Gisel and Ursel

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Gisel und Ursel is the title of a girl's book by Margarete Haller , which was first published in 1932 by Franz Schneider Verlag . This first volume about the identical twins Gisel and Ursel was followed by four more, the titles of which also began with the names of the title characters "Gisel and Ursel". The books were reissued after World War II , but both the text and the illustrations changed. Lotte Oldenburg-Wittig illustrated the books both before and after the war .

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Gisel and Ursel (1932)

The eleven-year-old twins move from their old hometown to Hamburg , where their father, Mr. Rascher, bought a bookstore. You will settle in quickly in the big city and the new school. The enthusiastic swimmers of the Alster and Elbe are particularly fascinated . On a stormy day, Gisel rescues a four-year-old boy who fell from a capsizing canoe into the Elbe. When the boy's family thanked her later, she learned that the “Pfeil” swimming club was one of the most famous swimming clubs in town and decided to join Ursel as a member.

Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls (1933)

Gisel and Ursel cannot train as extensively as they would like for the big swimming competition of the “Pfeil” swimming club, because after the boy in the father’s business fell ill, the twins decided to take over his work on their behalf. With the money they earn, they buy a lottery ticket, because the main prizes include a sightseeing flight over Hamburg for two people. After winning the swimming competition, they also win this sightseeing flight and can see Hamburg from above.

Gisel and Ursel, the two sports girls (1938)

Folding boat tourists in the 1950s

For their twelfth birthday, Gisel and Ursel got two dachshunds, which they named "lightning" and "thunder". Any attempt to take these animals into the swimming pool must be given up quickly. When Gisel visits her father's bookstore once, she observes a thieving customer who is making a number of books disappear in his briefcase. Unnoticed by this, she rushes to the neighboring butcher shop, from where the police are alerted. After the thief was arrested, Gisel learns that a reward of one hundred marks has already been offered for his capture. With this money the twins buy a used folding boat . During an excursion by boat, boat cart and dachshunds, “Donner” is lost and only reappears days later after Mr. Rascher placed an advertisement in the newspaper. Gisel and Ursel, who are gradually feeling ripe for a paddling competition, join the “Hammonia” folding boat club and are now pursuing the goal of winning a prize at its summer sports festival.

Gisel and Ursel on a trip (1940) / Gisel and Ursel on a vacation trip on the Rhine (1951)

Meanwhile thirteen years old, Gisel and Ursel get a visit from “Bübchen”, whom Gisel once pulled from the Elbe. He reports that he will move to Boppard with his parents . The twins are invited there for the summer vacation and find that they are gradually getting bogged down with too many leisure activities and that way cannot raise the money for the trip. Therefore they decide to give up the folding boat for the time being, which is very convenient for their competitor from the club, Irmgard Krause. But then she learns that the twins still want to take part in the summer paddling competition. In this paddling competition, the starting shot should be given before the folding boats are set up, which is why the twins now systematically practice putting their boat together as quickly as possible. A week before the competition there is a big competition. The twins discover that they are missing a frame . Ursel comes to the conclusion that this part of the boat must have been stolen by Irmgard Krause, who left the boathouse the day before after them. Later Irmgard visits the twins at home and ruefully admits that she actually stole the boat part. The twins then win the paddling competition; Irmgard and her partner take second place. Father Rascher gives his daughters the fare to Boppard on the condition that they forego Christmas and birthday presents this time. Via Cologne , where they spend the night in the youth hostel and visit the cathedral and the city the next day, Gisel and Ursel drive to Boppard, where their hosts accompany them to the surrounding sights.

Gisel and Ursel on their own way (1955)

In her father's bookstore, Gisel talks to Mr. Firnhaber, a representative from Bavaria . He asks her about a host family for his fourteen-year-old son Florian, who would like to spend his vacation in Hamburg. Gisel quickly decides to go to Wiessee am Tegernsee as an exchange child for this Florian . In this way, Ursel got a holiday brother to whom she showed the attractions of Hamburg, while Gisel made friends with Florian's younger brother Sepp in Bavaria and got to know the tourist highlights of his homeland. In the following year the children should be exchanged in the opposite direction.

Expenses and changes

Margarete Haller's books reached millions of copies; the Gisel and Ursel volumes are among her best known books. They were reissued until the 1980s, with z. T. changed the title. In 1940 Gisel und Ursel auf Fahrt appeared , a title that was obviously no longer wanted in this way later. Later editions of the book were titled Gisel and Ursel on vacation on the Rhine .

Edited volumes carried the subtitles, for example ... the funny twins or ... on happy journeys . Often only the edition, but not the year of publication, is given in the volumes published by Franz Schneider Verlag.

Thorn and Neustadt

Thorn, a motif that still appeared in the pre-war illustrations

In the post-war period, the books appeared in a revised form; the illustrations have also been updated. For example, the birthplace of the twins was given the common name “Neustadt” in the post-war editions, while Thorn was originally mentioned explicitly. Individual characteristics of Thorn were also transferred to Neustadt, such as the 700-year history of the town and the castle ruins, which are also mentioned in the post-war editions at the beginning of the first volume when the twins go on a farewell walk through their old homeland. At this point the text has been shortened compared to the original version, in which several attractions of Thorn are listed: the town hall, the market square with the Copernicus monument , the Dansker , the Junkernhof and the castle ruins.

