Otto Mielke

Otto Mielke (born March 18, 1906 in Berlin ; † October 13, 1958 ) was a German writer . Mielke, who at times also used the pseudonym Otto or OM Wendelburg, first worked in the genres of adventure and detective novels , and from 1954 onwards he worked as a non-fiction author. From this point on, his focus was on the history of seafaring and naval history .

Life

Nothing is known about his childhood and youth. From 1924 to 1928 Mielke was a member of the Reichsmarine . During the Second World War he was a member of the Navy from 1939 to 1945 .

His first work is the novel Käppen Carsten's penultimate will (1936). In 1937 it was followed by the story Women under the Black Flag , 1938 Goodbye in Shanghai , 1940 Warning - Canal Police . In 1940 The Heroes' Battle for Narvik appeared . From 1942 to 1945 he published four novels in the war library of German youth . In 1943 he edited the volume: Knight's Cross bearer Kapitänleutnant Jost Metzler: Periscope southwards! Written down by Otto Mielke.

On August 24, 1939, Mielke was drafted into the Navy. He first served in a unit of the naval artillery , u. a. in occupied Norway . From April 1942 to the end of February 1943 he was employed in the Propaganda Replacement Department Potsdam and the Navy Propaganda Department North; The work on Metzler was probably written around this time. Then he returned to the naval artillery in Norway. On the instructions of the High Command of the Navy , Mielke was not allowed to serve as a war correspondent; the background is unknown. His last rank was Chief Petty Officer of the reserve . He fell into British captivity for a short time , but was released on August 14, 1945.

After the war, the author tried other genres. He wrote Zollkreuzer in Lee in 1946 , wrote the comedy Glück one must have in 1947 and in 1948 the Schwank ( apparently in Low German) De Hammelbraden ( The mutton roast ). Dozens of detective novels followed from 1948 to around 1954.

In 1953 Mielke began to work with Fritz Otto Busch for the Arthur Moewig publishing house in Munich . Both authors wrote the magazine series SOS - Fate of German Ships and Anker-Hefte. Seafaring all over the world , the cover pictures and interior illustrations of which were made by the marine painter Walter Zeeden . For both series, Mielke wrote dozens of novels, which, however, in keeping with the concept of the series, were slightly fictionalized factual reports.

Both series were combined in about 1978 by Pabel-Verlag and under the title SOS. Ship fates on the seas of the world edited again. At the end of the 1990s, this series was re-edited by Pabel and presented under the title Der Landser: SOS. Ship fates on the seas of the world , so that Mielke's novels experienced a total of three editions. In 1958 he wrote the non-fiction book The Great Book of Seafaring , which saw several editions. He died that same year after a serious illness.

Some of the titles published by Mielke for the series by Moewig and Pabel are currently (2009) published by Verlag Rudolf Stade in Kiel in the booklet series SMS - Ships, People, Fates .

Publications

• Captain Carsten's penultimate will . 1936.
• Black flag women . 1937.
• The spider , Hamburg 1938.
• See you in Shanghai . 1938.
• Der wilde Reiter (Volume 19 of the booklet series Piraten-Entdecker. Adventurous fates from all times and all countries , Neuer Buchverlag Dresden, 1937/38).
• Women under the black flag (Volume 22 of Piraten-Entdecker ).
• The hero fight for Narvik . Steiniger Verlage Berlin, 1940
• Attention - Canal Police . 1940.
• Alarm on the coast (Volume 53 of the magazine series War Library of German Youth , Steiniger Verlage Berlin, 1939–1945).
• Destroyer in the Trade War (Volume 87 War Library of German Youth ).
• Battleships in the Atlantic (Volume 102 War Library of German Youth ).
• Outpost boats in combat (Volume 107 War Library of the German Youth ).
• Customs cruiser in lee. A police novel , Hamburg 1947.
• A Lady in Black , Jserlohn 1949.
• Seven glasses of Chambertin , Hamburg 1950.
• as Otto M. Wendelburg: Dunja: Serenade d'amour , Papenburg / Ems 1952.
• Man on a sinking ship: thirteen days battle for the " Flying Enterprise " , Reutlingen 1954.
• Disasters at sea: the great emergencies and self-sacrificing rescue operations of our century. In cooperation with the German Rescue Society , Oldenburg (Oldb.) / Hamburg 1957.
• The big book of the sea , Reutlingen 1958 (revised new editions 1978 and 1986).

