Siegfried Horstmann

Siegfried Horstmann (born April 26, 1903 , † April 5, 1986 in Remscheid ) was a German writer.

Siegfried Horstmann was the youngest of the five sons of the director of a primary school in Remscheid. He also became a teacher, first at a school in Wuppertal, then at the commercial school in Remscheid, which later became the commercial vocational school. As early as the thirties of the 20th century, he was taking photographs of the small industry in his vicinity. This also resulted in films for use in schools, to which he contributed the text. He became known to a larger audience for the first time through stories from school life that were probably also autobiographical. In the book Lala Fupp and his 36 Tertians , school experiences are described that should take place around 1910 to 1920. The book was published for the first time in 1955 by Rheinberg-Verlag, and after retiring from his professional career he published the book again as a self-publisher. A year later, a second volume was published under the title Help, the school council was added.

In 1971, the book Von Bergischen Menschen and the sites of their work appeared , which seemed to him to be his most important. Using many of his photographs, he explains manual and early industrial manufacturing processes in the local iron processing industry, for example the manufacture of files in Remscheid, forging and grinding of cutlery in Solingen or the manufacture of screws and nails in Cronenberg. A slightly less elaborate new edition was published by RGA-Buchverlag after his death in 1990 .

Over the years he published other books in which the history and pictures of surrounding places are presented. The local dialect was important to him, the Remscheider Platt , which he documented in sound recordings with stories from his large circle of friends. Some of these, also spoken by himself, were published on a record. In addition, a songbook about the Morsbachtal was published with songs in dialect, as well as descriptions and old photographs of the various locations. He regularly contributed anecdotal incidents to the Remscheider General-Anzeiger's column Nit te Bang, which was written in Remscheider Platt .

Siegfried Horstmann was a member of the Schlaraffen , an owl is depicted on his tombstone in the Hasten cemetery.

His extensive image and sound archive was handed over to the Remscheid city archive after the early death of his son Jürgen.

Works (selection)

• Lala Fupp and his 36 Tertians , Rheinberg-Verlag, 1955, Verlag Siegfried Horstmann, Remscheid, 1968
• Help, the school council comes , Verlag Siegfried Horstmann, Remscheid, 1969
• About Bergischen people and the places of their work , Verlag Siegfried Horstmann, Remscheid, 1971, RGA-Buchverlag, Remscheid 1990
• Bergische Lieder, Part I: The Morsbachtal and its songs , 166 pages, Verlag Siegfried Horstmann, Remscheid, 1975 (piano edition, 68 pages)
• The old Cronenberg in pictures , Verlag Ute Kierdorf, Remscheid, 1981 (together with Ernst Haas), ISBN 3-922055-45-1
• Say: Krüönseltenstrükelschen! , Remscheider Language Primer , (with Jürgen Horstmann) (undated)
• Bergischer Sprachschatz II. Part, High German-Platt , basic and advanced vocabulary of the Remscheid dialect, (together with Dr. Jürgen Horstmann), book and music publisher Siegfried Horstmann, Remscheid, 1983

• Local poets from Bergische Heimat - Else Schmidt, Remscheid , book and music publisher Siegfried Horstmann, Remscheid (LP)
• 50 years of the city of Remscheid 1929 - 1979 , (together with the city of Remscheid, city archive), book and music publisher Siegfried Horstmann, Remscheid (long-playing record, Teldec)

Web links

• Works by and about Siegfried Horstmann at Open Library