You don't see ghosts

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You don't see ghosts is a children's book by Ingrid Bachér from 1975 with illustrations by Gottfried Wiegand : eight-year-old Adrian penetrates a ghost castle and redeems two enchanted brothers there. The model for the haunted castle is the ruins of Moyland Castle .

The first edition was published in 1975 by Atlantis Verlag , a second edition in 1997 by the Museum Schloss Moyland Foundation. In 1976 it was on the shortlist for the German Youth Book Prize .

content

Eight-year-old Adrian lives in a small town on the edge of the Ruhr area with his father, who runs a petrol station there on the main road to Holland. Adrian's daily way to school takes Adrian past the remains of a once stately moated castle , which even as a ruin still looks mysterious and powerful. The main building and four large towers have stood the test of time, surrounded by a wide moat. Only one bridge leads to the castle island, but it has been closed for years due to the risk of collapse. His father doesn't even notice the castle, but Adrian is fascinated by the old walls. On the day of his eighth birthday, Adrian gathered up his courage and paddled over to the castle for the first time in his life in an old boat that had been rotting on the bank for years. Under a stone slab in the castle courtyard, he comes across a windowless domed hall in which a strange figure has been drawn on the wall with ashes and an oversized animal trap has been set up. He discovers an underground lake, the size of which cannot be estimated. He notices that all the doors in the lock are open and finds a key that gets red hot when you want to pick it up. But Adrian made the greatest discovery in the collapsed roof structure: the ripple . It rocks back and forth on two ropes from the roof beams and doesn't seem to be surprised at Adrian's visit. What the Rippel says makes everything even more confusing: The Rippel doesn't know how old it is because it only wants to count to 10, it thinks it is too heavy because it cannot be weighed, it becomes huge when there is dust eats and has glasses that read minds. And his only friend in the castle, a fox, is even stranger. If you stroke it, it will transform, from an apple to a dragon, but if you don't, it will become invisible. And he can talk, but only backwards because he is always very anxious and excited. That could be funny, but the two castle residents seem sad and lonely.

Only after Adrian's energetic inquiries does the ripple reveal his fate to him. As young brothers, the Rippel and the Fox were locked up in the castle by the steward centuries ago because he envied them the castle and its inheritance. Under the steward's regiment, they have to stay there forever, unless one day a rescuer doesn’t come by, break the secret codes in the castle and even sacrifice himself for them. Nevertheless, Adrian decides to help them both. The steward, invisible but powerful, senses Adrian's intentions and lets the rotten beams of the castle tumble down on him. Adrian barely escapes the attack.

But the boy is not easily intimidated. He returns the next day, equipped with all kinds of tools from his father's workshop, from flashlights to magnets. Despite evil attacks by the manager, he succeeds in wiping away the drawing in the basement, disabling the trap and finding the cursed key again and burning it. But the hardest test is still ahead of him: Adrian has to swim through the subterranean lake in order to escape the power of the administrator. Only the quick-witted help of his two new friends, Fuchs and Rippel, can keep him from drowning. With one last trick, Adrian finally succeeds in not having to sacrifice his life and still freeing his two friends from the castle. As a farewell Rippel gives him the mind-reading glasses and when Adrian puts them on, he sees the Rippel and the fox, who have now become young brothers again, walking away laughing on the avenue in front of the castle.

Adrian returns to the gas station and his father changed, he has learned to trust himself and his abilities.

Background and reception

The castle in August 1990, still without the spire on the keep

The model for the moated castle is Moyland Castle , which had fallen into ruin since 1945. One of the graffiti there was a horned devil's skeleton; According to the author, this was the inspiration for the Rippel . The building was rebuilt from 1987 and is now a museum.

The book was reprinted on the occasion of the opening of the museum in 1997. Gottfried Wiegand's illustrations were shown in 2015/2016 as part of the fairy tales and other wondrous stories exhibition, with a separate room dedicated to the first edition of the book.

criticism

The book Ghosts cannot be seen is one of the outstanding examples of modern children's and youth literature in Germany. The relative freedom and self-determination of the main character Adrian, whose parents only appear marginally in the book, and the realistic, clear narrative style of the author, make the book, first published in 1975, seem fresh and up-to-date to this day. The sensitive drawings by the artist and illustrator Gottfried Wiegand, which only hint at the events in the castle, also contributed to the success of the children's book. The jury of the German Youth Literature Prize justified its nomination of Ghosts in 1975 for the German Youth Book Prize (children's book category) with a reference to the modern view of the book on the well-known genre of ghost history: When Adrian is in an old castle with a changing fox and a nefarious, invisible steward gets to do, things are pretty exciting, and he has to muster a lot of courage and wit to break the evil spell. Fairytale features and sensitive drawings bring new nuances to the type of the usual ghost story .

In the epilogue to the new edition from 1997, writer and art collector Hans van der Grinten sees the children's book in the literary tradition of an art fairy tale . He writes: The great attraction of the work is not least due to the fact that neither Ingrid Bachér is a professional children's book author, nor Gottfried Wiegand an experienced illustrator. The book is certainly intended for children without reservation, but adults will unlock it in a similar way as they experienced it with Hoffmann, Brentanto, Chamisso and Saint-Exupéry.

Expenses (selection)

  • Ingrid Bachér, (Illustrator: Gottfried Wiegand), You don't see ghosts, 1st edition, Atlantis, Zurich / Freiburg i.Br., 1975, ISBN 3-7611-0471-5 .
  • Ingrid Bachér (Illustrator: Gottfried Wiegand), You don't see ghosts, 2nd edition, published by Stiftung Museum Schloss Moyland, 1997.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ingrid Bachér, Ghosts are not seen, Atlantis-Verlag, Zurich / Freiburg i. Br., 1975, ISBN 3-7611-0471-5
  2. ↑ Ingrid Bachér, You don't see ghosts, Foundation Museum Schloss Moyland, 1997
  3. ↑ a b djlp.jugendliteratur.org accessed on April 27, 2014
  4. ↑ Ghosts in the castle ruins. RP online, October 31, 2015, accessed September 25, 2018 .
  5. ^ Museum Schloss Moyland: Timeline of the history of Schloss Moyland , accessed on April 14, 2018
  6. ↑ Claudia Gronewald: A fairy tale for Moyland Castle , NRZ, September 23, 2015, accessed on April 14, 2018
  7. ^ Rhenish museums: fairy tales and other wondrous stories - ART. EMOTIONAL. 08 , accessed April 14, 2018
  8. ^ Ingrid Bachér, Ghosts cannot be seen, epilogue by Hans vd Grinten, publisher: Stiftung Museum Schloss Moyland, 1997.

Web links