From 1954 until his death in 1958 Otto Mielke wrote the following volumes for the SOS series . Fate of German ships from Arthur-Moewig-Verlag, Munich:

• Happiness and the end of a giant. Express steamer "Bremen" , volume 1.
• His first and last stand. Heavy cruiser "Blücher" , Volume 2.
• Journey of no return. Sail training ship "Admiral Karpfanger" , Volume 3.
• SOS - Save our souls! Hapag steamer "New York" , volume 4.
• Battle of the titans. Battleship "Bismarck" , Volume 5.
• Drama in Tierra del Fuego. Motor ship "Monte Cervantes" , volume 6.
• The tiger of the fjords. Minesweeper "M1" , Volume 7.
• Escape over 12,000 miles. Sail training ship "Duchess Cecilie" , Volume 8.
• A giant's odyssey. Battleship "Scharmhorst" , Volume 9.
• A giant ship sinks itself. Express steamer "Columbus" , Volume 10.
• The battle for Narvik. Destroyer "Wilhelm Heidkamp" , Volume 11.
• Despite all storms. Express steamer "Europa" , volume 12.
• Five torpedoes. Motor tanker "Heinrich von Riedemann" , Volume 13.
• On a pirate course in the Pacific. Auxiliary cruiser SMS "Wolf" , volume 14.
• The trap of Montevideo. Ironclad "Admiral Graf Spee" , Volume 15.
• The bull of Scapa Flow. "U47 - Günther Prien" , Volume 16.
• Drive to doom. Express steamer "Cap Arcona" , volume 17.
• A steel champion. Ship of the line "Schleswig-Holstein" , Volume 18.
• North Sea - Murder Sea. Steamer "Luise Leonhardt" / lightship "ELBE 1" , volume 19.
• From Greenland to the South Seas. Heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen" , volume 20.
• Lost in the Atlantic. Motor ship "Melanie Schulte" , volume 21.
• Not back from patrol. "U 83" and "U 199" , volume 22.
• Disaster at night. Passenger motor ship "Wilhelm Gustloff" , Volume 23.
• One coat of arms - three fates , volume 24.
• Stranded on Prerow Bank. Steamer "Taube" , Volume 25.
• Destroyer fight in the Ofotfjord. Destroyer "Erich Koellner" , volume 26.
• With Weddigen on a war voyage. "U 9" and "U 29" , volume 27.
• The "Cossack" affair. Motor tanker "Altmark" , volume 28.
• A heroic rescue. Bark "Schulschiff Pommern" / tug "Heros" , Volume 29.
• The last ship of the cruiser squadron. SM Small cruiser "Dresden" , volume 30.
• Against mines, bombs and torpedoes. SM small cruiser "Dresden" , volume 31.
• On the whale hunt in Antarctica. Whaling mother ship "Jan Wellem" , Volume 32.
• Convoy battle in the Atlantic. Heavy cruiser "Admiral Hipper" , volume 33.
• From luxury steamer to auxiliary cruiser. Express steamer "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" , Volume 34.
• Periscope southward. "U 69" , volume 35.
• Blockade breaker motor ship "Seattle" , Volume 36.
• Blockade breaker turbine ship "Windhuk" , Volume 37.
• Five men in one boat. Turbine ship "Windhuk" , Volume 38.
• Around the globe. Auxiliary cruiser "Orion" , volume 39.
• From Hamburg to Manhattan. Hapag steamer "Hansa" ex "Albert Ballin" , volume 40.
• The last German giant. Battleship "Tirpitz" , Volume 41.
• Steamer "Bulgaria" , Volume 42.
• "U 159" , volume 43.
• Between Singapore and New Guinea. Imperial mail steamer "Manila" , Volume 44.
• 67,000 mile Atlantic voyage. Survey ship "Meteor" , volume 45.
• Siberian ice trip. Commercial sturgeon cruiser "Komet" , Volume 46.
• A merchant ship sails underwater. Untersee cargo ship "U-Deutschland" , Volume 47.
• Boiler explosion! Passenger steamer "Berlin" , volume 48.
• In the narrow corner. SM Small cruiser "Königsberg" , volume 49.
• The sea struck. Fish Steamer "Thor" , Volume 50.
• The strangest ship in the Navy. Night chase lead ship "Togo" , Volume 51.
• The last German windjammer. Four-masted barque "Pamir" , volume 53.
