Susanne Theumer

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Susanne Theumer at the opening of the exhibition on JMR Lenz in the Brecht-Haus Berlin 2015

Susanne Theumer (born Susanne Berg on April 13, 1975 in Halle / Saale ) is a German artist, graphic designer and book illustrator.

Career

From 1990 to 1993 Theumer completed an evening course at the University of Art and Design Burg Giebichenstein in Halle / Saale. In 1993 she did her Abitur at the institute in preparation for studying abroad (IVA) in Halle and then studied free graphics at Burg Giebichenstein with Frank Ruddigkeit and Thomas Rug and graduated with a diploma. Then she was a master student at the castle until 2004. Since 2004 she has been working as a freelance artist in Höhnstedt and Halle / Saale.

Artistic work

Working approach

“For my artistic work, it is important to me, through deepening and intensive occupation with history and literature of the past as well as the present, to establish current references to events in our contemporary world and times. The systematic mechanization, rationalization and the urge for the new and always the newest, which the process of modernity produces in the age of the 3rd industrial revolution, seems to me to despise the past. But it is precisely the knowledge gained in the past, the events and personal experiences that contribute to seeing the world with your own eyes and the respective background of current events. It is important to me to graphically implement certain events in world history, but also basic ideas and philosophies of the poets who are very important to me, which can be transported to any time as a matter of course, and thus to add a small new part again, the To pay homage to the great thoughts and ideas of that time, to prove and illustrate their topicality and thus to enrich art a little. "

Working on the Leuna Works

Susanne Theumer's parents worked in the large Leuna chemical combine during the GDR era . Even as a child, she was overwhelmed by the monumentality of the grounds. After the industrial facilities were closed in 1989 and the demolition was due, the artist began to process her impressions on site in etchings and drawings. There was also work on the garbage dump in Halle-Lochau. She felt a great resemblance between Lochau and Leuna.

“Whether it was the time when the book was written and the plants were being built, symbolizing economic and technical progress, or the mass of unemployed people who were caused by the demolition of the Leuna plant and the closure of the landfill, and who are now saw an erasure of one's own identity through the loss of work, or was it the landfill itself, a symbol of our throw-away society, in which people produce, buy, throw away and re-buy, but maybe it was just the bizarre landscape of functional past factory architecture and that Grotesque, of the open pit pit filled with garbage and sewage sludge in Lochau, which forced me to underline mass madness and the resulting phenomena through these scenes. "

Twelve large-format etchings were created with five texts set in lead from Elias Canetti's “Notes” , which are summarized in the graphic portfolio “Mass and Power” (2002). A special work from this portfolio is her drypoint “Mass and Metamorphosis in Delirium tremens”, which reflects the angry desperation of the people who have lost their work and identity.

Works on literature

Since the beginning of her artistic career and to this day, Susanne Theumer has been intensively involved with literary work. Her first original graphic book “Der Ohrzeuge” with 12 etchings was created in 2002 on the texts of Elias Canetti. Further works were created on the works of Elias Canetti and his wife, the poet Veza Canetti . This was followed by works on Georg Büchner , Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz , Imre Kertész , Wulf Kirsten , Franz Kafka , JM Coetzee , Marlen Haushofer and Johannes Bobrowski .

Buchenwald Concentration Camp Memorial and Wansleben satellite camp

Exhibition opening of the Wansleben Memorial Center 2015. André Schinkel, Susanne Theumer, Angelika Klein, Andreas Tautrim (from left)

During one of her forays through the landscape around Halle / Saale , looking for a motif , she came across the structural remains of the Wansleben concentration camp , a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp , in old potash shafts . Since then, she has been working with the owner of the site, among other things, on researching the history of the camp and making the site accessible, also in order to create a place of remembrance for the relatives of those murdered there. Susanne Theumer is an active member of the association to come to terms with the Nazi tyranny Mansfelder Land / Salt Mine Neu Mansfeld / Georgi eV, which carries out further research and design of the memorial, as well as educational projects. For the Wansleben concentration camp, Susanne Theumer made large-format drawings and the original graphic book “The Terrain” with etchings.

In June 2015, the exhibition "The site - graphics and charcoal drawings by Susanne Theumer" opened in the former machine house of the Wansleben concentration camp.

“It's not good, but it is important to look below this room into the labyrinth of the basement and learn something about the unreasonable demands of this place, about how the people who were arrested here fared at the time. Susanne Theumer has captured this look into the cellar at least twice, and it is up to you to try it yourself. You will be amazed how the, as some believe, things that have long since passed have found their way into the walls, in the corners of these buildings. This is what the artist, in her capacity as a seismograph and documentarist of what lies between the joints, shows us undisguised. Do not be surprised if you can no longer forget this look. "

Susanne Theumer has been drawing and scratching at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp Memorial in Weimar for years . Her work is exhibited in the art exhibition "Survival - Testimony - Artwork - Image Memory" at the memorial.

