who is the better vampire or who has the longest fingernails. Lumpi later founds a men's music association with his brother Rüdiger, to which the human Anton should also join. But in Romania Lumpi shows Anton from a completely different side when he protects him from his relatives at the “reunification celebration” of the Schlottersteins. But when, contrary to expectations, Count Dracula appears, Lumpi is completely under his spell. He and his siblings go on a journey with the Count. But because of Anna Lumpi has to go back to Germany. His aunt Dorothee and siblings accompany him. He befriends the cemetery gardener Schnuppermaul. But when Anton's library, in cooperation with Geiermeier and Schnuppermaul, go on a night adventure trip to the cemetery, Lumpi tries to bite Schnuppermaul. But he still wants to be reconciled with him later and to revive the friendship.

Aunt Dorothee

Dorothee von Schlotterstein-Seifenschwein is the aunt of Rüdiger, Anna and Lumpi. She is one of the most bloodthirsty vampires and the only one who cares about the vampire children. She often acts as a strict governess who often spies on the children. Dorothee is a widow because her last husband, Theodor von Seifenschwein, was destroyed by the cemetery attendant Geiermeier. That's why she's always on the men. She has been married several times. The nobleman Einhart von Einfalt was one of her men, whom she annoyed to death. Dorothee falls in love with Igno von Rant, who, however, turns out to be a cheat shortly before the engagement. When the family returned to Romania, they fell in love with Count Dracula during a family celebration. But she has to return to Germany with the vampire children, as the family fell out of favor with the count thanks to Anna. Her relatives are trying to get Dracula to change his mind again. In order to be able to celebrate Rüdiger's birthday undisturbed, vampire friend Anton finally couples his dance teacher, Mr. Schwanenhals, with Dorothee. To everyone's astonishment, Aunt Dorothee and Mr. Schwanenhals fall in love with each other and Dorothee officially introduces him to the vampire community after she bit the dance teacher.

Minor characters in the books

Anton's parents

Helga Bohnsack is Anton's mother. She is a teacher and does not believe in vampires. She is annoyed and worried about her son's vampire mania. That's why she often reacts severely. But when Anton's father takes a photo of his son and Anna after a party and they are not shown in the photo, she takes notice. All of a sudden, Anton’s new friends become creepy and she now believes that Anna and Rüdiger are actually vampires. Anton's father, who thinks Anton's friends are strange but not vampires, can defuse the situation a little and so Anton's mother finally sends him to a psychologist.

Anton Bohnsack is Anton's father. Son Anton thinks it's stupid that he, his grandfather and his father have the same first name. Anton's father works in a mail order company and doesn't take his son's vampire fanatics that seriously. He is often the haven of calm in the arguments between Anton and his mother. Often in the mood for jokes, he tries to do a lot with Anton too. Anton's father is enthusiastic about everything adventurous, and so he goes on an adventure holiday with his son in the spring break in Jammertal, 50 km away, and a little later, in the summer break, with the whole family on a holiday in Transylvania .

Cemetery attendant Geiermeier

Hans-Heinrich Geiermeier has set himself the goal of driving away all vampires in the cemetery and turning the overgrown part of the cemetery into a park. He's always in a bad mood and smells of garlic, which he eats in abundance. He is suspicious of everything and everyone. His assistant Schnuppermaul is usually treated badly by him. Despite a heart attack, Geiermeier does not stop with his vampire hunt, but instead involved a vampire researcher in his dark plans. When this does not work, Geiermeier decides to set a clever trap for the vampires. Schnuppermaul and he organize a nightly "scary excursion" for children with the city library ... the children are their bait for the vampire hunt. His plan works because the vampires kidnap some children. But these are freed from the vampire children and their human friend. Geiermeier and Schnuppermaul are captured by the vampires and hung on a tree in the zoo. But later Geiermeier has problems with the police, because they don't do the vampire attack on the children for him.

Cemetery gardener Schnuppermaul

The simple-minded Wolf-Rüdiger Schnuppermaul comes from Stuttgart and is Geiermeier's assistant. His main concern is that he might get dirty or catch a cold during the nightly vampire hunts. He later even made friends with Lumpi. With this one, Rüdiger, Anna and Anton Schnuppermaul even celebrates a "vampire carnival". For this he adopts the "vampire name" little wolf of childhood love . When Geiermeier and he set a trap for the vampires (they organize a nightly "scary excursion" in cooperation with the city library), he is almost bitten by his friend Lumpi the strong and has to realize that Lumpi is a real vampire after all. Schnuppermaul is happy, however, when Lumpi apologizes to him through Anton and decides to be Lumpi's friend again. A few nights later Lumpi and Schnuppermaul talk to each other on a cemetery bench and renew their friendship.

Psychologist Schwartenfeger

Actually, Dr. Jürgen Schwartenfeger yes cure Anton's vampire fanaticism. But the psychologist has developed an extensive program with which he wants to cure vampires from the fear of sunlight, and is therefore very interested in them himself. He tells Anton that he has a vampire as a patient. To make sure that his program works, he still needs a vampire as a patient. So he got the little vampire Rüdiger through Anton and gave him a few trial lessons.

