Eva Maria Mudrich

Eva Maria Mudrich , née Ehrhard (born June 13, 1927 in Berlin ; † December 6, 2006 in Saarbrücken ), pseudonym Maren Offenburg , was a German writer .

life and work

After the end of the war, Eva Maria Mudrich initially worked for a Berlin daily newspaper, then freelance for various radio companies in the areas of school, youth, children's and women's radio. In 1959 she moved to Saarbrücken when her husband Heinz Mudrich (1925–2016) became the arts editor of the Saarbrücker Zeitung for 30 years . The jazz pianist Christoph Mudrich was her son.

Under the pseudonym Maren Offenburg, she wrote a number of young girl books that were popular at the time for Boje Verlag in the 1950s, such as “A mosquito in Eden”, “You are not alone” and “Susanne above the clouds”.

In the early 1970s to early 1990s, she turned to radio play . There are four productions of her first work “Das Experiment”. In 1972 the Westdeutscher Rundfunk organized a competition for science fiction radio plays to promote young German authors. Eva Maria Mudrich won one of the four first prizes with “Das Glück von Ferida” (first broadcast on May 21, 1973). This was followed by numerous radio plays from the fields of science fiction (mainly at SDR Heidelberg under Horst Krautkrämer ) and crime (mainly WDR ) as well as over 100 short radio plays (mainly DW ; here often also short versions of earlier productions). In 1993 she was awarded the Kurd-Laßwitz Prize for her work “A Midsummer Night's Dream” .

Eva Maria Mudrich became one of the pioneers for the demanding German science fiction radio play through her cultural and socio-political issues with metaphysical - idealistic references. In this respect, it stands in a row with Wolfgang Jeschke , Herbert W. Franke , Hermann Ebeling or Richard Hey ; she herself valued the work of Günter Eich .

Catalog raisonné

Science fiction radio plays

23 works in 38 productions:

