Henry Winterfeld

Henry Winterfeld

Henry Winterfeld (born April 9, 1901 in Hamburg ; † January 27, 1990 in Machias , Maine , USA ), pseudonyms Manfred Michael and Henry Gilbert , was a German-American writer and artist who had international success with his books for children and young people. He emigrated to the USA in 1940 and lived as a film writer in Roque Bluffs, Washington County in Maine until his death in 1990 .

Life

Henry Winterfeld's father was Jean Gilbert (actually Max Winterfeld ), a German composer and conductor . His brother Robert Gilbert (actually Robert David Winterfeld ) was also a composer and author.

After attending a private school, Henry Winterfeld studied music in Berlin at the Stern Conservatory with Claudio Arrau . He worked as a pianist and wrote film scenes and plays. In the list of listed pieces by the musician, pianist, composer and theater director Rudolf Nelson (1878-1960), Henry Winterfeld is co-author of the revue "Tombola" alongside Friedrich Hollaender , Hans H. Zerlett , Fritz Rotter and Franz Molnar (i.e. Ferenc Molnár ) (1929), in which Hans Albers also appeared in the Nelson Theater Berlin.

In 1933, Henry Winterfeld invented stories with a daily episode for his son Thomas Henry Winterfeld (1923–2008, oceanographer ) , who was suffering from scarlet fever . This is how his first book Timpetill - The City Without Parents came into being , which he first published in 1937 under the pseudonym Manfred Michael (illustrated with his own silhouettes) in Zurich at Corrodi.

Because of the National Socialist rule, Henry Winterfeld, who was Jewish, emigrated to Austria in 1933 and from there to France in 1938. He was arrested in October 1939 and interned in Nevers until May 1940 . After his release, the family was able to leave for the United States before the German troops marched in in May 1940. In 1946 he took American citizenship. Winterfeld's niece Marianne Gilbert Finnegan described the life of the emigrated Winterfelds in the USA in her autobiography Memories of a Mischling .

In 1953 Winterfeld's second book Caius ist ein Dummkopf (English Detectives in Togas ) appeared about several Roman schoolboys and their adventures. This was followed by two more volumes of the Caius series, which is still successful today ( Caius lights up and Caius in a tight spot ) as well as other books for children and young people.

He wrote his works mainly in German; they have been translated into French, English, Norwegian, Swedish and other languages. The Italian version of Timpetill. La città senza genitori was published in 1997 under the pseudonym "Manfred Michael".

The book Timpetill is required reading in French schools. The book Timpetill was filmed under the title Les Enfants de Timpelbach in the second half of 2007 by a French-Belgian-Luxembourg film production with the actors Gérard Depardieu and Carole Bouquet . The location was u. a. Castle Eyneburg in Hergenrath in Kelmis .

Henry Winterfeld was married to Else Winterfeld. She worked as a toy designer and created a patented three-headed doll.

Famous works

Books for children and young readers

• Timpetill - The City Without Parents (novel, 1937 ), ISBN 3-7645-7862-9 (English title: Trouble at Timpetill, 1963)
• Caius is a fool (novel, 1954 ), ISBN 3-570-20520-7 (English title: Detectives in Togas, 1956)
• A Girl Comes Flown (novel, 1956 ) (English title: Star Girl, 1957)
• Telegram from Liliput (Roman, 1958 ) (English title: Castaways in Lilliput, 1960)
• Pimmi Ponytail (Roman, 1967 ).
• Caius goes on a light (Roman, 1969 ), ISBN 3-7645-7866-1 (English title: Mystery of the Roman Ransom, 1971)
• The Last of the Seconds (Roman, 1971 ), ISBN 3-7645-7867-X
• Caius in der Klemme (Roman, 1976 ), ISBN 3-570-20349-2 , 143 g., 228 pages

Films based on works by Henry Winterfeld

• 2007 - Les enfants de Timpelbach - Director: Nicolas Bary (with Gérard Depardieu and Carole Bouquet )

Web links

• Literature by and about Henry Winterfeld in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Maine death register  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ [Wilfrid Eymer: Eymers pseudonyms lexicon, 1997. p.387]
3. ↑ Reference to father and brother ( memento of the original from October 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Music studies
5. ↑ Short biography and reference to Claudio Arrau ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Revue "Tombola"
7. ↑ Hans Albers and the "Tombola" revue
8. ↑ Communication from International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE): "Tom Winterfeld passes away"
9. ↑ Short biography ( memento of the original from October 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Marianne Gilbert Finnegan “Memories of a Mischling” and “That was only once. Lost between Berlin and New York ”p. 79
11. ↑ US naturalization
12. ↑ Marianne Gilbert Finnegan “Memories of a Mischling” and “That was only once. Lost between Berlin and New York "
13. ↑ Italian version of “Timpetill”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ Film adaptation of "Timpetill" (Les enfants de Timpelbach) ( Memento from October 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
15. ↑ Report on the film work in Luxembourg  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ↑ Homepage of the film ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. ^ Report on the film work on the Eyneburg
18. ↑ Patent ELSIE GILBERT WINTERFELD THREE-IN-ONE DOLL  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.