• Under the Turkish crescent. Battle cruiser "Goeben" and small cruiser "Breslau" (1) , volume 54.
• The "Laconia" case. "U 156" , volume 55.
• Creep to East Africa. SM "Sperrbrecher A" (Steamer "Rubens") , Volume 56.
• Speedboats in the Black Sea. The I. S-Boat Flotilla , Volume 57.
• A great piece. Freight steamer "Falke" , volume 58.
• "U 333". The Sea Wolf Ali Cremer , Volume 59.
• A typhoon is raging. Motor ship "Hamburg" , volume 60.
• With Walter Lohmann: Bravo, little cruiser! SMS "Emden" , volume 61.
• In unauthorized ways. Engine protector "Przemysl" , volume 62.
• Bombs off Spain. Heavy cruiser "Lützow" , volume 63.
• The last of the Hamburg-Süd. Motor ship "Monte Rosa" , volume 64.
• "Z before!" at the Skagerrak. Small cruiser "Regensburg" , volume 65.
• The battle of the black balls. Sea bath steamer "Cobra" , volume 66.
• A nation's pride. Passenger steamer "Imperator" , volume 67.
• As a submarine supplier in the Indian Ocean. Tank motor ship "Charlotte Schliemann" , Volume 68.
• Imperial sea voyages. Kaiserjacht "Hohenzollern" , volume 69.
• The Maritime Administration meets. Steamer "Irene Oldendorff" , volume 71.
• The grandmother of the German Navy. SMS "Amazone" , volume 73.
• The floating train station. Ocean-going ferry "Deutschland" , Volume 74.
• Ready for battle! SM small cruiser "Karlsruhe" , volume 75.
• The great unfinished. "Graf Zeppelin" aircraft carrier , volume 76.
• Admired, praised and forgotten. Rotor ships "Buckau" and "Barbara" , Volume 77.
• The "Lusitania" case. Submarine "U 20" , Volume 78.
• Capsized in the port. Luxury passenger steamer "Oceana" , volume 79.
• Hussars at sea. 3rd and 7th Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla , Volume 80.
• 225 days on patrol. "U 196" , volume 81.
• They ran over the devil's feet. Marine ferry cream "F 617" , volume 82.
• Assassination attempt in San Francisco. Turbine Steamers "Vancouver" and "Tacoma" , Volume 83.
• Against wreckers and pirates. SM gunboat "Iltis" (1) , volume 84.
• The guardian angel of deep sea fishermen. Protection boat "Meerkatze" , volume 85.
• A colossus made of steel. Battleship "Gneisenau" , Volume 86.
• Wanted, pursued and not found. Express steamer "Kronprinz Wilhelm" , volume 87.
• The Boxer Rebellion in China. SM gunboat "Iltis" (2) , volume 88.
• From the old convoyer to the modern "music steamer". Motor ship "Wappen von Hamburg" , volume 89.
• The first cruiser of the Reichsmarine. Light cruiser "Emden" (III) , volume 90.
• A tragic end. SMS "Niobe" , volume 91.
• A man saves the Dardanelles. "U 21" , volume 92.
• A dangerous cargo. Freight and passenger steamer "Munich" , Volume 93.
• He sank the "Sydney". Commercial sturgeon cruiser "Kormoran" , Volume 94.
• The last cruiser of the Kriegsmarine. Light cruiser "Leipzig" , volume 95.
• Blockade trip to Japan. Motor ship "Ermland" , volume 96.
• Battles in the Black Sea. "Goeben" and "Breslau" (2) , volume 97.
• An African from Hamburg. Steamer "Adolph Woermann" , Volume 98.
• Black nights in the Black Sea. Schnellboot "S 42" , volume 99.
• Scapa Flow - the grave of a fleet. SM fleet flagship "Friedrich der Grosse" , volume 100.
• Petroleum drivers - then and now. Tanker "Glückauf" and "Esso Deutschland" , Volume 101.
• The light cruiser's last voyage. "Goeben" and "Breslau" (3) , volume 102.
• The only German Mediterranean destroyer. Destroyer "Hermes" ("ZG 3") , volume 103.
• Zeppelins - a great idea. Navy airship "L 38" , volume 104.
• The largest motor glider in the world. Four-masted barque "Commodore Johnsen" , volume 105.
• He defeated three British auxiliary cruisers. Auxiliary cruiser "Thor" , volume 106.
