P. Werner Lange

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P. (Paul) Werner Lange (born June 13, 1943 in Luckau in Niederlausitz), originally a seaman, is a German author of biographies , travelogues, narrative non-fiction books and radio plays. He lives near Berlin.

Career

For a long time, children's games in rural surroundings and passionate reading of adventure books were shaped by Stevenson's Treasure Island and the well-known volumes of Karl May . In addition, there were stories from his father, a former member of the Navy, who had returned from captivity in 1950. In 1953 the family moved to Kleinmachnow near Berlin. After completing secondary school (1960), Lange applied to the merchant navy and took up an apprenticeship on a training ship belonging to the German shipping company Rostock . Skilled, Lange drove as a seaman and then studied a total of three years at the seafaring school in Wustrow . In 1968 he acquired the patent for captain on a long voyage .

His work as a nautical officer and captain took Lange to the coasts of several continents, but mostly to Africa. When he lost his seaworthiness in 1979 due to a chronic illness and became a freelance writer, his subjects reflected the life course behind him: biographies of seafarers, the history of maritime discovery. Long was a member of the GDR Writers' Association . He was still able to travel as an author and achieved considerable editions of his books - also abroad. Since his topics were hardly touchable on the past, there were seldom conflicts. If so, he got a bonus because of the many books he had translated into Russian. He also believed in the possibility of democratically reforming the GDR. With this in mind, he signed an open letter from the Potsdam District Writers' Association to the Presidium of the People's Chamber of the GDR in October 1989 , in which the necessity of freedom of expression and critical public debate is emphasized.

After 1990, Lange worked for a time as editor-in-chief of a literary magazine, and other books and radio plays were also produced. He is now also a publisher. Lange belongs to the Association of German Writers and was a member of the Brandenburg board for several years. He is married, has one child and has lived in Teltow since 2006 .

As an author, Lange's primary concern is "to awaken understanding for the diversity of peoples, for their and our common interests", as he said in 1986 to Christa Haseloff. The critics praised the mostly "high literary level" of his non-fiction books, which are not infrequently devoted to mountains, such as Kilimanjaro , the highest mountain range in Africa. Lange also benefited from his knowledge of Africa in his “carefully researched” biography of Hans Paasche , published in 1995 , who is considered by some to be the “grandfather of the Greens”. However, Paasche was only 39 when Reichswehr soldiers shot him on their own estate in 1920. Long work on him is now considered a standard work.

Works (selection)

  • Sea monsters - fables and facts , FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1979 and Verlag Werner Dausien, Hanau 1979
  • As far as humanly possible. The life of Captain James Cook , FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1980
  • I was on the edge of paradise. The life of Christopher Columbus , FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1980
  • Like the sun. The life of Fernando de Magallanes and the first circumnavigation , FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1983
  • South Sea Horizons. A maritime history of discovery of Oceania , Urania Verlag, Leipzig 1983 and Prisma Verlag, Gütersloh 1984
  • Adam Johann von Krusenstern: "Journey around the world" , ed. u. come over. v. P. Werner Lange, Urania Verlag, Leipzig 1985 and Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Vienna 1986
  • To the land behind the mists. The life of Vitus Bering and the two Kamchatka expeditions , FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1985
  • Short shadow continent. A history of discovery in Africa , Urania Verlag, Leipzig 1987
  • Vineta - Atlantis of the North , Urania Verlag, Leipzig 1988
  • Henry Morton Stanley. His way to Africa , Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin 1990 and Edition Erdmann, Stuttgart 1990 (there as Henry Morton Stanley. The biography )
  • I went to the lions in the high grass ... The upright life of Hans Paasche , radio play, 1990
  • Hermannswerder or The White Bridge , radio play, 1991
  • Chronicle of the Hoffbauer Foundation Potsdam-Hermannswerder , Potsdam 1991
  • From the life of a traitor. The investigation against Lieutenant Captain Hans Paasche , radio play 1994
  • Hans Paasche's research trip to the heart of Germany. A biography , Donat Verlag, Bremen 1995
  • Kilimanjaro. The white mountain of Africa , AS Verlag, Zurich 2005
  • Dream mountain Kilimanjaro. From rainforest to tropical ice: A travel report , AS Verlag, Zurich 2008
  • Hans Paasche: Lost Africa. Views from the life path of a colonial officer to a pacifist and revolutionary , ed. u. come over. by P. Werner Lange with the assistance of Helga Paasche, Trafo Verlag, Berlin 2008
  • Holy Mountain of the Maasai: Oldonyo Lengai , AS Verlag, Zurich 2009
  • Vesuvius. Life and death on the burning mountain , AS Verlag, Zurich 2011

Lange also wrote numerous articles for periodicals or anthologies as well as several popular scientific compilations on the history of East Africa

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Letter from Potsdam writers , Märkische Volksstimme of October 17, 1989
  2. ^ Märkische Volksstimme , July 31, 1986
  3. ↑ Dieter Klotzsch in: Der Neue Sächsische Bergsteiger , March 2006
  4. ^ Karl Holl, Die Zeit, December 2, 1994; Corona Hepp, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of March 13, 1995

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lange, P. Werner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lange, Paul Werner (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German author of biographies, travelogues, narrative non-fiction books and radio plays
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Luckau