Friedrich Boer

Friedrich Böer (born January 17, 1904 in Hamburg ; † June 23, 1987 ibid) was a German author and illustrator who became known for non-fiction books for children and young people.

The grave of Friedrich Böer and his wife in the cemetery in Baden-Baden

Life

Friedrich Böer was the fourth of five children of the pharmacist Carl Böer and his wife Gertrud, nee. Barkow, born. In 1905 the family moved to Berlin , where he spent his childhood and school years. Friedrich showed political interest at an early age and kept a diary in which he processed photos, newspaper clippings, quotations and his own comments like collages . In doing so, he was already making use of the form that would later shape his books.

After graduating from high school, he began an apprenticeship as a bookseller in Berlin in 1921 . In 1923 he got a job at the Weidmannschen publishing bookstore in Berlin. Here he worked in the picture editing department and was also a photographer himself. From 1928 Böer worked at the Bibliographical Institute in Leipzig as a picture editor for " Meyers Lexikon ". During this time he came into contact with the ideas of the Bauhaus .

From 1931 Böer worked as a freelance picture editor in Berlin and developed the idea of ​​his first children's book "Klaus and the Lord of the Railways", which appeared in 1933 with the subtitle "with photos, picture montages and drawings" by the Stuffer publishing house, as well as another book using the collage technique: "3 boys explore a city". In the subsequent "Krischan the Farm Boy", Boer had to do without collages because the National Socialist regime classified this technology as too political and forbade it.

In 1935 Friedrich Böer married Doris Puhonny , the daughter of the puppet maker Ivo Puhonny . The marriage had three children. From 1940 to 1945 Böer served in the Air Force. He returned unwounded.

In 1957 the family moved to Böer's native Hamburg. The "Ship Book", designed by Böer before the war, describes in detail the world of ships and ports. Other books followed, and for many years he also published the "Ensslin Youth Calendar". Böer was also co-editor of the children's magazine "Buchfink". Böer wrote factual texts and radio plays for Norddeutscher Rundfunk . At the age of 70, Böer dedicated two books to his favorite subject, "The Rules of the Game": "The Journey into Reality" and "Toby's Diary". Finally, in 1984, his last book again dealt with ships and seafaring: "Everything about a container ship". In the same year, an exhibition about his life's work was shown in Blutenburg Castle near Munich .

Friedrich Böer died in Hamburg on June 23, 1987.

plant

In his first non-fiction book "Klaus and the Lord of the Railways" (1933), Friedrich Böer used the Bauhaus-inspired collage technique for the first time, creating a new type of children's book. With a combination of photos, drawings and text, he connected the imaginary world of children with the real world. The book tells the story of the boy Klaus, who is introduced to the functions and processes of train traffic by the symbolic figure "Lord of the Railways". In the following book he continued this creative approach and lets three boys explore their hometown (based on Berlin) and its diverse functions and networks.

Böer's elaborate, very detailed non-fiction books on ships and ports also work with collages, here made of photos, sketches and technical drawings. For the creation of these books, Böer researched intensively, drove for weeks as a passenger on the high seas and meticulously documented all areas and work processes of the ships. Friedrich Böer's non-fiction books on seafaring have been reprinted many times, some have been translated and are classics in their genre.

Boer's second big topic, which has interested him since early youth, is the "rules of the game". This includes all cultural rules, behaviors, agreements, manners and customs between people, but also signs, notices, symbols and prohibitions. Early on he toyed with the idea of ​​creating a book that should contain all of these "rules of the game".

He made his first attempt in this direction in 1973 with the book "The Journey in Reality". In it, a boy meets a king who lives in a bygone era and takes him into the modern world. The book is written from the king's point of view. He sees almost everything for the first time, wonders about a lot and misunderstands some things. Ultimately, the boy shows him how modern society works as a whole. The book is illustrated with many pictures and "picture pictures " throughout . The photos were taken in Hamburg.

The follow-up volume "Toby's secret diary" is similar in content, but with greater emphasis on text. The boy Toby (a nickname Böers from his youth) describes in his diary everything he sees and experiences, and what he thinks about it. Again it is a question of how everyday life works and the rules according to which societies are built.

bibliography

• Klaus the Lord of the Railways , Berlin: Herbert Stuffer 1933
• 3 boys explore a city , Berlin: Herbert Stuffer 1933
• Krischan the farmer's boy or: Life and work in the country , Berlin: Herbert Stuffer 1934
• Das Schiffbuch , Berlin: Weidmannsche Verlagbuchhandlung 1937
• Sport is fun , Berlin: Weidmannsche Verlagbuchhandlung 1939
• The port , Hamburg: Schiffahrts-Verlag "Hansa" C. Schroedter & Co. 1950
• Everything about a ship , Freiburg: Herder 1955
• The journey into reality or: Everyone knows more than he knows , Freiburg. Basel. Vienna: Herder 1973
• Toby's secret diary or: The rules of everyday life , Freiburg. Basel. Vienna: Herder 1982
• Everything about a container ship , Herford: Koehler 1984

literature

• Barbara Murken: Friedrich Böer - Pioneer of a new visual language in children's books , International Youth Library Munich, 1984

Web links

• Vita with picture
• Literature by and about Friedrich Böer in the catalog of the German National Library