• A serious impact. Lifting Ships "Energy" and "Endurance" , Volume 107.
• August 28, 1914. Small cruisers "Mainz" and "Ariadne" , volume 108.
• Popular thick ships of Hamburg-Süd. Passenger steamer "Cap Polonio" , volume 109.
• 300,000 GRT sunk. Submarine "U 38" , volume 110.
• Lifeguards - tougher than the sea. Emergency lifeboats "Borkum" and "Norderney" , Volume 111.
• Expedition against the Hereros. SM Gunboat "Habicht" , Volume 112.
• The "Black Panther". Destroyer "Z 38" (1) , volume 113.
• The "sea devil's" great journey. SM auxiliary cruiser "Seeadler" , volume 114.
• Suicide mission. "RC Rickmers" - and "Sophie Rickmers" , Volume 115.
• Sunk under a foreign flag. Sea tanker "Frieda" , volume 116.
• German cruiser flying the Soviet flag. Light cruiser "Nürnberg" , volume 117.
• As a listener on the submarine hunt. U-Jäger "Uj 1709" , volume 118.
• A life for aviation. Airship "ZR III" / "Los Angeles" , Volume 119.
• Captured by the US Navy. Submarine "U 505" , volume 120.
• We were in Leningrad. Freight steamer "Wilhelm Russ" , volume 121.
• With Walter Flachsenberg: single rider in the North Atlantic. Submarine "U71" , volume 122.
• Stationed in the South Seas. Gunboat "Albatros" , Volume 123.
• Serious accident in a hurricane. Freight steamer "Helga Bolten" , volume 124.
• The first breakthrough in the blockade. SM auxiliary cruiser "Möwe" (1) , volume 125.
• The Black Panther's fight and end. Destroyer "Z 38" (2) , volume 126.
• The Battle of Dogger Bank. SM armored cruiser "Blücher" , volume 127.
• Albert Ballin and his work. Hapag express steamer "Vaterland" , Volume 128.
• The "Baralong" case. "U 16" - "U 27" - "U 41" , volume 129.
• His second trip. SM auxiliary cruiser "Möwe" (2) , volume 130.
• One of the old guard. Ship of the line "Schlesien" , volume 131.
• A convoy was wiped out. Heavy cruiser "Admiral Scheer" (1) , volume 132.
• Fishermen - researchers - fishing areas. Fisheries research vessel "Anton Dohrn" , Volume 133.
• Airships over England. Navy airships "L 10" to "L 16" , volume 134.
• As a radio operator on outposts. Outpost Boat "Polar Front" , Volume 135.
• We snorkel our way through. Submarine "U 977" , volume 136.
• In the service of the black diamonds. Freight steamer "Emma Sauber" , Volume 137.
• Sunk in the Battle of the Skagerrak. SMS "Frauenlob" , Volume 138.
• Trade war against lone drivers. Auxiliary cruiser "Widder" , volume 139.
• Dangerous work. Tug "Fairplay" , Volume 140.
• Mines off the Thames. Auxiliary steamer "Queen Luise" , volume 141.
• With Fritz W. Kropf: Nothing new before Bergen. Fjord Guard "Windhoek" , Volume 142.
• America course. Submarine "U53" , volume 143.
• Their field was the world. Passenger steamers "Reliance" and "Resolute" , Volume 144.
• Between Brest and Kirkenes. Destroyer "Friedrich Eckoldt" , Volume 145.
• The first Prussian steam corvette. Paddle steam corvette "Danzig" , volume 146.
• We from the mine sweep. Minesweeper "M 437" , volume 147.
• Water police in action. Police boat "Hanover" , volume 148.
• Happy rides - tragic end. Submarines "UB 81" and "UC 71" , volume 149.
• With Josef Traub: The Hell of Sicily. Marine ferry "F 523" and "F 607" , volume 150.
• Daring flight to Africa. Navy airships "L 57" and "L 59" , volume 151.
• As a U-Flak trap in the Bay of Biscay. Submarine "U-Flak 1" , volume 152.
• In the wake of the cruiser squadron. SM auxiliary cruiser "Prinz Eitel Friedrich" , volume 153.
• Our new German Navy. Destroyer "Z 1" , Volume 154.
• With Albert Röhr: On the lakes of German East Africa. Steamer "Hermann von Wissmann" , Volume 155.

