Heinz-Josef Stammel

Heinz-Josef Stammel (born January 1, 1926 in Cologne , † January 22, 1990 in Alpirsbach ) was a German press photographer , journalist and author .

Life

He studied chemistry and worked at least part of the time as a journalist . More important, however, is his work as an author. In the 1950s, Stammel began writing Wild West novels. Along with GF Unger, he was one of the most famous western authors of the decades after the Second World War. Stammel wrote about 120 western novels between 1956 and 1966 , mainly under his pseudonym Robert Ullman . Many of his novels initially appeared on loan and were often reprinted later as novel booklets or paperbacks. His first Ullman loan book, Ein harter Mann , was published in 1956 by Paul Feldmann-Verlag, Marl-Hüls. From the mid-1960s, the pseudonym was continued by Werner J. Egli, who was later also recognized as an author for young people, until 1975.

As early as 1965 began stammer then a series of so-called Authentic Western issue, the first as a hardcover under the pseudonym Christopher S. Hagen in Herder Verlag published, and then later (now under stammer) as paperbacks at Rowohlt were reprinted. However, these are exclusively material that had already appeared under Ullman, but which have now been slightly edited, occasionally also containing additional chapters, and above all enriched with a series of historical photos, quotations, newspaper clippings, etc. that go with the actions that should prove the (supposedly) authentic character of the novels.

The novel “Secret Order” (1969) is of particular importance, for which Stammel was awarded the Friedrich Gerstäcker Prize , which describes a dirty chapter in the US war of annihilation against the indigenous Indians, but above all through its intense portrayal of extreme deprivations impresses in an exceptional situation. In “The Hour of the Cowboys” he provides a comprehensive insight into the less than romantic life of the cowboys, which is determined by exhausting work in a hostile environment without any social security, while not ignoring political dimensions.

Stammel's art is that this demythologizing content is conveyed not in spite of, but rather through interesting characters and gripping stories. Golo Mann summarized this as follows: "I admire the way in which you have combined such extremely thorough studies that probably cover the entire material with such a pleasantly captivating, yes, actually quite entertaining form of presentation."

Stammel himself often referred to his works of fiction as “authentic novels from the American West” or used the reference “Authentic Western” in the subtitle. As early as 1956, he realized that the reader was not asking for a desk fantasy, but for novels whose real material was guaranteed. Nevertheless, the plot of his Wild West novels in his Ullman phase remains mostly entertaining fiction, which captivates with its psychologically sophisticated characters and conflicts.

But it was precisely this celebrated "authentic" claim that brought Stammel into criticism when it came out in the 1970s that he had invented "historical sources" (such as newspaper clippings) not only for his fiction but even for his non-fiction books would have. His "Indian" lexicon in particular was criticized by scientists as unusable, which made his other forgeries public.

Later there were also booklet and paperback series (at Bastei , Kelter ), in which only novels that are assigned to the Ullman pseudonym were printed. Including the subsequent editions, more than 1700 western publications by Ullman can be identified.

The fiction texts were mostly published under different cover names. The main pseudonym was Robert Ullman. However, some of Stammel's pseudonyms were also used by other writers with Stammel's permission. Nonfiction books on North American pioneering history appeared under the real name.

Publications (non-fiction books)

• HJ Stammel: They were still men - the cowboys and their world , Econ-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1970.
• HJ Stammel: The cowboy. Legend and Reality , Bertelsmann-Verlag, 1972.
• HJ Stammel: Indians . Legend and reality from A – Z. Life - Fight - Downfall , Bertelsmann Lexikon-Verlag, Gütersloh 1977
  • New edition: Orbis Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-572-06243-8 .
• HJ Stammel: As long as grass grows and water flows , DVA, Stuttgart 1976
• HJ Stammel: The Wild West in Pictures , Prisma Verlag, Gütersloh 1978
• HJ Stammel: With braked violence , Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1974
• HJ Stammel: Protect yourself , Journal Verlag, Schwäbisch Hall 1977
• HJ Stammel: Off Road through the USA, history, technology, travel, adventure , Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1982
• HJ Stammel: The Manitous Pharmacy . The medical knowledge of the Indians and their medicinal plants , Wunderlich-Verlag, Reinbek 1986
• HJ Stammel: The healing knowledge of the Indians. A thousand secret recipes and their application. Wunderlich-Verlag, Reinbek 1986, ISBN 3-8052-0406-X

Pseudonyms (partly also used by other authors)

• Perky S. Blane, Bud W. Clarke, Robert S. Field, Clint H. Fowler, Mark F. Gruver, Christopher S. Hagen, Mac Intosh, Jim Kellog, TC Lockhart, Robert Starr, Robert Ullman