Igno from Rant

Igno von Rant is a patient of Dr. Jürgen Schwartenfeger. Although he is on Dr. Schwartenfeger and Anton looked like a vampire, but he denied being a vampire. But after a few treatments with Dr. Schwartenfeger was able to stay outside of his coffin for Igno von Rant during the day. Finally, he proposes to Aunt Dorothee to get into the family crypt. Later, however, Anton found out through a chance observation that Igno von Rant was a person whose real name is August Piepenschnurz and who is presumably a professor of “vampirology”. Anton suspected Igno von Rant the whole time and doubted from the start whether he was really a vampire. Rüdiger and Anna, however, were so blinded that they hadn't noticed anything and only accused Anton of “jealousy”. Anton also recognized that Professor Piepenschnurz was working with the cemetery attendant Geiermeier and had received information about the vampires from him. Geiermeier himself only contacted the professor by post, because at that time he was staying in a spa hotel in the far away Teufelsbrück because of a previously suffered heart attack.

Olga, Miss Soap Pig

Olga is the niece of Uncle Theodor and Aunt Dorothee. She once lived in a Transylvanian castle to which Count Draculas' castle was adjacent. In her children's coffin, she witnessed how the parents were destroyed by vampire hunters and how their castle was burned down by them. Olga is still trauma because of it and is not afraid of anything like loud knocks on a door.

Because of her noble origins, Olga is very snooty, arrogant and likes to use others for her own benefit. Since Olga is particularly pretty for the usual vampire standards and has some imaginations about it, she tries to win Anton over. She plays the vampire children and Anton off against each other, and that is precisely why there is open hostility between Anna and Olga. Rüdiger, who is in love with her, is only used by her for her personal purposes. Nevertheless, one evening Olga succeeds in biting the human Anton, unintentionally causing the break between Rüdiger and herself.

The Schlottersteins

The remaining family members of the von Schlottersteins appear irregularly in the books; mostly Anton only sees their coffins in the crypt. Sabine the Terrible is the head of the family. She and her husband, Wilhelm der Desert, are the grandparents of Rüdiger, Anna and Lumpi. The parents of the vampire children are Ludwig the Terrible and Hildegard the Thirsty. Brunhilde von Fledderzahn is a hard-of-hearing great-aunt who lives in Romania and to whom the Schlotterstein family moves back for a short time.

Other secondary characters

Jörg the quick-tempered and Waldi the vicious are Lumpi's best friends. Together they are in a men's group, a music club and regularly organize bowling tournaments or nail art.

Plot of books

1 the little vampire

Anton Bohnsack is at home alone on a Saturday evening. When he comes out of the kitchen, he notices that a vampire has sneaked into his room. Rüdiger, the little vampire, befriends Anton. It is astonishing for Anton, because the vampire admits to him his fear of the dark and his preference for scary vampire stories. Anton then gives his favorite book Dracula to the vampire. A little later, Rüdiger brings Anton a vampire cape so that both can go on excursions and have adventures. One evening Rüdiger introduced him to his little sister Anna. Anton is invited by Rüdiger to visit the von Schlotterstein family's crypt, the vampires' hideout. There he met Lumpi the Strong, the big brother of the two vampire children. However, Anton experiences Lumpi's irascible outburst in the crypt and has been terrified of it ever since. Aunt Dorothee almost caught him in the crypt, who smelled his blood. Anton hides in Rüdiger's coffin while he tries to lure his aunt out of the crypt.

Anton's parents would like to meet their son's new boyfriend. So they compel Anton to promise to invite Rüdiger to tea next Wednesday. Anton pulls himself out of this situation by inviting Udo Holzapfel, a school friend, to his place. Anton lends him the vampire cloak and Udo appears disguised on Wednesday. So Udo then represents the vampire Rüdiger. But the situation quickly becomes precarious when Anton’s father shows up: Udo suddenly leaves for home. When Anton asked why he was leaving so quickly, he replied that Anton's father was his father's work colleague. One evening later, Anton comes home from a trip with Anna, he is confronted by his parents. Contrary to expectations, Anton's father had recognized Udo. Anton has to admit that he didn't dare to invite Rüdiger home. The Bohnsacks invite Anton's new friends again and it will be an unusual evening, because Anna and Rüdiger now appear badly made up in their vampire robes.

After the visit, Anton's mother explains that their Rüdiger and Anna are scary and that they could very well be vampires. Anton's father defused the situation a little by convincing the mother that there were only two children who like to dress up exceptionally.

2 The little vampire is moving

The little vampire was thrown out of the crypt because Aunt Dorothee found out that he has contact with people. With the help of his brother Lumpi, Rüdiger forces Anton to be allowed to set up his coffin in his parents' cellar. A stressful time begins for Anton, because he not only has to prevent his parents from entering the cellar, but also has problems with the neighbors, who notice the strong smell of Rüdiger. One night there is a big festival of vampires in the ruins in Jammertal. Anton attends the ball dressed as a vampire and appropriately made up. There he is introduced by Rüdiger as an Italian vampire named "Antonio Bohnsackio the Dark" and learns a lot about the unusual festivities of vampires, such as a scent competition to determine which vampire smells the most. Nobody notices at the festival that Anton is human. Anton also sees a large, coarse vampire there, who he notices above all because of his shaved skull: Jörg the quick-tempered. He later turns out to be Lumpi's best friend and is also his great role model. When Anna and Anton later go for a walk in the Burggarten, he almost falls into Aunt Dorothee's hands.

