Lord of Thieves
Herr der Diebe is a young adult novel by the German author Cornelia Funke , which was published in 2000 by Dressler Verlag with illustrations by the author and has received numerous awards. A new edition illustrated by Maximilian Meinzold was published in 2018.
content
The two brothers Bonifazius (Bo) and Prosper flee to Venice (Italy) after the death of their single mother to escape their aunt Esther and her husband. They wanted to take Bo with them, but send Prosper to a boarding school so that the brothers would have been separated from each other.
The private detective Victor Getz has received an order from their aunt to look for Bonifazius and bring him back to his aunt.
Bo and Prosper (nickname Prop) have become friends with a small gang of young thieves who live in an old movie theater. This includes Wasp (real name Caterina), Mosca and Riccio. The gang is led by a boy who calls himself “Lord of the Thieves”, but who is actually called Scipio (only Bo can call him Scip) and is the son of a rich Venetian (Dottor Massimo). Scipio steals things from his parents' house and gives them to his troop. But she doesn't know and thinks that Scipio is only good at stealing. If Scipio comes from a foray again, the gang should then sell the stolen goods to the fence Ernesto Barbarossa (called Red Beard) at the best possible price.
Scipio, Lord of Thieves, receives a special and well-paid assignment through Barbarossa. He is supposed to steal a wooden grand piano from a house. The client is a man who does not want to reveal his name and allows himself to be addressed as Conte (Graf).
While looking for the children, Victor comes to Dottor Massimo's house and sees that Scipio is Dottor Massimo's son. When he discovers the other children in the cinema, he is captured by them. He befriends them and tells them what he found out about Scipio. He tells the children of his suspicion that Scipio probably only stole the items allegedly stolen in spectacular break-ins from his father's house. The children, especially Riccio, don't believe him, but still want to see for themselves. When it turns out that Scipio is indeed the son of Dottor Massimo, the children are angry with him and decide to steal the piano on their own.
Victor is now able to break open the lock of his prison (the men's toilet) and escape. He takes a long time to tell Esther that he has found the children. He tells her a lie, but the aunt doesn't believe him. She has put up posters and takes matters into her own hands.
While Prosper wants to wait in the cinema with Bo, Wespe, Riccio and Mosca want to steal the piano, but Bo gets so angry that they have to take him away. Prosper notices his brother's absence and follows the others. But in the house they come across Scipio, who also wanted to steal the piano. They make such a noise that they attract the attention of the owner of the house and the Ida Spavento wing. This tells them what the grand piano is all about and why the client is willing to pay so much money. The wing belongs to a lion standing on a carousel . There are five wooden figures on this carousel: the winged lion, a sea horse, an aquarius, a mermaid and a unicorn. Everyone who drives on this carousel is getting younger or older. And the carousel only turns when it is complete. That carousel belonged to the Sisters of Charity, the operators of an orphanage in which Ida also grew up. The children team up with Ida and want to find out where the carousel is for which the Conte wants the wing. So they want to follow the Conte together after the handover of the wing.
While Wasp Bo reads from his favorite book, the others set off to hand over the grand piano. After the grand piano has been handed over to the Conte, the children and Ida take up the chase. You can see that the Conte brings the wing to Isola Segreta, an island with scary stories circulating. You are trying to get closer to the island. However, they can hear loud dog barking from afar and they are shot at as they approach the island. The youngsters flee.
But when the children return to the cinema, Wasp and Bo have disappeared. Prosper, Riccio and Mosca go to Victor and find out that the money is wrong. Wasp is in the Sisters of Mercy orphanage and Bo is with his aunt, where he behaves so indecently that Esther is convinced that he is not a cute little angel. Meanwhile, Victor and Ida fetch Wespe from the orphanage.
A little later Scipio and Prosper go to Isola Segreta again. This time they manage to climb over a wall from behind and get to the island. But they are pursued by Barbarossa, who also comes to the island. After some difficulty, Scipio rides the carousel and becomes an adult. Prosper doesn't dare to tell him that he looks like his father. Shortly afterwards, Barbarossa also appears at the carousel and also sits down on it. However, he jumps out too late and comes down as a little boy of barely five. When descending, Barbarossa breaks off one of the lion's wings. By splintering the wing, the carousel becomes unusable forever.
Meanwhile, Victor is informed by Esther Hartlieb that Bo has run away again. She is not ready to take him back. She is now getting the sweet little Barbarossa. But since he behaved badly, he went to boarding school after six months . There he calls himself "The Thief Lord".
Prosper, Bo and Waspe stay with Ida. You can trust her and feel safe with her. Mosca and Riccio look for an empty warehouse. Mosca looks for work with a lagoon fisherman , but Riccio continues to steal. Scipio, the former master of thieves, rents a hotel room and then goes to Victor as an apprentice detective. Scipio and Victor keep in touch with Prosper, Bo, Wespe, Riccio, Mosca and Ida.
Awards
- Nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize
- Zurich Children's Book Prize La vache qui lit
- Kalbach rattlesnake
- Prize of the Young Readers Jury, Vienna
- Bremen's best
- Children's and youth book list SR / Radio Bremen
- Corine - International Book Prize, 2003
- Zilveren stylus
Movie
On December 18, 2006, the film of the same name celebrated its world premiere at Streit's Filmtheater in Hamburg . The director and producer was Richard Claus , who wrote the script together with Daniel Musgrave. The starring roles are Rollo Weeks , Aaron Johnson, Jasper Harris , Caroline Goodall , George MacKay and Jim Carter .
Audio book
The novel has also been published as an audio book, read by Rainer Strecker , by Jumbo Neue Medien & Verlag and was placed on the hr2 audio book top list .
radio play
Lord of the Thieves as a radio play, adaptation and direction: Robert Schoen , music: B. Interpretation , production: SWR / NDR 2014.
Stage versions
- The stage adaptation by Wolfgang Adenberg was premiered in 2005 at the Junge Theater Bonn .
- Brigitte Helbling wrote a stage version for children aged eight and over, which premiered in 2017 at the Dresden State Theater with music by Felix Huber.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cornelia Funke Lord of Thieves. In: Verlagsgruppe Oetinger. Retrieved July 13, 2020 .
- ↑ Cornelia Funke - The official homepage. Retrieved September 19, 2018 .
- ↑ SWR2 radio play at Christmas: Lord of the Thieves | SWR.de. Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
- ↑ Theater and Orchestra Heidelberg: Lord of Thieves. Retrieved on September 19, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Schauspielhaus Dresden: Lord of Thieves, by Cornelia Funke in a stage version by Brigitte Helbling from 8 years | State Theater Dresden. Retrieved September 19, 2018 .