Also from 1954 to 1958 Otto Mielke wrote the following volumes in the anchor book series. Seafaring all over the world , which was also published by Arthur-Moewig-Verlag:

• The death ship in the South Seas. Steamer "Ourang Medan" , Volume 1.
• Course to Death. Express steamer "Titanic" , Volume 3.
• Battleship "Yamato" , Volume 5.
• A night of horror. Tank steamer "Angy" , Volume 8.
• Ride through hell. Motor tanker "Simon Bolivar" , Volume 14.
• An unsolved riddle. Brigantine "Mary Celeste" , Volume 15.
• The grave of a thousand ships. Tankers "Leros" and "Gerd Maersk" , Volume 20.
• With Wilhelm Wolfslast : 22 men against "Tirpitz". English torpedo riders and micro-submarines , Volume 22.
• Caught in the net. Submarine "U 14" ex "Curie" , volume 30.
• The blue ribbon of the oceans. American express steamer "United States" , volume 37.
• Ship without a home. Dutch flak cruiser "Jacob van Heemskerck" , volume 40.
• Escape to East Asia. Italian colonial cruiser "Eritrea" , volume 42.
• Onassis - Lord of the Seven Seas. Turbine tanker "Tina Onassis" , volume 47.
• The other side. British Battleship "Hercules" , Volume 49.
• Beginning and end of the first Austro-Hungarian Navy. Austrian brig "Oreste", "Pilade", "Eolo" , volume 51.
• Between Suez and Beirut. French passenger ship "Champollion" , volume 52.
• Battle for the Dutch East Indies. Dutch cruiser "Tromp" , volume 55.
• A Turk took Reissaus. Turkish tanker "Raman" , volume 56.
• Secret mission "Fleshpastry". British submarine "Seraph" , volume 59.
• Encircled in Port Arthur. Japanese destroyer "Shirakumo" , volume 62.
• The Battle of Midway. US aircraft carrier "Yorktown" , Volume 63.
• Fight with Melanesian cannibals. Austrian gunboat "Albatros" , volume 64.
• Creeping trips through the Mediterranean. US aircraft carrier "Wasp" , Volume 66.
• Tegetthoff fought at Helgoland and Lissa. Kuk tank frigate "Archduke Ferdinand Max" , volume 67.
• Outwitted the opponent. British submarine trap "Farnborough" , volume 68.
• 812 days in the arctic ice. Soviet Russian icebreaker "Georgij Sedow" , volume 69.
• Attack on Zeebrugge. English protected cruiser "Vindictive" , volume 71.
• A coup against Porto Corsini. Kuk torpedo boat destroyer "Sniper" , Volume 72.
• Oran and Toulon - France's naval graves. French battleship "Dunkerque" , volume 73.

literature

• Mielke, Otto . In: Kürschner's German Literature Calendar . Vol. 53, 1958, ISSN  0343-0936 , p. 481.
• Kürschner's German Literature Calendar. Nekrolog 1936-1970. Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1973, ZDB -ID 220731-x .
• Jörg Weigand : pseudonyms. A lexicon. Code names of the authors of German-language narrative literature. 3rd improved and enlarged edition. Nomos-Verlags-Gesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2000, ISBN 3-7890-6906-X , p. 270.
• Peter Wanjek: The German booklet novel . A handbook of the novel booklets published in the German Reich between 1900 and 1945 , Wilfersdorf (Ganzbiller) 1993.
• "Blue Boys" as "Landser" at sea - car stereotypes and enemy images in naval booklets 1953 to 2013 , in: Jens Westemeier (ed.): "This was the German soldier ..." The popular image of the Wehrmacht , Paderborn (Ferdinand Schöningh) 2019, pp. 247–266. ISBN 3-506-78770-5

Web links

• Literature by and about Otto Mielke in the catalog of the German National Library