A curious neighbor, Ms. Puvogel, complains to the caretaker that it stinks in the basement "... and there especially in front of the beanbag basement!" Now it's getting tricky for Anton and his friends. He now decides to visit Anna in the cemetery. There he is almost bitten again by Aunt Dorothee and once again rescued by Anna at the last moment. So they both flee to Anton's school, where they hide in Anton's class and there Anton learns that the ban on crypts has been lifted. Rüdiger is allowed to move back into the family crypt.

The two children carry Rüdiger's coffin to the cemetery. While trying to lift it over the high cemetery wall, Anton accidentally injures Anna in the ankle. Weeping and angry, Anna leaves Anton and carries the coffin alone into the crypt. Back home, Anton notices that Anna is actually more than just a friend to him ... but doesn't want to admit it to himself at this moment.

One evening later, Rüdiger visits him and asks Anton on Anna's behalf whether he is still angry with her. When Anton denies this, Anna comes flying into the room and makes up with him again.

3 The little vampire is traveling

The beanbags want to spend their vacation on a farm. Since Anton doesn't like this idea very much, he persuades the little vampire to come along. This is ultimately easier than Anton had thought: On Anna's vampire day, Anton learns that Rüdiger has to hide from Lumpis' best friend, Jörg the quick-tempered, for a while. But Anton experiences a furious outburst of anger from Lumpis in the crypt when Lumpis breaks a fingernail during the game "Blind Cow" and swears revenge on him.

The children decide to disguise Rüdiger as a person and to wrap the coffin in wrapping paper. Then Anton and Rüdiger should take the train to the resort. Anton gets the tickets with his pocket money and brings Rüdiger his Tyrolean costume with him that evening . Anton actually wanted to bring Rüdiger his new jeans and a shirt, but his mother had packed them in Anton's suitcase and locked them. So only the Tyrolean remained for Rüdiger. Then the children set off for the train station. In a kiosk, Anton is given a roll of cabinet paper so that the children can now also pack the coffin. When Anna says goodbye to him lovingly, Anton notices how jealous Rüdiger reacts to Anton's friendship with Anna.

On the train, Rüdiger and Anton make the acquaintance of a talkative lady named Frau Giftich , who does not immediately recognize Rüdiger as a vampire because of her bad eyes and misplaced glasses. After Mrs. Giftich found her glasses again thanks to the conductor and recognized Rüdiger as a vampire, she passed out. Anton and Rüdiger now have to walk the rest of the way to the farm.

4 The little vampire on the farm

The holiday on the farm promises to be exciting for Anton. But the strange environment with chickens and pigs is quite uncomfortable for the little vampire. He can only feed on eggs that he suckles out at night. This is noticed by the farmer, Mrs. Hering, and she blames Anton for these pranks. But when Anton denies everything, Frau Hering calls the village doctor to the farm. From the farmer's daughter Johanna, Anton learns that this village doctor is particularly interested in vampires. In the evening, Dr. Rummage man up with his dog and Anton can lure him into the horse stable in time, where he claims to have seen a big black man there. But now Anton's parents decide to do more with their son. But after a night hike, Anton is sick and the parents call the village doctor Stöbermann. On a night trip to the neighboring village, Rüdiger and Anton are mistaken for a young farmer couple with two holiday children from Berlin. The two can barely leave the dust and quarrel on the onward flight. After Rüdiger had tampered with the eggs again, Stöbermann reappeared on the farm with his huge dog. When Anton wanted to warn Rüdiger, he found him packing. Through Anna, who is visiting that evening, Rüdiger had found out that Lumpi had had an argument with Jörg the quick-tempered and that Jörg had now moved out of the crypt. But before the return flight, Rüdiger absolutely wants to strengthen himself with human blood and Anna and Anton are now supposed to help him find a victim. The little vampire ends up in the house of the vampire-savvy village doctor Stöbermann and is caught by him. Rüdiger can only be freed from Anton with effort and cunning. Stöbermann Anton’s parents can’t tell anything about his adventure with the little vampire, because the Bohnsack family is going back to town the next morning.

5 The little vampire and the great love

Anton comes home from his pottery class. In the kitchen he meets his father who points out that a "mysterious visit" is waiting in his room. Anton is very confused because he doesn't know who the visitor is. He is relieved when he meets the vampire girl Anna in his room. But she is very upset: Her snooty cousin Olga von Seifenschwein from Transylvania came to visit and moved into the Schlotterstein crypt. Her brother Rüdiger immediately fell in love with Olga and is now downright a slave to her. Aunt Dorothee also does everything in her power to make the stay of the spoiled niece as pleasant as possible, as she is Olga's last "living" relative.

Later, Olga even urges Anton to throw a party - a "Transylvanian Night" - in his apartment. But the party quickly gets completely out of hand: Olga and Rüdiger transform the living room of the beanbags into a battlefield. Anna uses a trick to drive Olga, and with it her brother Rüdiger, from Anton's apartment. When Anton's parents come home unexpectedly early and see the mess, the disaster is complete. In addition, Anton’s father takes photos of Anna and Anton. Anna, blinded by the flashlight, starts to flee. But she has no idea what the consequences will be.

