Herbert Walz

Late portrait of Herbert Walz in his home in Trossingen

Herbert Walz (born November 7, 1915 in Trossingen ; † January 23, 2002 ibid) was a German writer and native lyricist. His best-known works are the post-war novel When Heaven's Curtain Tears, the local novel Die Brombeerpflücker and the children's book series about the sorcerer's apprentice Popilus.

life and work

Herbert Walz, born in Trossingen in Württemberg in 1915 as the son of the teacher and organist Gotthilf Walz , devoted himself to topics such as religion, music and literature in his early youth and began to write short stories and poetry at an early age.

In 1940 his first novella was published under the title Cavalry in Dawn . Walz married Elisabeth Garbujo from Trossingen during the Second World War. The marriage resulted in four daughters. Towards the end of the war, Walz became a prisoner of war, which he spent in southern France. Then several volumes of poetry appeared, the story Tanz am Blaue See and the novel The song of great joy about his hometown Trossingen, which at that time was strongly influenced by the Hohner musical instrument factory .

The novel When Heaven's Curtain Tears from 1959 deals with the fate of German prisoners of war after the Second World War and contains calls for international reconciliation and humanity in deed and conviction. Albert Schweitzer described When Heaven's Curtain Tears as "one of the most poignant works about the post-war period".

This is followed by other novels and books of poetry, the successful children's story trilogy The little magician Popilus and children's books Billy Boom and the old giant Fear Nothing and The den of thieves in ancient castle . The Popilus trilogy was translated into several languages ​​and set to music for children's radio plays, for which Walz composed some of the accompanying music himself.

In his late work From memories rise the dreams , Walz once again showed himself to be a subtle poet.

Walz 'more than 20 works are characterized above all by a powerful language, a fine sense of humor, a strong homeland reference to his hometown Trossingen, the Schwarzwald-Baar and Lake Constance regions as well as a strong, religiously influenced morality.

Herbert Walz died on January 23, 2002 at the age of 86 in his hometown of Trossingen.

Works

• Horse riding in the dawn (1940)
• Bridge in the Morning (1951)
• Dance at the Blue Lake (1952)
• Dream and Mission (1952)
• The Song of Great Joy (1954)
• When Heaven's Curtain Tears (1959)
• Guest on this Earth (1961)
• The Holy Adventure (1961)
• The Blackberry Pickers (1964)
• The little magician Popilus (1966)
• Adventure with Popilus (1967)
• Master Wizard Popilus (1969)
• The robbers' nest in the old castle (1972)
• Billy Bumm and the Giant Fearless (1974)
• Fruit and Sting (1975)
• Inner Harvest (1975)
• Dreams Rise from Memory (1989)