Herbert Heinrich (Author)

Herbert Werner Heinrich (born October 2, 1922 in Berlin ; † December 14, 2012 in Paguera ) was the author of numerous hiking books and himself a hiking guide on Mallorca , where he had lived since 1983. His popular descriptions of the hiking trails through Mallorca's mountains have made hiking on the island popular with tourists as well. Some of his books have been translated into Spanish and English .

Life

Herbert Heinrich was born in Berlin. His mother died when he was eleven years old, and the boy was sent to boarding school on the Scharfenberg Island School Farm . At the age of 19 he joined the Reich Labor Service and had to dig trenches in East Prussia . In the following year, 1942, he was drafted into military service and ordered to Rommel's Africa Corps near El Alamein , where he was captured by British troops after three months.

As a prisoner of war, Heinrich was brought to a camp in Canada, where he had to do woodcutting work in the jungle. Here, thanks to his pronounced artistic talent, he was able to supplement his rations by making portraits of the officers on watch. After Herbert Heinrich was transferred to Scotland in 1946, he was released from captivity on February 28, 1947.

Herbert Heinrich returned to Berlin and completed an apprenticeship as a commercial artist at the Berlin School of Fine Arts . The marriage with a graduate of the pottery class was concluded in 1958 and divorced again after more than twenty years. For over 30 years he worked for exhibitions and trade fairs and in the design of print advertising, mostly for direct sales companies.

In 1954 Herbert Heinrich visited Mallorca for the first time and from then on spent his holidays frequently on the island. In 1975 he bought an apartment in Cala Fornells and finally moved to Mallorca in 1983. Herbert Heinrich got to know the mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana at the side of a local hiking group and began to write his first hiking books. Soon he also worked as a hiking guide, both independently and for tourism companies. He carried out both activities into old age.

On December 14, 2012, a few weeks after his 90th birthday, Herbert Heinrich died in his apartment in Cala Fornells .

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During his hikes together with local "Muntanyers" in his adopted home Mallorca, Heinrich noticed that hiking trails were not signposted and that useful maps and directions hardly existed. The names of the mountain peaks and other landmarks existed in the most varied of variants or were not known at all. In addition to military table sheets, Heinrich therefore also consulted old maps and travelogues from the libraries and archives of the capital Palma.

From 1985 onwards, his two volumes on hiking routes in Mallorca's touristically popular southwest region were published with easy-to-understand panorama maps that he himself had drawn, followed by other hiking and leisure books about Mallorca in loose succession. In addition to the directions, Heinrich's hiking guides offer a variety of cultural and historical background information. The works were lovingly and funny illustrated by the author and continuously updated into old age; The last edition of Volume 1 was published in 2007.

Heinrich's humorous and lively writing style makes his books enjoyable educational reading to this day, even if the hiking trails described are no longer up-to-date due to construction activities, barriers, forest fires and the like. In addition to his own books, Herbert Heinrich wrote articles for the hiking guides of other publishers. Articles, photos and drawings by him were also regularly published in the German weekly newspaper Mallorca Magazin . Heinrich appeared as a Mallorca expert in many television programs, mainly the third programs.

On the occasion of his 80th birthday in October 2002, Herbert Heinrich was honored and recognized by numerous organizations for his services to green tourism, including the Consell Insular, the government of Mallorca, the tourism association Agencia Balear de Turismo and the association of hoteliers of the municipality of Calvia .

Works

Herbert Heinrich, 11 Mallorca Insider Books, Editorial Moll, Palma de Mallorca 1985 ff.

• Volume 1: Mallorca: Hikes through the southwest region 1 . With updated routes and a folding map of the hiking areas of Peguera, Calvia, Es Capdella, Andratx, Sant Elm (San Telmo) and Finca Galatzo
• Volume 2: Mallorca: Hikes through the southwest region 2 . With panoramic maps from Serra Na Burguesa to Esclop
• Volume 3: Mallorca: 12 classic hikes . With clear panorama maps and many illustrations (also published in English)
• Volume 4: The Mallorca Ludwig Salvators experienced today . Excursions into the past in the footsteps of the Archduke (also available in English and Spanish)
• Volume 5: Mallorca Experience Book . Lots of helpful insider tips for more fun on the charming island, with cheerful illustrations
• Volume 6: In love with Mallorca . Stories and feature sections, richly illustrated
• Volume 7: Mallorca: 12 adventure hikes through the Serra Tramuntana . With clear panorama maps and many illustrations (also published in English and Spanish)
• Volume 8: 10 beautiful, little-known hikes in Mallorca . Eventful, easy to medium-difficulty hikes through Mallorca's mountains and along the dream coast. With clear panorama maps and many illustrations
• Volume 9: Mallorca-Southwest: walks and easy hikes through the coastal region and Palma . For people with cultural interests. With descriptive panorama maps, folding plan and many illustrations
• Volume 10: Unrest under palm trees . Experiences and tips from someone who has successfully "retired" on Mallorca.
• Volume 11: Mallorca Primer for young and old . Helpful, interesting, exciting and whatever you always wanted to know with "History of Mallorca in Comics"
• The adventure of the past: the history of Mallorca to touch , early days up to the 15th century, color illustr. Booklet o. Publisher u. Year (also in English)
• Mallorca: A book for parents and children , Verlag Reise-Know-how, Bielefeld 1997
• Contemporary witness (autobiography), unpublished manuscript

literature

• Herbert Heinrich is 80 years old , Mallorca Magazin from September 27, 2002
• Herbert Heinrich died: Mallorca's mountain guide started the last hike , Mallorca Magazin online from December 17th, 2012
• Last rest in his beloved Cala Fornells , Mallorca Magazin 51/2012 of December 20, 2012, p. 27

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://mallorcamagazin.com/aktuelles/nachrichten/herbert-heinrich-wird-80-jahre-alt.html
2. ↑ http://mallorcamagazin.com/aktuelles/nachrichten/herbert-heinrich-gestorben.html