One evening after the party, Anna visits Anton in pouring rain. She tells him that Olga disappeared headlong from the crypt and that Rüdiger has lost his will to live. Both set out for the cemetery, where they find Rüdiger under a weeping willow. While Anna withdraws, Anton explains to his friend Rüdiger that Olga has left for Paris to visit a cousin there. That was not true because Anton had just made up the story, but it helps Rüdiger to get over his lovesickness.

6 The little vampire in danger

Cemetery attendant Geiermeier and his assistant Schnuppermaul have finally made it: The two of them receive a grant of 5000 DM from the city for "beautification work" on the cemetery. Now the overgrown part of the cemetery where the vampires live is to be turned into a park. For the vampires, this means that they have to leave the crypt. And it was precisely during this difficult time that Anna fell ill. She retained an eye infection after Anton's party. While trying to protect the crypt from the cemetery gardeners, Anton is caught by them. After Anton Geiermeier was able to escape once more, he visits Anna in the crypt and she in turn compels Anton to promise to get "devil's tears" as soon as possible. During this night Anton gets to know the secret emergency exit of the vampires through Anna, which begins in Uncle Theodors coffin and ends in an old well.

Anton’s parents have now had the party photo developed and notice that only Anton can be seen on it. Anna is missing on this recording. Concerned that Anton's strange friends might actually be vampires, they send him to his family doctor, Dr. Dösig, where he has to be examined and there the eye drops are prescribed for Anna. On the pretext of having to practice for a sports festival, Anton runs off in the evening to give Anna the eye drops. He falls into Lumpi's arms, who wants to hypnotize him and bite him. Anton can just save himself by putting the bottle with the eye drops in Lumpi's mouth.

But new problems come up to Anton: His family doctor couldn't find anything and now suspects that he has “mental problems”; she refers Anton to a psychologist. In a later nightly action, during which Anton Geiermeier and Schnuppermaul can distract, the vampires move with their coffins to the ruins in the Jammertal.

7 The little vampire in the valley of tears

After all, it's Christmas and Anton receives a voucher for an adventure vacation. His father allows him to choose the place to camp himself. It goes without saying that he opts for the Vampire Valley, the new home of the vampires. A little later Anna visits him and she also gives Anton a present: She has developed a new perfume from cemetery roses and named this Mufti Eternal Love . She gives Anton a bottle with the words that you will never feel lonely again with Mufti Eternal Love.

But shortly before the start of the trip, the mother suddenly decides to stay at home. And so only Anton and his father travel. Both live together in the "Wolfshöhle", a small cave near the castle ruins. The next day Anton and his father explore the castle ruins. While Anton's father is busy with the old organ in the ruins, Anton sneaks into the cellar. There he finds the hiding place of the vampire family. But to his horror, a coffin is missing. Worried and excited, he now opens the coffins, but forgets to properly close the coffin lid of Rüdiger's mother. Meanwhile, Anton’s father was seriously injured on the organ. So Anton has to go back upstairs without having the time to properly close the coffin lid. One evening later he meets Rüdiger. He tells Anton that it was noticed in the new vampire crypt that someone was there and Anna could only arouse suspicion with a lie. Rüdiger now invites Anton to join him for a bowling evening with Lumpi and Jörg the quick-tempered in the old country inn Zum Jammerlappen . After Anton Rüdiger inaugurated the “secret of bowling” (you have to roll the ball!) , Rüdiger can actually beat his vampire friends and win the bowling tournament. As a reward for his victory, Rüdiger Anton promises to read from the family chronicle. Satisfied, Anton returns to his father in the Wolf Cave.

8 The little vampire reads aloud

Anton's father brought his mother to the valley of tears because of his injured hand. Anton and his family have to move to Freudental. Of course he doesn't want to. But after finding out that Freudental is in the immediate vicinity of Jammertal and that it can be reached from there in just 20 minutes, Anton finally agrees.

Arrived in Freudental, Anton sets up his tent in the orchard. And in the evening he sets off into the valley of tears. But on his way to Rüdiger, Anton meets Lumpi, who now also wants to know Anton's “bowling tricks”. He explains to Anton that he and Jörg the quick-tempered fell out over Rüdiger's victory. So they both go to the inn and start bowling for Lumpi. But unfortunately he breaks one of his fingernails - so shortly before the nail treatment - and blames Anton for it. With the threat that he would come up with something that Anton would never forget, he makes off and leaves Anton alone in the inn. With his nerves ready, Anton is now making his way back to Freudental.

In the meantime, Rüdiger manages to persuade his grandmother to officially read the old family chronicle of the von Schlotterstein family and to become as mature and wise as an adult vampire . One evening later, the little vampire Anton reads from the family chronicle in the dilapidated castle chapel. He reports on those events in which Anton helped the vampires, but Rüdiger passed off all deeds as his. Rüdiger is reminded of his unhappy love for the vampire lady Olga. Before that, however, Anton observed a dispute between the grandparents of the little vampire about the souvenirs of Count Dracula.

A few evenings later, Rüdiger reads Olga's story to Anton and Anton begins to understand why she has become so selfish. He later learns from Anna that Jörg the quick-tempered, Waldi the wicked, Lumpi and Rüdiger have founded a men's group. Anna discovered a wedding dress in the ruins and a suit for Anton. And once again he almost falls into Aunt Dorothee's hands there. Hiding in a chest, Anton learns from Aunt Dorothee about a mysterious citizens' movement called Save the Old Cemetery . He also learns that Geiermeier had to go to the hospital after a heart attack. The vampires now decide to return to their tomb. The next day Anton and his parents want to go home and Anton has to keep the clothes for Anna, who is in love.