Halle / Saale, Halle-Neustadt

Susanne Theumer grew up in the GDR in the then still independent city of Halle-Neustadt and went to school there.

In her later career she dealt with her own childhood and history. Together with the writer André Schinkel, she began to explore the city of her childhood. In 2015, as the first part of their joint work, both publish the original graphic book “City of my Childhood. Moments ” self-published .

Research and education

At the beginning of 2014, Susanne Theumer went on a research trip with two literature professors from the universities of Carl von Ossietzky Hamburg and Humboldt Berlin via Emmendingen to the Steintal / Alsace . The journey took place in the footsteps of the Sturm und Drang poet Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz zu Oberlin to Waldbach (see also: “Lenz” by Georg Büchner ) in order to track down obvious connections between the Waldbach premises and the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp . In 2015, an exhibition was presented in the Brecht House (Berlin), parallel to a Lenz symposium.

Susanne Theumer has carried out several private drawing and printing events with children and young people. In October 2015, she led the project week “Freedom Needs Remembrance” at the Wansleben Concentration Camp Memorial with students from the Luther Gymnasium in Eisleben . Various techniques such as pen, charcoal, pencil, chalk and ink drawings were used under Theumers to process the impressions. The works were presented in an exhibition. Readings and concerts complemented the work.

In October 2016, Susanne Theumer led a one-week project week at the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial with students from the Herder-Gymnasium Nordhausen on the subject of "Human dignity is inviolable". With the help of various artistic forms of expression, they were able to deal with the issues of freedom and human dignity, their destruction and their commemoration directly on site and with special reference to this.

Susanne Theumer is a member of the jury for the award of the Hans Meid Prize for Book Illustration.

Illustration and bookplate

The intensive preoccupation with literary works has repeatedly led Susanne Theumer to carry out orders for the illustration of important works by international authors. This is often done at the request of the authors and in close contact with them. So she visited z. B. 2013 the writer Péter Nádas in Hungary and etched to his texts, in the summer of 2014 a book was published by Thomas Reche .

She created many illustrations for books by the Gutenberg Book Guild and the Thomas Reche publishing house.

As a special work, an art movement of its own, Susanne Theumer creates ex-libris for clients. Many of these special works were exhibited at the Frederikshavn Art Museum in Denmark in 2012 . In 2018 Susanne Theumer got 1st place at the annual meeting of the German Ex-Libris Society.

Awards (selection)

  • 1996: Third prize in the “Working Worlds” art competition organized by Behr & Heil
  • 2003: Otto Ditscher Art Prize for Illustration, Neuhofen, Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis
  • 2003: Hans Meid Award for Illustration, Hamburg
  • 2004: First prize from the Christian Art Foundation in Wittenberg
  • 2006: A. Paul Weber Award for Critical Art
  • 2007: Second prize of the Von Taube Prize for Book Art, Chemnitz
  • 2017: Second prize from the Coburg Art Association, competition "From Chranach to Charlie Hebdo - Visions of Freedom and Tolerance, The Power of Printmaking"

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 2006: A. Paul Weber-Förderpreis VI: Susanne Theumer , A.-Paul-Weber-Museum, Ratzeburg
  • 2011: The world in your head - original graphic books and portfolios by Susanne Theumer , University of Hamburg , Hamburg
  • 2012: Unfamous place - works by Susanne Theumer in children's surgery in Halle (Saale)
  • 2012: Ex-libris by Susanne Theumer , Frederikshavn Art Museum, Denmark
  • 2013: Susanne Theumer: Illustrations for Marlen Haushofer's novel “Die Wand” , Galerie Steyrdorf, Steyr , Austria
  • 2014: Unfamous place - works by Susanne Theumer , Literaturhaus, Magdeburg
  • 2015: The world that he wanted to use had a tremendous crack (drawings and, among other things, Lenz), Brecht-Haus , Berlin
  • 2015: Unfamous place - drawing, etching and an original graphic book by Susanne Theumer , Wansleben subcamp memorial
  • 2015: The mountain above the city - New Pictures , Weimar City Library
  • 2015/2016: City of my childhood - moments - graphic by Susanne Theumer , Teutschenthal library
  • 2016: Word companion , group exhibition with works by Susanne Theumer, Chemnitzer Künstlerbund
  • 2016: Graphics and sculpture , works by Susanne Theumer and Carsten Theumer, Mildenfurth Monastery
  • 2017: The Wanderer , drypoint etchings for Johannes Bobrowski , Akademie Sankelmark, Oeversee
  • 2017: From Chranach to Charlie Hebdo - Visions of Freedom and Tolerance, Die Macht der Druckgrafik (Participation, Prize Winner), Kunstverein Coburg, Coburg
  • 2017: To Johannes Bobrowski , Sarah Kirsch poet , Limlingerode
  • 2017/2018: on the way - graphic drawing book art , Galerie Profil, Weimar
  • 2019: Graphics , Westwendischer Kunstverein e. V., Gartow
  • 2019: Dichterworte - Dichterorte: drawing, printmaking and original graphic book by Susanne Theumer , University Library, Kiel