In the pre-war version of Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , the story of Thorn is discussed over several pages when the twins are asked after their victory in the swimming competition why they left their old home. Among other things, you can read there: “Why?” Says Ursel. “Well, you can imagine that! When Thorn became Polish we couldn't stay any longer. We are Germans! ”The words come out with pride. And the others all look with big eyes at the two, who proclaim their Germanness with shining eyes. The scene evolves into a pathetic portrayal of what happened in 1920, when Thorn became Polish, to a moment when Gisel tears well up and suddenly the whole of society, Germany, Germany, begins to sing about everything . The illustration for this passage shows a church in Thorner, among other things, while the post-war edition shows the twins with their competition prizes, a bathrobe and a bathing cap. The text about her homeland has completely disappeared from the more recent edition; Instead, the chapter, which apparently should keep the same length as in the older version, is closed by a scene in which Gisel and Ursel, disguised as old people, fall into the water from the jetty in front of the restaurant, making the company laugh bring.

Bismarck Monument

The Hamburg Bismarck Monument

A scene from the stroll through town that Gisel and Ursel undertake before they decide to buy the lottery ticket is also greatly abridged: if they are lucky, they take the first tram that appears at the stop and drive to the harbor area. There the train jerked around a corner and suddenly - in the pre-war edition - the gigantic Bismarck monument visible before your eyes - Lotte Oldenburg-Wittig depicted a full-page illustration. In the more recent edition, on the other hand, it is just a huge monument . A passage from the earlier version of the book in which this monument is described has been shortened accordingly : the mighty figure of the Chancellor rises on a giant plinth. With his head held high he looks into the distance. His hands rest powerfully on a large sword, and at his feet two mighty eagles crouch, apparently just waiting to be sent by him. In the later edition this description is shortened to the following sentence: The mighty figure of Bismarck rises on a giant pedestal; With his head held high he looks into the distance. Ursel's response to Gisel's remark that she has never seen such a large monument is also missing in the more recent edition. In the original text, she explains that not everyone gets something like this, but Bismarck really deserved it.

Planes

If the texts were obviously depoliticized in such places, others were modernized in order not to irritate the readership with anachronisms : At the airport, for example, Gisel and Ursel watch an airplane prepare for take-off. First it drives slowly on two wheels, straight like a car, in a wide arc out into the meadows, while the rear end of the aircraft tows on the ground. And then suddenly it rises , says the original text. On the other hand, the modernized version reads: First it rolls slowly out onto the runway on wheels in a wide arc, and then suddenly it rises into the air.

The interior of the aircraft with which the twins complete their sightseeing flight changes accordingly. Then they come to a small cabin that is furnished exactly like a second-class train compartment. There is a padded bench on either side, and the walls behind the benches are made entirely of windows. You can at least have a good look out - and then throw a handful of scraps of paper out of the window, which Ursel took with him as a precaution for this purpose. That can no longer be said in the later edition. Then they come to a department that is just like a large second-class railroad compartment. There are upholstered seats on each side, always for two people next to each other in a long row. The walls have large windows, so you can at least look out properly. Nothing is thrown out of the windows in the post-war edition. The illustrations for the sightseeing flight chapter have been changed accordingly.

Aftermath

The books sold well, but Margarete Haller is said to have once stated that the readers' letters were her only criticism. In 1973 the Schleswiger Nachrichten reported on saving a child from drowning. At the time, the lifesaver wrote to the author von Gisel and Ursel that she had stuck to her description of Bübchen's rescue.

literature

  • Matthias Gretzschel : Hamburg's oldest bestselling author. Margarethe Deinet will be 100 years old this Sunday. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. 46, no. 176 of July 31/1. August 1993, p. 5.
  • Dietrich Hellmund, Margarethe Deinet alias M. Haller , in: Rahlstedter Yearbook for History and Culture , ed. from the Working Group on History Rahlstedt u. Rahlstedter Wochenblatt, 2002, p. 80 f. on-line
  • Monika Nellissen, cheerful girls like wild Hilde. The children's book author Margarethe Deinet alias M. Haller will celebrate her 100th birthday tomorrow , in: Die Welt No. 176 of July 31, 1993, p. H2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Discussions about the changes in the Gisel and Ursel narratives in the post-war period
  2. ↑ Margarete Haller uses the feminine "a frame" for this word.
  3. ↑ Holdings in the DNB
  4. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the funny twins (anthology), Franz Schneider Verlag undated, p. 12
  5. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel , Franz Schneider Verlag o. J., 35. – 39. Tausend, Copyright 1932, p. 8 f.
  6. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 38
  7. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, pp. 38–40
  8. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 37
  9. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the funny twins (anthology), Franz Schneider Verlag o. J., p. 102 f.
  10. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the funny twins (anthology), Franz Schneider Verlag o. J., p. 104 f.
  11. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 26
  12. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 27
  13. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the funny twins (anthology), Franz Schneider Verlag n.d., p. 91
  14. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 26
  15. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the funny twins (anthology), Franz Schneider Verlag undated, p. 92
  16. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 28
  17. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 54
  18. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the funny twins (anthology), Franz Schneider Verlag undated, p. 121
  19. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 56
  20. ^ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the two lucky girls , Franz Schneider Verlag undated , Copyright 1933, p. 58
  21. ↑ Margarete Haller, Gisel and Ursel, the funny twins (anthology), Franz Schneider Verlag undated, p. 124
  22. ↑ Dietrich Hellmund, Margarethe Deinet alias M. Haller , in: Rahlstedter Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kultur , ed. from the Working Group on History Rahlstedt u. Rahlstedter Wochenblatt, 2002, p. 80 f.