Stoffel flies over the sea
Stoffel flies over the sea is the first of seven children's books written by Erika Mann . It was first published in 1932 by Levy & Müller , Stuttgart. The cover and the illustrations contained in the book were created by her childhood friend Ricki Hallgarten .
content
Ten-year-old Christoph Bartel, known as Stoffel, contributes to the upkeep of his family by renting out boats at the “Blaubergsee”. But customers have become rare, it is the time of the global economic crisis. Then Stoffel decides to visit the rich Uncle Sepp in America, who could help them out of their need. With his rowing boat “Lissy” he hangs on the paddle steamer “Luitpold” and thus reaches the airship hangar in Aschersried. He hides in a mailbag and takes the zeppelin to New York . The stowaway is discovered, but can immediately make himself useful by releasing the jammed elevator from the outside in a daring climb. He is welcomed in America as a hero and lifesaver. The newspapers are full of his heroic deed, and so his uncle Sepp immediately finds his way to Stoffel in New York and promises to help the family.
Origin and Effect
Erika Mann read the Stoffel to her youngest siblings Elisabeth and Michael chapter by chapter and dedicated the book to them. She also wanted to give her friend Ricki Hallgarten more courage with the illustration job. Hallgarten did not live to see the publication of his only book illustration, however, as he committed suicide on May 5, 1932. The paddle steamer "Luitpold" really existed, it sailed on Lake Starnberg until the 1950s . In the last few years it was called "Munich". The circumnavigation of the world by the airship " Graf Zeppelin " in 1929 with a real 16-year-old " blind passenger " on board and her first own world tour in 1927 with Klaus Mann , which is described in the joint book Rundherum (1929), certainly have to do with that The origin of the Stoffel contributed. The book was a great success, it had ten editions within a short time and was translated into many languages. In 1953 there was a new edition with the title Christoph flies to America , which was published by Franz Schneider Verlag , Munich, with an afterword on the history of the airships and new illustrations by Hans Schubel. In the meantime, new editions of the Stoffel based on the first edition have been published, which again contain the drawings by Ricki Hallgarten.
Literature and Sources
- Erika Mann: Stoffel flies over the sea. With pictures by Richard Hallgarten, afterword by Dirk Heisserer . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2005, ISBN 3-499-21331-1