bibliography

  • 2002: The ear witness . Original graphic book with 12 etchings on texts by Elias Canetti, 28 × 44 cm, edition of 14 numbered and 2 artist's copies. Collections: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig, Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main, University and State Library Halle, Klingspor Museum Offenbach am Main, private collections
  • 2002: mass and power . Original graphic portfolio with 12 etchings on texts by Elias Canetti, 60 × 50 cm, edition of 10 numbered copies. Collections: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, private collections
  • 2003: The ogre . Original graphic book with 8 etchings on texts by Veza Canetti, 25 × 30 cm, edition of 15 numbered and 2 artist's copies. Collections: German Literature Archive Marbach, German Library Leipzig, German Library Frankfurt am Main, Art Library of the State Museums in Berlin, University and State Library Halle, Austrian National Library Vienna, private collections
  • 2003: The turtles . Original graphic portfolio with 11 etchings on texts by Veza Canetti , 21 × 22 cm, edition of 15 numbered and 2 artist's copies. Collections: Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig, Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main, University and State Library Halle, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, private collections
  • 2004: Lenz . Original graphic book with 12 etchings on texts by Georg Büchner , 2004, 25 × 35 cm, edition of 15 numbered and 3 artist's copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, German Library Leipzig, German Library Frankfurt am Main, University and State Library Halle, private collections
  • 2005: To the heart . Original graphic book with 11 etchings on poems by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz , 60 × 43 cm, edition: 16 numbered and 2 artist's copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, German Literature Archive Marbach, German Library Leipzig, German Library Frankfurt am Main, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, University and State Library Halle, private collections
  • 2005: Berlin Records . Etchings on texts by Hans Dieter Schäfer , published by Verlag Thomas Reche / Neumarkt, 2005, edition of 300 copies, including 100 special editions with original etching . Collections: Anhaltische Bücherei Dessau, Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig, Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main
  • 2006: Eureka! Etchings on texts by Imre Kertész , published by Verlag Thomas Reche / Neumarkt, 350 copies, 100 of which are special editions with original etchings . Collections: Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig, Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main, Buchenwald Memorial Collection
  • 2006: I - another . Original graphic book with 14 etchings on texts by Imre Kertész , 31 × 44 cm, edition of 17 numbered and 2 artist's copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, German Library Leipzig, German Library Frankfurt am Main, German Literature Archive Marbach, Art Library of the State Museums in Berlin, Austrian National Library Vienna, Anhalt State Library Dessau, private collections
  • 2007: sudden fall in the weather . Original graphic book with 15 etchings on poems by Wulf Kirsten, 32 × 40 cm, edition of 17 numbered and 3 artist's copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, University and State Library Halle, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, private collections
  • 2007: Venice . Original graphic portfolio with 13 etchings, 32 × 29 cm, edition of 17 numbered and 3 artist's copies. Collections: Herzog August-Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, private collections
  • 2008: winter joys . Original graphic book with 14 etchings to a prose text by Wulf Kirsten, 26 × 34 cm, edition of 17 numbered and 3 artist's copies. Collections: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, University and State Library Halle, private collections
  • 2008: missing . Etchings to poems by Les Murray , published by Thomas Reche, 500 copies, 100 of which are special editions with original etching . Collections: German Library Leipzig, German Library Frankfurt am Main, Anhaltische Bücherei Dessau
  • 2009: Time wasted . Original graphic portfolio with 12 etchings to poems by Wulf Kirsten, 35 × 43 cm, edition of 17 numbered and 3 artist's copies. Collections: University and State Library Halle, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, private collections, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel
  • 2009: Dr. Henry Selwyn . Original graphic book with 10 etchings on excerpts from text by WGSebald , 40 × 49 cm, edition of 16 numbered and 2 artist's copies. Collections: Marbach Literature Archive, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Halle University and State Library, private collections
  • 2010: the wall . Etchings for the novel by Marlen Haushofer, published in the Gutenberg Book Guild , 6000 copies, 100 of which are special editions with original etching . Collections: Vienna Library in the City Hall, StifterHaus Linz, Duchess Anna Amalia Library
  • 2010: the wall . Original graphic portfolio with 25 drypoint etchings and text excerpts by Marlen Haushofer, 50 × 60 cm, edition of 13 numbered copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, University and State Library Halle / Saale, Vienna Library in City Hall, StifterHaus Linz, private collections
  • 2010: ogre . Drawn unique book for a story by Marlen Haushofer, charcoal drawings, handwritten text, 14 × 22 cm. Collection: StifterHaus Linz
  • 2011: Life sentence . Drawn unique book for a story by Marlen Haushofer, charcoal drawings, handwritten text, 2011, 14 × 22 cm. Collection private collection