9 The little vampire and the scary patient

Anton has to see a psychologist again because of his shortened spring break. But it turns out that Dr. Schwartenfeger heads the citizens' initiative “Save the old cemetery” and believes in vampires himself. He even developed a desensitization program for vampires to take away their fear of sunlight. Dr. Schwartenfeger tells Anton that he recently had a mysterious patient who he believed was a vampire. Two sessions later, Anton meets this strange patient in the psychologist's office: He looks like a vampire and smells so musty. For Anton there is no doubt ... the patient is a vampire. Anton learns from Mr. Schwartenfeger that this patient, a certain Igno von Rant , can now leave his coffin half an hour before sunset, but claims that he is not a vampire. In addition, the patient should be interested in a widowed vampire lady, and Anton immediately thinks of Aunt Dorothee. Anton now wants to learn more about this patient and shares his two best friends, Anna and Rüdiger. But they don't take him seriously and don't believe that the patient is a vampire. Anton also learns from Anna that the men's group broke after the nail cut and that Lumpi and Rüdiger founded a men's choir.

10 The little vampire in the lion's den

Cemetery attendant Geiermeier is in hospital after a heart attack. Meanwhile, the cemetery gardener met Schnuppermaul at the cemetery Lumpi. Believing that he is only dressed up for a carnival party, he invites Lumpi, Anna, Rüdiger and Anton to a vampire party at Geiermeier's house. The buffet consists only of red dishes, but when Lumpi drinks a juice with alcohol, he gets sick and the party is over. Schnuppermaul recognized Anton in a later conversation, who met Geiermeier and him once in the cemetery.

Anton and psychologist Schwartenfeger want to get Rüdiger to take part in the desensitization program. In addition, the little vampire should be equipped with yellow clothes, sunglasses and sun protection cream. But Rüdiger is not very enthusiastic about this idea.

11 The little vampire and the light apparatus

There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the von Schlotterstein family: It seems that Olga will be visiting the crypt again in four to six weeks. Rüdiger, who is in love, now wants to voluntarily participate in Mr. Schwartenfeger's psychotherapy sessions. He wants to get used to the color yellow and should sit in front of a light device in order to harden himself against the later rays of the sun. This turns out to be more difficult than expected, especially because Rüdiger does not take the program against sun phobia seriously and often gets into arguments with Anton.

Aunt Dorothee meets a new admirer. Anna, who always has to go to the meetings as a guardian, tells Anton later that an Igno von Rant is courting his aunt. Anton realizes that the gentleman in question is the mysterious patient of Dr. Schwartenfeger acts. But Anton is now getting new problems himself: He contracted chickenpox from his school friend Henning and now has to stay at home for a whole week.

12 The little vampire and the enigmatic coffin

Anton is in bed with chickenpox. From Anna he learns that Igno von Rant, Dorothees' new admirer, now wants to move into the Schlotterstein family crypt on a trial basis . The vampire suddenly seems very suspicious to Anton and he has doubts about whether Igno von Rant is really a vampire: Von Rant is supposed to be night blind and always walks instead of flying. While the other vampires do not suspect anything and want to discuss Rants 'move into the crypt at a family council, Anton investigates and secretly gets into the dilapidated Igno von Rants' house. There he finds a strange coffin in the basement that looks brand new and not hundreds of years old. And one evening suddenly Olga appears in Anton's room and wants to invite him to the vampire wedding. Anton lets Olga in on his concerns about Igno von Rant, and she promises to get to the bottom of the matter.

13 The little vampire and the big conspiracy

Anton and Anna want to know more about the mysterious Igno von Rant. Anton visits the company Johann Holzrock - Erdmöbel to find out more about the new coffin of Aunt Dorothee's fiancé. Anton found out about a Doctor Gans for the first time from the owner of the company, Mr. Holzrock. Anton suspects that Dr. Goose is the "human assistant" of Igno von Rant. At the engagement dress rehearsal , Igno von Rant suddenly seems to be sick, which is very unusual for a vampire. After Anton had threatened Anna to put Olga on Igno von Rant, she finally followed Doctor Gans von Igno von Rant's shelter to a hotel and informed Anton. The next morning he rides his bike to the hotel and, to his astonishment, not only sees Dr. Quite, but also Igno von Rant: both are apparently about to leave town in a hurry. Anton sneaks into the hotel under a pretext and finds out that the two men are not Dr. Gans and Igno von Rant , but Hans Egal and August Piepenschnurz are called. Anton can get into their room unnoticed and finds a letter in the wastebasket and realizes with horror that Geiermeier hired the two of them to sneak into the von Schlotterstein family and deliver them to Geiermeier. This only failed because Igno von Rant or Professor Piepenschnurz contracted Anton’s chickenpox and has now contracted it himself.

