Eckart to the low

Eckart zur Nieden at a reading in December 2013

Eckart zur Nieden (born July 12, 1939 in Berlin ) is a theologian , Christian journalist and author of more than 30 children's radio plays and over 50 books.

Life

Eckart zur Nieden grew up in Berlin until the Second World War. During the war he lived in Großalmerode near Kassel. He became a locksmith in Kassel before beginning a theological training at the Tabor Evangelical University in Marburg in 1960 . In Großalmerode, he then worked for five years at the mission work Happy News .

Zur Nieden worked for 35 years until his retirement in 2004 in the program management and as a radio editor at Evangeliums-Rundfunk . There he produced numerous radio play programs for children and adults; of the most successful radio play series Die 3 vom Ast sold over 250,000 copies. He also developed children's programs and talk shows for ERF television , where he was a manager. Eckart zur Nieden is still active as a book author today. In this area, too, he wrote works for children as well as crime novels ( Little Red Riding Hood and the Killer ) and short stories for adults. His youth books include the titles Nights at the Border (first published in 1973) and Defend the Mill! (1st edition 1985), which were later set to music as radio plays. In 2008, Defend the Mill - The Film was released on DVD.

Eckart zur Nieden also appears as a songwriter. His adaptation of Psalm 139 ( Where should I go ), which was set to music by Johannes Nitsch for the musical Jona and interpreted by Cae Gauntt , and the song The Joy of the Lord is your strength from the musical about Nehemia became famous . He is co-author of the pop oratorio Credo - the legacy of the history of Christianity.

Eckart zur Nieden pays particular attention to the processing of biblical stories, which he processes and retells in many of his books and radio plays (for example in Mein Name ist ... ) or lyrically processed ( Der Fiesling im Riesling ).

Eckart zur Nieden is a member of the community of artistically working Christians - DAS RAD . He was involved - until 2019 together with his wife Edeltraud, who died that year - on the board of the Christian association “Perlenschatz”, founded in 2014, which protects Muslim women from domestic violence, honor killing and forced marriage.

He has been married since 1967, has one child and is retired in Braunfels near Wetzlar.

Publications (selection)

• Nights at the Border , Christian Publishing House , Stuttgart 1973, 5th edition 1983, ISBN 3-7675-0249-6 .
• The cabin , Christian publishing house , Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 978-3-7675-2621-1 ; later reprints also appeared under Title Four in a Cabin and Das Abenteuer-Schiff .
• My name is ...: People of the Bible introduce themselves , Christian publishing house, Stuttgart 1980, 4th edition, 1988, ISBN 978-3-7675-3095-9 .
• I was an eyewitness: People of the Bible meet Jesus , Christian publishing house, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 978-3-7675-3140-6 .
• Die 3 vom Ast , radio play series (1993–1999)
• Die Überwinder , Kriminalroman, SCM Collection , Witten 1998, ISBN 978-3-7893-1137-6 .
• Ole the Pirate , radio play series (1999–2002)
• Little Red Riding Hood and the Killer , crime novel, SCM Collection, Witten 2000, ISBN 978-3-7893-1212-0 .
• You are with me day and night: evening prayers and poems for children , SCM Collection, Witten 2000, ISBN 978-3-7893-7983-3 .
• Eleven-minute stories , SCM R. Brockhaus , Witten 2002, ISBN 978-3-417-23504-3 .
• Window seat free , stories, SCM R. Brockhaus, Witten 2002, ISBN 978-3-417-20616-6 .
• Merry Christmas! Stories about the Christmas season , Brunnen Verlag (Gießen) , 2002, 8th edition 2011, ISBN 978-3-7655-3732-5 .
• The badass in Riesling: biblical ballads , Brunnen Verlag, Gießen 2004, 4th edition 2007, ISBN 978-3-7655-3767-7 .
• Der Trolch im Lolch: new biblical ballads , Brunnen Verlag, Gießen 2004, 4th edition 2007, ISBN 978-3-7655-3772-1 .
• My Nineveh complex: Jonas Diary , Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2005, ISBN 978-3-7655-3859-9 .
• Dear Mr. Isaak: Correspondence with biblical seniors , Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2005, 3rd edition 2007, ISBN 978-3-7655-1885-0 .
• My 100 best scenes: for events & community , Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7655-2960-3 .
• Defend the Mill! , SCM Hänssler , Holzgerlingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7751-4903-7 .
• Tasso - warrior, dealer, bear killer , Christian literature distribution, Bielefeld 2008, ISBN 978-3-86699-210-8 .
• The great book of biblical ballads , Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2013, ISBN 978-3-7655-4183-4 .
• The yellow car and other stories , Brunnen Verlag, Giessen 2015, ISBN 978-3-7655-0912-4 .
• Art Journaling Children's Bible - New Testament , SCM R. Brockhaus, Witten 2016, ISBN 978-3-417-28754-7 .
• The wrong emperor . A medieval novel , St. Benno Verlag, Leipzig 2019, ISBN 978-3-7462-5466-1 .
• Marbles and grenades. How my family wanted to run away from the war (autobiography), Francke-Verlag, Marburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-96362-053-9 .
• Laughing and praying of a poet. Autobiography from eight decades , Francke-Verlag, Marburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-96362-135-2 .

Radio plays

The three from the branch

His most successful radio play series , Die Drei vom Ast (mostly stylized as: Die 3 vom Ast ) with squirrels Waldemar, Elster Cleopatra and the owl Eulalia Hedwig Sophie Countess von Eichenhain-Uhland, wrote Eckart zur Nieden for children from the age of four. In 17 episodes, questions of child perception are taken up and explained with songs and stories. The radio plays were published by ERF-Verlag . Furthermore, Die Drei vom Ast: Das Lesebuch , Oncken-Verlag 1998, Die Drei vom Ast meet the Meißel-Heini , ERF-Verlag 2000, a selection of stories in a scene for children's groups or puppet theater under the title Curtain up for the three from the branch , ERF-Verlag 2000, the compilation cassettes Hello! We are the three from the branch , ERF-Verlag 1995, and we are: The three from the branch with a selection of stories from the series to listen to and get to know as well as three music albums, compiled with songs from the series under the title Full Neck: Three -vom-Ast-Songs with the corresponding songbook of the same name; also a memory game and household items such as cups.

Ole the pirate

In seven episodes, each with two episodes, Eckart zur Nieden tells the story of the parentless siblings Ole and Antje, who find themselves on a pirate ship and have to fight to survive in rough society. Prominent speakers include Karl-Heinz Kreienbaum , David Kadel , Hanno Herzler , Kai Rinsland and Jürgen Werth .

Web links

• Literature by and about Eckart zur Nieden in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Eckart zur Nieden  in the German Digital Library
• Erf.de (2014): Book and radio play author Eckart zur Nieden turns 75
• Online books as pdf and “Mein Name ist…” chapter as mp3
• Homepage for the filming of Defend the Mill!
• Lyrics by Eckart zur Nieden on www.evangeliums.net

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pop oratorio “Credo”: A testimony of the living God , pro-medienmagazin.de, article from October 30, 2018.
2. ↑ Perlenschatz mourns Edeltraud zur Nieden , perlenschatz.info, news from July 23, 2019.
3. ↑ Radio play and book author turned 80 years old , idea.de, message from July 12, 2019.
4. ↑ Eckart zur Nieden: Kurzvita , brunnen-verlag.de, accessed on October 11, 2018.