  • 2012: A report for an academy . Drawn unique book for a story by Franz Kafka , charcoal drawings, handwritten text, 2012, 14 × 22 cm. Collection: private collection
  • 2012: fear . Drawn unique book for a story by Marlen Haushofer, charcoal drawings, handwritten text, 2012, 14 × 22 cm. Collection: private collection
  • 2012: The site . Original graphic book with 15 drypoint and two etchings on historical text excerpts and two poems by Roland Bärwinkel , 33 × 45 cm, edition of 20 numbered copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, University and State Library, Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, Anhaltische Bücherei Dessau, private collections
  • 2012: the farm . Charcoal drawings for a text by JM Coetzee , published by Verlag Thomas Reche, 500 copies, 100 of which are special editions
  • 2013: Late period . Original graphic book with 19 drypoint etchings and a cover etching on poems by Ingeborg Bachmann , Heinrich Heine , Peter Huchel , Günter Eich , Günter Kunert , Wulf Kirsten, Thomas Rosenlöcher , André Schinkel, Hermann Broch , 25 × 25 cm, edition: 20 numbered copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Halle University and State Library, Marbach Literature Archive, private collections
  • 2014: The last days of mankind . Drawn unique book on Karl Kraus , charcoal drawings, handwritten text, 2014, 14 × 22 cm. Collection: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel
  • 2014: The transformation . Drawn unique book based on a story by Franz Kafka , charcoal drawings, handwritten text, 14 × 22 cm. Collection: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel
  • 2014: Gombosszeg . Drypoint etchings on texts by Péter Nádas , published by Thomas Reche, 500 copies, 120 of which are special editions. Collections: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, University and State Library Halle, Art Library State Museums Foundation Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin
  • 2014: what else I wanted to say . Drypoint etchings for poems by Wulf Kirsten, published by quartus Verlag, edition of 444 copies, of which 44 copies are special editions. Collections: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Art Library State Museums Foundation Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin
  • 2014: On the flow . Original graphic book with 13 drypoint etchings and a cover etching to partially unpublished poems by Günter Kunert , 27.5 × 34.5 cm, edition: 20 numbered copies. Collections: Herzog August Library Wolfenbüttel, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, University and State Library Halle, Art Library State Museums Foundation Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin
  • 2014: we, the Jews, who came, like Lenz, through the mountains - a search for traces Drawn unique folder, charcoal drawings with handwritten quotations from Lenz, Goethe, Cornelia Schlosser, Oberlin, prisoners of KL Natzweiler-Struthof and others. a., 2014, 14 × 22 cm. Collection: private collection
  • 2015: the city ​​of my childhood. Moments . Original graphic book with 13 drypoint etchings and 2 cover etchings of 16 texts (poetry and short prose) written almost exclusively for this book by André Schinkel, 21.5 × 34.5 cm, edition of 20 numbered copies and one Ea copy. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Munich Lyrikkabinett Foundation, Halle City Archives, Halle University and State Library, Marbach Schiller Archives
  • 2015: The Bible . Drypoint etchings on a text by Péter Nádas , published by Verlag Thomas Reche, edition of 500 copies, 120 of which are special editions. Collections: Halle University Library, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Schiller Archive Marbach
  • 2015: Human dignity is inviolable . Drawn unique folder, charcoal drawings with handwritten quotations by Stepháne Hessel u. a., 14 × 22 cm. Collection: Maria Pawlowna Gesellschaft Weimar
  • 2016: Idyll . Drawn unique book to a text by Wolfgang Hilbig , charcoal drawings and handwritten text. Collection: 14 × 22 cm. Collection: private collection
  • 2016: view of the city . Cassette with original graphic drypoint etchings and etchings by Susanne Theumer, eight texts by André Schinkel created exclusively for this work, four photographs (new hand prints on baryta paper) by Gerald Große from 1974–1976, edition of 20 numbered and signed copies
  • 2017: The Wanderer . Original graphic book with 11 etchings and a cover etching on poems by Johannes Bobrowski, 21 × 24 cm, edition: 20 numbered copies. Collections: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, University and State Library Halle, private collections
  • 2017: tear collar. Original graphic book with 15 etchings and a cover etching on poems by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger , edition: 16 numbered copies, collections: University and State Library Halle, Stiftung Lyrikkabinett Munich, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, private collections
  • 2018: At the port railway . Original graphic book with 12 drypoint etchings, texts by André Schinkel, hand-bound, printed, covered, 27 × 30 cm, edition: 20 copies
  • 2018: sun black . Original graphic portfolio for poems by Ossip Mandelstam, 11 drypoint etchings, nyloprint, hand-bound with etching printed and covered, edition: 15 copies. 22 × 23 cm
  • 2019: Selma Meerbaum. I am the rain - poems with etchings by Susanne Theumer, edition sonblom. ISBN 9783981558272
  • 2019: Women of the Reformation - A Homage , original graphic book with 20 drypoint etchings and texts, hand-bound, printed with an etching and covered, 22 × 23 cm, edition: 15 copies
  • 2020: Der Goldberg , original graphic book with 11 drypoint etchings, texts by André Schinkel, hand-bound with an etching printed and covered, 25.5 × 32 cm, edition: 19 copies