14 The little vampire and the school trip

Anton is on a school trip, he should stay a week with his in the Altengraben school camp. Since his teacher is ill, she is represented by his math teacher, fly cutter. Anna and Rüdiger visit him at night, but the daily hikes are boring and exhausting. Rüdiger falls in love with Anton's new classmate Viola. He now demands that the latter introduce him to Viola. After careful consideration, Anton Rüdiger finally poses as an actor rehearsing for a role in a vampire film. Viola is thrilled and now hopes fervently for a role in the film. Rüdiger feels flattered and thus gets over his lovesickness to Olga. At the end of the school trip, Mr. Fliegenschneider and two mothers are planning a vampire party. The idea for this came from Viola, so that Rüdiger could visit her there in his vampire costume and would not attract attention. Everyone, including Mr. Fliegenschneider, dress up accordingly as vampires. A little later Anna and Rüdiger also join the party. But when Rüdiger realizes that Viola is only interested in the actor Rüdiger, he and Anna leave the party disappointed.

The next morning, Anton goes home with his class. Once there, they tell Anton's mother enthusiastically about the great vampire party, which immediately sees their son as the originator. She is all the more surprised when the children tell her that the idea for this came from Viola.

15 The little vampire is celebrating Christmas

Christmas is coming soon. Anton's mother suggested that his friends, Rüdiger and Anna, be invited to the festival. The vampires are thrilled and promise to come. Lumpi was invited by Schnuppermaul to celebrate Christmas with him and Geiermeier. To do this, he stole ten rubber fir trees from the roof of a department store. Anton can persuade him to bring the trees back.

After all, it's Christmas and the vampire children have, more badly than right, disguised themselves as human beings and painted their skin brown. Despite a few incidents, the festival is going to be nice. After centuries, the vampires get the feeling of what it is like when you can celebrate Christmas together in a real family. But suddenly Lumpi turns up at Anton's and the situation becomes precarious for Anton's parents, as Lumpi is completely starved.

16 The little vampire and Count Dracula

The von Schlotterstein family has returned to their homeland Transylvania. Dr. Schwartenfeger persuades Anton's parents to spend the summer vacation in Transylvania and thus finally cure Anton of his fixation on vampires. Anton is only right about this, but has no idea where the vampires can actually be found. He only knows that he will only find Rüdiger if he “follows in the footsteps of Count Dracula”. He had received this tip from Rüdiger in Germany. One after the other, many sights and some stations of the Dracula journey are visited in the parents' new off-road vehicle, e.g. B. Bran Castle , Schäßburg and Weißkirch .

Anton happened to spot Anna and Rüdiger on the roof during a fashion show in the hotel. Rüdiger then shows him the von Schlotterstein's new home, the Weisskirch fortified church. There he almost runs into Rüdiger's great-aunt Brunhilde von Fledderzahn. Anton learns with some horror that Anna no longer drinks milk.

Anton learns from Rüdiger that the Schlotterstein's ancestral castle was burned down during an attack by the Ottomans . So they moved to a relative in the lower vaults of the fortified church at Weißkirch. But the constant ringing of bells caused the Schlottersteins to have health problems and eventually emigrated to Germany. Great-aunt Brunhilde stayed in the fortified church because she hardly noticed the ringing of the bells because of her hearing loss. But now their great-aunt had let them know that the Black Crypt, as the vampires called Weißkirch, had been wonderfully “grave-quiet” since the Transylvanian Saxons had emigrated to Germany with their pastor.

Rüdiger even takes Anton to a cemetery, the place of rest where Schlotterstein's coffins used to be. Anton has to prove his awe of the vampiric homeland. At a later family party, Anton appears disguised as the vampire girl "Antonia" at Lumpi's side. Great-aunt Brunhilde had issued an open invitation to Count Dracula , but nobody really expects his appearance. Anton gets to know Sabine the Terrible and Wilhelm the Deserts better. And Rüdiger's father, Ludwig the Terrible, even dances with him. Suddenly Count Dracula is standing in the doorway and examining everyone present critically. Of course, he immediately recognizes Anton's vertigo, so that he has to flee with the help of the vampire children. At the end of Anton's vacation trip, the vampire children proudly tell Anton that they are all now being apprenticed by Count Dracula, which is a great honor for the von Schlotterstein clan. On his return trip, Anton learns in horror that his father has pocketed a can of earth from the vampire cemetery as a souvenir.

17 The little vampire and the dance lesson

Anton is boring, but he doesn't feel like taking a dance class that his mother wants him to take. He suspects that his mother wants to pair him up with Melanie Kaas, the daughter of a new colleague. But Rüdiger and Anna, who are back in town after an argument with Dracula, also express interest in a course. Even Lumpi wants to participate. However, Anna is jealous of Anton's dance partner Melanie, because she would rather be his dance partner herself. Of course, the vampires are turning the course into chaos. Everything gets worse when Olga shows up too.

18 It's the little vampire's birthday

It is not common for vampires to celebrate their birthday, but Rüdiger wishes it so much. That's why Anton organizes a party for him. So that they can celebrate undisturbed, Anton couples his dance teacher with Aunt Dorothee by organizing a blind date between the two of them in a theater and giving them tickets anonymously. Anton got the idea for this from his parents, who wanted to go to the theater that evening.

Since the vampires don't have too much experience with children's games at birthday parties, the dance school can quickly go haywire. As so often, Lumpi bothers the most and Olga tries, as always, to be the center of attention. But Rüdiger is still happy about the party and the gifts.