1. The experiment (production: NDR 1970 / director: Gerlach Fiedler / length: 57 min./not broadcast; NDR & SFB 1971 / Fritz Schröder-Jahn / 52 min./ broadcast: July 7, 1971; DW 1972 / Tibor von Peterdy / 35 min./21 June 1972; DRS 1972 / Joseph Scheidegger / 50 min./7 Oct. 1972)
   Topic telepathy / dying : Two older men discover their telepathic abilities and decide that the person who dies sooner will share his impressions of the dying process with the other to communicate telepathically. The distraught survivor reports to his doctor before he dies. He in turn consumes a substance in a hotel that apparently initiates his dying process, about which he makes a note. The note reaches the hotel owner, who then goes into hiding. The anonymous report from her lawyer becomes the starting point of the radio play.
   → Print edition in: Science Fiction bei Thienemann , Volume 1 (1975; 10 pages); References: Leonid Wassiljew : Experimental investigations on mental suggestion (1962, German 1965)
2. The happiness of Ferida ( SDR & WDR 1973 / Andreas Weber-Schäfer / 56 min./21 May 1973; DRS 1973 / Willy Buser / 56 min./1 Dec. 1973)
   Aggression : A man uncovered an experiment in which the inhabitants of a city were freed from aggressive properties such as envy, distrust, greed and thirst for power. Consequence: people become lethargic and lose their cultural achievements, but still live contentedly.
   → Print edition: Science Fiction by Thienemann , Volume 3 (1976)
3. Farewell to Jeanette Claude (SDR 1974/56 min./22 Apr. 1974)
   Language : In a rational and collectivist society (“community of thinking beings”) an experiment to merge thoughts (“joint thinking, perfect spiritual partnership”) fails, because the thought worlds of different individuals are too different despite common linguistic signs.
4. Where was the 631st day? (SDR 1975/50 min./6 Oct. 1975; DW 1976/35 min./9 Aug. 1976)
   Civilization / Ecology (satire): The government of a highly technical but ecologically polluted country moves into the designated bunker . While a radio announcer distracts the allegedly buried government in an entertaining way, the invaders allow the population to return to a natural way of life.
5. Das Haus am Meer (SDR 1976/52 min. / Nov. 29, 1976; ORF 1981 / Ferry Bauer / 59 min. / Apr. 28, 1981; One returns , DW 1989/27 min. / Nov. 9, 1989 )
   Dream worlds : A man murdered a competitor and stepped into his personal dream world by means of a machine. There he goes through countless variations of his life so far, including murder and the transition into another dimension, until he returns after 10 years.
6. Röschen and the premonition ( BR 1977 / Otto Düben / 57 min./10. Jul. 1977; Röschen and the PSI effect , DW 1977/34 min./30. Jan. 1978)
   Precognition : A ten year old girl "goes ahead" and predicts the death of a great-aunt.
7. The legacy of the bog birds (SDR 1977/53 min. / Oct. 3, 1977)
   Immortality / Ecology: The decision to use an immortality drug had been postponed. Due to the extinction of species , the substance is no longer available.
8. Fireworks tomorrow (DW 1977/29 Min./Okt 1977 SDR 1978/49 min./30 October 1978..)
   Mechanization (satire): With a fireworks many citizens are infiltrated a city of small devices that influence their behavior (Desire for steak with strawberry jam or sunbathing without sun). As it turns out, it is an action by students who want to take part in the Jugend forscht competition.
9. The computer computer (BR 1978 / Heiner Schmidt / 8 Min./10 Jan. 1979)
   Data networking (satire): A computer interrogates a woman on the grounds of a lack of data consistency - only in a dream, but which, as it turns out, based on a real basis.
10. Maybe you will come by again sometime? (SDR 1979/10 min./22 Jan. 1979)
    Language (satire): An astronaut meets a twin earth with a vowel shift in the language of the inhabitants; Erdling and Irdling keep their meeting silent because of the bureaucratic entanglements to be expected.
11. The cold world of Gabriel (SDR 1979/55 min./11 June 1979)
    Totalitarianism / language: In a group of interned dissidents, normal language skills are replaced by reduced language based on hatred and fear.
12. The view-subject (SDR 1980/52 min./12 May 1980)
    Totalitarianism: In a world of programmed people, a writer regains her original individuality, but has to find a new place in society for this.
13. Crocodiles are no longer what they used to be! (SDR 1981/46 min./11 May 1981; you ca n't even rely on crocodiles , DW 1989/27 min./15 June 1989)
    Civilization / Demography (satire): For the people of the “civilized world” has increased Computer use reduced working hours and increased leisure time. Couples don't want more than one child; In order to counteract the population decline, there is an obligation to consume life-extending and health-maintaining food. Premature death is only permitted with an above-average number of offspring, otherwise a suicide with confiscation of assets is sanctioned; also an emigration to the non-civilized world. A 127-year-old man, "perfectly unhappy", travels to the jungle in the hope of finding a wife for an additional offspring or of being killed by the dangers there.
14. The birthday (SDR 1981/46 min. / 23rd Nov. 1981)
    Aggression: After another great war, the survivors decide to die out on the assumption that aggressive behavior is innate in humans. In the wilderness, two pilots search for a group of women who, despite the requirement of childlessness, want to raise their children to be free of aggression. Nonetheless, violence and even killing occur among pubescent children.
    → References: Tasaday ; Vittorino da Feltre
15. David and the pot-bellied pigs (DW 1983/27 min./1 Jan. 1984)
    Totalitarianism: Every person has a “little brother” who controls his behavior in the form of a follower. A teacher is deprived of his “little brother” as a punishment; He counteracts the resulting uncertainty by taking over the “little brother” of a person who has just died and his job as the keeper of the pot-bellied pigs.
    → References: Orwells 1984
16. The judge and his judge (SDR 1984/51 min./9. Apr. 1984; DW 1988/27 min./16. June 1988)
    Reincarnation : Neuroscientific research shows that a judge with integrity and a young woman critical of the system already 500 years earlier had the same roles in a witch trial. The judge therefore doubts the concepts of free will and guilt and kills the neuroscientist because he sees the order of human coexistence threatened by his upcoming publication.
17. König Knoll ( SR 1984 / Hans Helge Ott / 40 min./2 Dec. 1984; Horch, Baby, der Wettermann , DW 1990/28 min./17 May 1990)
    Totalitarianism: The population of a country has decided on the To return to the state of development of 1900 and remain there. A few people discover that the willingness to do so can be traced back to hearing a certain tone, i.e. is determined by others.
18. The road to Ococingo (SDR 1985/51 min./1 July 1985)
    Telepathy: A businessman ruins himself because of a telepathic instruction which is actually used to manipulate some politicians. He uses hormone treatment to protect himself from further telepathic interventions, but thereby loses his ability to empathize .
    → References: place name Ocosingo ; Joseph Banks Rhine ; Leonid Vasilyev ; Ippolit Kogan ; Adornos Minima Moralia , No. 151; pineal gland
19. Flight to Ruber (SDR 1987/50 min./8. Apr. 1987; DW 1988/28 min./15. Dec. 1988)
    Photoautotrophy : Photosynthesis in the human organism leads to communication with plants, which then judge the person concerned.
    → References: Therese Neumann von Konnersreuth; Anna Katharina Emmerick ; Cleve Backster
20. The decision (SDR 1988/52 min. / May 30, 1988; One vote for Hanna , DW 1990/28 min. / Sept. 27, 1990)
    Memory transfer: A group is faced with the decision to preserve selected memory contents for future generations or helping a mother find her missing daughter.
21. Night Shift (SDR 1989/53 min./3 Apr. 1989; Das kleine Glück , DW 1991/27 min./25 Apr. 1991)
    Dream worlds: People spend every night organized in their individual dreams that are now beginning to shape themselves to materialize in reality .
22. Herbstmanöver (DW 1991/40 min./26 Sept. 1991)
    Aggression (satire): A hobby insetologist researches the sensitivity of flies and develops sensors for human aggressiveness. By chance they end up in the new uniforms of the generals, and the autumn maneuver turns out to be unexpectedly peaceful.
23. Midsummer Night's Dream (DW 1992 / Joachim Schmidt von Schwind / 39 Min./5 July 1992)
    Data networking : The password for a central computer, taken from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night 's Dream , causes people to lose their identity .

Detective radio plays (selection)

• The Music Man (SFB 1977)
• The Minute (SWF 1980; DW 1981)
• Question of guilt (WDR 1982)
• Tom was already there (WDR 1983; DW 1988)
• An evening at the castle (WDR 1984)
• Kon 23 (DW 1984)
• A game of dice (WDR 1985; How the dice falls , DW 1989)
• The Long Night (WDR 1986)
• Bird in a cage (WDR & NDR 1989; Todesengel , DW 1990)
• Test run (WDR 1990; murder on probation , DW 1992)
• The Marble Eater (DW 1991)
• No "Bert Kastelle case" (WDR 1993)

literature

• Horst G. Tröster : "I leave seeing to the imagination of the listener." On the death of the radio play author Eva-Maria Mudrich (with an interview from 1985). In: The Science Fiction Year 2007 , ed. by Sascha Mamczak and Wolfgang Jeschke , Heyne Verlag, pp. 1067-1079, ISBN 978-3-453-52261-9

Web links

• Literature by and about Eva Maria Mudrich in the catalog of the German National Library
• Eva Maria Mudrich in the ARD radio play database (120 hits)
• Eva Maria Mudrich in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)
• Eva Maria Mudrich in the dictionary of German crime fiction authors