Martin Selber

Martin Selber

Martin Selber (actually: Martin Merbt; * February 27, 1924 in Dresden ; † March 3, 2006 in Domersleben ) was a German writer .

Life

Martin Selber grew up in Berlin since 1928 , where he attended elementary school and then the Kant high school, which he left with the secondary school leaving certificate in 1940. As the son of an employee, Selber first learned the trade of an accountant and became a city inspector. In 1942 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and served as an intelligence soldier in Poland , France , on the Eastern Front and as a medic in Breslau . After the fortress fell in 1945, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets in Donbass .

After his release at the end of 1945, he settled in Domersleben near Magdeburg and first became a farm worker, then an employee and finally secretary of the regional farmers' aid . He also became a drama student and worked as a musician.

From 1953 he lived as a freelance writer in the GDR . Since 1956 he was a member of the Writers ' Union and supervised circles of writing workers. From 1971 to 1988 he was chairman of the writers' association in the Magdeburg district. After 1989, he wrote humorous stories in Magdeburg dialect and in Bördeplatt in East Westphalia for the regional press and the Schwejk novel “The adventures of the good citizen of Drente”.

Selber published over 50 novels, short stories and specialist books with a total circulation of 3.5 million copies. His works have been translated into several languages, including Finnish , Hungarian and Danish . Even before the fall of the Wall , his books for young people, "Secret Courier A" and "Faustrecht", published by Rowohlt , were used as school literature in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein . In amateur radio operators and electronic hobbyists are his shortly after the Second World War created fiction books - such. B. "With coils, wire and Morse code" - appreciated.

Martin Selber is regarded as a native writer, although he wrote many historical adventure novels, especially at the beginning of his writing activity, which were set all over the world. His novel "... and the ice remains silent" is the first literary representation of the Franklin expedition (1845).

With the regional ties of many later works, Selber showed how national events are reflected in the smallest villages, which can then serve as a mirror of European history.

His novel “Gnostika”, which shows the human side of the expropriation of the farmers in the countryside without questioning the development of agriculture in the GDR itself, is his late work, an educational novel and a résumé. The practice of printing permits prevented the novel from appearing in GDR times.

Like many of his colleagues, Martin Selber was under constant observation by the Ministry for State Security. His BStU file comprises over 4,500 pages.

The village of Domersleben in the Magdeburg Börde made him an honorary citizen . In 2010 a street in Domersleben, now part of the city of Wanzleben-Börde, was renamed "Martin-Selber-Straße". In 2013, the Domersleber elementary school named itself "Martin Selber Elementary School".

Works (selection)