But suddenly dance teacher Schwanenhals and Aunt Dorothee appear at the school and Anton and the vampire children can just make their way out of the dust. Schwanenhals is appalled by the chaos in his dance school, but is appeased by Aunt Dorothee; she had seen the children disappear!

After this blind date, dance teacher Schwanenhals falls in love with Aunt Dorothee and now court her without realizing the danger he is now in. When Anton comes to the next dance lesson, the dance school is closed until the next one and he learns from Anna and Rüdiger that dance teacher Schwanenhals has gone to Mecklenburg with aunt Dorothee to introduce her to his parents.

19 The little vampire and the scary night

Anton receives an invitation from the city library to a night of horrors. Of course he thinks that's boring, because he has already experienced enough scary things with the vampires. The night of horror is supposed to end with the climax that the participants go to the cemetery at night. Anton suspects Geiermeier and Schnuppermaul behind this action. He informs Lumpi of his concerns and Lumpi sees the chance for a feast. For Anton the stress begins again, because he not only has to save the children from the vampires on the night of the horrors, but also the vampires from Geiermeier and Schnuppermaul. But unfortunately Anton falls into the hands of Wilhelm the desert, the grandfather of the vampire children. But he thinks he's a new member of Lumpi's men's group. When Wilhelm of the desert asks him for his name, Anton introduces himself to him as Tommy lentil bag , originally from Austria . But the other vampires manage to kidnap two children from Anton's group into the crypt. But a little later, Anton, now with the help of his friends Anna and Rüdiger, can free the children and bring them to safety.

But this night out for the children in the cemetery is also unforgettable for the cemetery keepers. They are taken to the zoo by the adult vampires and hung on a tree by the giraffes. That night Schnuppermaul also realizes that his "friend" Lumpi is actually a vampire after he tried to bite him.

20 The little vampire and the final transformation

Anton is at home alone with his father because his mother is on a school trip. Lumpi visits him and asks him to apologize to Schnuppermaul on his behalf. And really: Schnuppermaul is also interested in another friendship with Lumpi. Through Lumpi, Anton learns that Aunt Dorothee has a new “life” companion in Giselher the supple. Giselher has a striking fondness for German terms, and so Anton quickly suspects that Giselher could only be his former dance teacher Schwanenhals.

A few nights later, to Anton's horror, Olga shows up with him. She now invites him to the most important vampire celebration, to the “vampire strike” of Giselher and the associated “night of the final metamorphosis”. Inevitably Anton agrees and so both later fly to the vampire party. Anton witnessed the final transformation of the human swan neck into the vampire Giselher. This transformation and the ritual that goes with it is so gruesome that he faints. Olga takes advantage of this powerlessness and bites Anton in order to make him her slave. A little later, Olga and Rüdiger get into an argument about Anton. And when Rüdiger now has to choose between Olga and Anton, his choice falls on Anton, his oldest and best friend. Thereupon Olga insults Rüdiger and he finally realizes that he is just Olga's toy. Anton meets Lumpi a little later, who is very astonished to the fact that Olga bit Anton.

Anton is very exhausted after the vampire bite and lets Lumpi take him home. His father notices the bite marks, but suspects exotic mosquitoes, especially the "tiger mosquito", behind them. In the bathroom, Anton can barely see himself in the mirror because his reflection is blurred. From Anna, who visits him the next evening, Anton learns that he will never lose these bite marks and that he would always be reminded of the “night of the last metamorphosis”. But he receives a rare ointment from Anna that relieves his pain. Anna explains to him that she has now come to terms with the fact that Anton doesn't want to become a vampire. But she also tells him that she has been chosen to be the successor of Elisabeth the Sweetie and will now leave the city to do an apprenticeship with her great-great-ancestor. Anton, on the other hand, is amazed at how adult Anna suddenly appears to him, even though she is still in the body of a child. Because he had experienced with horror at the "night of the last metamorphosis" that Anna had become a real vampire after all.

When they say goodbye, Anton realizes sadly that he actually loves Anna, that she is his first great love. He admits that he would love to have children with her. But that is not possible, since he is a human and she is a vampire. His friend Rüdiger is now trying to cheer Anton up by reminding him of the beginning of their friendship, when Anna did not yet exist in Anton's life.

A few days later, Anton's mother also comes home from the school trip and she recognizes the bite marks for what they are. But she cannot prove to Anton and his father that it is not the bites of the exotic tiger mosquito, and so she lets the matter go. When Anton goes to bed in the evening, he opens his nursery window and awaits the vampires with a joyful heart.

21 The little vampire and the question of all questions
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Book editions

The books were first published by Rowohlt Verlag , as rororo-Rotfuchs volumes , with illustrations by Amelie Glienke (age from 6 years):

Continuation from volume no. 9, initially under the name Anton und der kleine Vampir, published by C. Bertelsmann Verlag as a hardcover cover with partially colored illustrations by Magdalene Hanke-Basfeld and Suat Yalaz :

For the new edition of books 9 to 16, the titles for Rowohlt Verlag were slightly changed, again under the old name Der kleine Vampir :

Continuation from volume no.17 also by Rowohlt Verlag:

TV series and films

  • The Little Vampire , 13-part television series as a German - Canadian - British co-production. The two books The Little Vampire and The Little Vampire is moving served as a template . The roles were consistently cast with Canadian actors, with the exception of the vampire hunter Geiermeier. This was portrayed by Gert Fröbe in one of his last roles.
  • The Little Vampire - New Adventure , TV series from 1993 from German production (including Peter Lohmeyer as Anton's father and Dominique Horwitz as the vampire hunter Stöbermann). The series was based on the two children's books The Little Vampire Traveled and The Little Vampire on the Farm . The 13-part children's series ran from December 5, 1993 in the first .
  • The Little Vampire , children's film under US co-production with Germany and the Netherlands . This film version was based on the novel of the same name and has little in common with the plot of the book (e.g. flying cows and fear of the cross).
  • The Little Vampire , animated film based on the children's book series of the same name, as a German-Dutch- Danish- British co-production. The cinema release in Germany was on October 26, 2017.