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Susanne Theumer, Vita, 2015
  2. Susanne Theumer, Brief description of the work approach, 2015
  3. Susanne Theumer, my artistic career, 2015
  4. Susanne Theumer: "Graphics". Online presentation of a vernissage in 2019. In: westwendischer-kunstverein.de. Retrieved April 21, 2019 .
  5. Homepage of the Wansleben Subcamp Memorial . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  6. ^ Vernissage in the Wansleben Concentration Camp Memorial 2015 - Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  7. "The Abyss in the Landscape - Opening Speech for the Exhibition" Unfamous Place "with Works by Susanne Theumer", Wansleben am See Concentration Camp Memorial, June 13, 2015, by André Schinkel
  8. ^ Art exhibition "Survival - Testimony - Artwork - Image Memory" in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp Memorial . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  9. Susanne Theumer "The world that he wanted to use had a tremendous crack" (drawings and, among others, on Lenz), Brechthaus Berlin, 2015 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  10. Ceremonial opening of the exhibition with student work on the subject of "Freedom needs memory" In: mansfeldsuedharz.de. Mansfeld-Südharz district administration, May 29, 2017, accessed on August 4, 2017 .
  11. Jury. In: hans-meid-stiftung.de. Retrieved March 4, 2018 .
  12. Ex-libris exhibition by Susanne Theumer in the Frederikshavn Art Museum, Denmark, 2012 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  13. ^ German ex-libris society
  14. ^ Hans Meid Förderpreis 2003. In: hans-meid-stiftung.de. Retrieved November 24, 2017 .
  15. Art Awards. 2004 - topic “Flood”. In: christlichekunst-wb.de. Christian Art Foundation Wittenberg, accessed on January 11, 2018 .
  16. ^ Exhibition overview A. Paul Weber Museum . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  17. ^ Exhibition overview A. Paul Weber Museum . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  18. ^ Exhibition: Susanne Theumer - Welt im Kopf, Hamburg 2011 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  19. ^ Exhibition of artist books by Susanne Theumer at the University of Hamburg, Hamburger Abendblatt 2011 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  20. Unfamous local works by Susanne Theumer in the children's surgery in Halle, 2012 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  21. Ex-libris exhibition by Susanne Theumer in the Frederikshavn Art Museum, Denmark, 2012 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  22. Angelika Mitterhauser: Galerie Steyrdorf celebrates two decades. In: tips.at. January 22, 2013, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  23. Exhibition "Susanne Theumer: From untouched places", Literaturhaus Magdeburg eV, 2014 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  24. Susanne Theumer "The world that he wanted to use had a tremendous crack" (drawings and, among others, on Lenz), Brechthaus Berlin, 2015 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  25. ^ Exhibition "The Mountain Above the City - New Pictures", Weimar City Library, 2015 . Retrieved September 8, 2016
  26. Search results for: Theumer. In: blog.ckbev.de. Chemnitzer Künstlerbund, accessed on October 4, 2018 .
  27. Klostertgarten Festival with exhibition opening. In: thueringerschloesser.de. 2016, accessed March 19, 2019 .