• The work. Amateur play, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle, 1949
• With coils, wire and morse key. Youth book, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1953.
• ... and the ice stays silent. Roman, Verlag Das Neue Berlin , 1955; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1977; Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle-Leipzig, 1979 (a revision of the novel from 1955); ARENA Würzburg 1984; Translations: Hungarian 1964, Danish 1980, Norwegian 1982.
• The drum girl. Drama, Hofmeister Verlag Leipzig 1955, world premiere: Theater of the Young World Leipzig 1959.
• The servant chronicle. Novellas, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1965.
• With radio, tubes and loudspeakers. Youth book, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1956.
• Captain Hartwig. Children's book, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1956.
• Your eyes, dear child. Roman, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1957.
• Gold in the bear ground. Children's story, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1957.
• Eldorado. Other title: On the gold trail. In the Bogotá valley. Roman, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, Yellow Series 1958; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1980; The children's book publisher Berlin, 1983.
• Four wheels and a tent. Youth story, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1958.
• The Caribbean fiery furnace. Roman, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1959, radio play adaptation.
• With logbook, call and radio station. Youth book, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1959.
• Summer thunderstorm. Roman, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1961.
• War under palm trees. Roman, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1962; Military publishing house Berlin, 1984.
• Kalli drives to the big meeting. Youth story, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1965.
• Where the sand covers the tracks. Roman, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1964.
• The passenger with the brown jacket. Crime story, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1966 (= blue light , issue 69).
• Shipwreck off Tierra del Fuego. Adventure story, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1966; Dramatization 1967.
• The grass hut. Youth story, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1967; as "Secret Courier A", Rowohlt Hamburg, 1976, ISBN 3-499-20123-2 .
• The trap of the consul Sann. Adventure story, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1967.
• The slave traders. Youth story, Gebrüder- Knabe Verlag Weimar , 1968; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1977; Translation in Danish 1978.
• Atlantic riddle. Fantastic story, Verlag Neues Leben Berlin, 1969.
• DX Pedition Geyser Reef. Adventure story, Verlag Das Neue Berlin, 1969.
• He came with the autumn wind. Story, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle, 1970; dramatized for television.
• The clipper ghost. Children's book, Gebrüder- Knabe Verlag Weimar , 1970; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1972; Translation into Dutch 1980.
• A ship goes to Rangoon. Youth book, Gebrüder-Knabe-Verlag Weimar, 1971; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1972; Postreiter-Verlag Halle, 1986; Translation: Bulgarian 1976.
• The escape into the valley of the swallows. Youth story, Knabe Verlag Weimar , 1972.
• Law of the thumb. The adventurous youth of Timm Riedbure. Youth book. Knabe Verlag Weimar , 1973; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1975; Postreiter-Verlag Halle, 1985; ISBN 3-499-20093-7 .
• Old clocks also measure new time. Roman, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle, 1974.
• Hendrik Witbooi. Youth story, Knabe Verlag Weimar , 1974; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1976; Translation: Danish 1982.
• Damn it, Sarmiento !. Roman, Military Publishing House Berlin, 1976.
• King Lustick and his pawn. Roman, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle, 1976.
• Timm, the country driver. Knabe Verlag Weimar , 1976; As: Caught on the Dumburg. Rowohlt Hamburg, 1980; Postreiter-Verlag Halle, 1985.
• Salt and bread and a good mood. Story, Military Publishing Berlin, 1977; GDR television, 1979.
• Among sealers and circumnavigators. Youth novel, Knabe Verlag Weimar , 1978; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1978.
• The story of Clarissa S .. Roman, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle, 1980.
• Mien Dorpspaijel. Low German dialect stories, Wanzleben, 1981.
• Hanna and Elisabeth. Story, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1982; Translation: Danish 1984.
• Return to strange beds. Roman, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle, 1986.
• I am a little king Children's and youth books, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1986; Rowohlt Hamburg, 1988.
• Ick am Mieneken Musekeddel. Low German dialect stories, Zentralhaus-Verlag Leipzig, 1988.
• The bog hunters. Historical novel, Berlin Military Publishing House, 1989.
• Jump over the garden fence. Roman, Mitteldeutscher Verlag Halle, 1989.
• I have my beard. Low German dialect stories, Dr. Ziethen Verlag Oschersleben.
• Justel advances. Low German dialect stories, Dr. Ziethen Verlag Oschersleben.
• Cityscapes from Wanzleben. Texts for an illustrated book, Stadtbildverlag Leipzig, 1994.
• Stunne bi Kanter Bosse. School stories from the Magdeburg Börde in the East Westphalian Platt, Dr. Ziethen Verlag Oschersleben, 1994, ISBN 3-932090-17-9 .
• The other day I saw. Texts for a photo book, Börde-Museum Ummendorf, 1995.
• The adventures of the good citizen of Drente. Novel. Dr. Ziethen Verlag Oschersleben, 1996. ISBN 3-932090-02-0
• Ooch'n Machteburjer. Dr. Ziethen Verlag Oschersleben, 2001 ISBN 3-935358-17-2
• Dat are you, mien Bördeland: Instructive and entertaining information on Bördegeschichte, 1999 ISBN 3-932090-60-8
• Gnostika or house by the lake. Roman, 1989. First edition BoD Norderstedt, 2014 ISBN 978-3-7347-3402-1

Contributions in anthologies, magazines and newspapers, participation in ensemble programs and festivals, carnival contributions for the Central House for Cultural Work of the GDR , Leipzig. Short contributions for dialect broadcasts of the Central German Radio MDR I.

Three manuscripts are still available:

• I loved to laugh Autobiography childhood and adolescence.
• Wroclaw! A diary. The last days and the fall of the Wroclaw Fortress. Autobiographical diary, 1998.
• Ham wa da laughs. Clever and rhymed.

swell

• www.elib.uni-stuttgart.de (PDF file; 1.49 MB)

Web links

• Literature by and about Martin Selber in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website on the life and work of Martin Selber