Musical, puppet theater and dance theater

  • In 1998 a musical about the little vampire was premiered. The production was carried out by the Cologne Cocomino theater projects, see Christoph Hilger . The music of the musical was released as a music cassette and CD .
  • In 2001 Dans Design started a dance theater in Norway under the title Den vesle vampyren .
  • From October to December 2002 the Hamburg Imperial Theater showed a play based on the book series The Little Vampire Celebrates Christmas .
  • The Hohenloher Puppet Theater performed the first volume as a puppet theater with marionettes from 2004 . In 2004 the play won 1st place in the Raben Theater Prize of the Wiesbaden Puppet Theater Festival.

Radio plays

  • Radio plays for the books were initially published by Poly (episodes 1 to 4).
  • Carousel brought out episodes 1 through 6.
  • Episodes 1 through 8 were later released with new speakers from Europe and then from Ariola .
  • From the year 2000, Europe brought out episodes 1 to 8 and the new episodes 9 to 18 with new covers .

Overview of the episodes of the European radio plays

number title Year of publication
01 The little Vampire 1989/2004
02 The little vampire is moving 1989/2004
03 The little vampire is going away 1989/2004
04 The little vampire on the farm 1989/2004
05 The little vampire and the great love 1989/2004
06 The little vampire in danger 1989/2004
07 The little vampire in the valley of tears 1989/2004
08 The little vampire reads aloud 1989/2004
09 The little vampire and the scary patient 1990/2004
10 The little vampire in the lion's den 1990/2004
11 The little vampire and the light apparatus 1990/2004
12 The little vampire and the enigmatic coffin 1990/2004
13 The little vampire and the big conspiracy 1990/2004
14th The little vampire and the school trip 1993/2004
15th The little vampire is celebrating Christmas 1993/2004
16 The little vampire and Count Dracula 1993/2004
17th The little vampire and the dance lesson 2004
18th It's the little vampire's birthday 2004

comics

In 1991, Bastei-Verlag published 6 edited volumes and 18 individual episodes as comics. As with the Bertelsmann books, the drawings were made by Suat Yalaz. The stories do not match the plot of the books and are not from Angela Sommer-Bodenburg. The editions are now out of print, a new edition is not planned:

  • Appointment at midnight
  • A vampire at the dentist
  • The mysterious thief / Anton and the riddle of the missing jewelry
  • An exciting sailing trip / The friends are chasing a mysterious gang of smugglers
  • Vampires on a shopping spree / How Anton's friends turn the department store upside down
  • The lion is on the loose / vampires and the great circus sensation
  • A timpanist from Transylvania / Anton and the secret of the creepy theater rehearsals
  • Caught in the act / How Anton tricked the vampire hunter
  • Lumpi's wild ride / The vampires are chased by the police
  • The hot hunt for a rescuer / How a costume got Anton out of a tight spot
  • When the cinema screen is alive / How Anton and Rüdiger give a special screening
  • Witching hour in the haunted castle / Anton makes a mysterious discovery
  • Haunted museum / when statues utter screams
  • A full bath for the cemetery keepers / How Anna was saved
  • Elephant hunt after midnight / The trap in the old cemetery
  • Geiermeier's vampire flight lesson / How friends get in need
  • Rüdiger in distress / Anton has the saving idea
  • When vampires send love greetings ... / How Anton meets sweet Susanne

Trivia

The author lived while she was writing The Little Vampire in the Schleswig-Holstein village of Prinzenmoor . This village served as a model for various locations in the book.

Secondary literature

  • Gundel Mattenklott: The Little Vampire and The Beast That Came In The Rain . In: Magic chalk, children's literature since 1945 . JB Metzler, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-596-12053-5 .
  • Swantje Ehlers: The little vampire - learning to read literary texts . Ernst Klett Verlag, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-12-675550-X .
  • Matthew Bunson: The Book of Vampires. Of Dracula, Undead and Other Princes of Darkness - A Lexicon . 1st edition. Scherz Verlag, Bern, Munich, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-502-15090-7 , pp. 146 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: Anna von Schlotterstein's night book , Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-499-21560-5 , p. 33
  2. ↑ a b Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: Anna von Schlotterstein's night book , p. 17
  3. ↑ Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: The Little Vampire and the Dance Lesson , p. 148
  4. ↑ Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: The little vampire's birthday , p. 12
  5. ↑ Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: Anna von Schlotterstein's night book , pp. 41/42
  6. ↑ Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: Anna von Schlotterstein's night book , pp. 68/69
  7. ↑ Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: The Little Vampire , p. 13
  8. ^ Village history