James Krüss
Encyclopedia
James Krüss was a German
poet and writer.
James Jacob Hinrich Krüss was born as the son of the electrician Ludwig Krüss and his wife Margaretha Krüss (born Friedrichs) on Heligoland
. In 1941, during World War II
, the inhabitants of the island were evacuated to Arnstadt
, Thuringia
, later to Hertigswalde, near Sebnitz
, Saxony
. After finishing high school in 1943, he studyed to become a teacher
, first in Lunden
until 1943, Schleswig-Holstein
, then in Ratzeburg
until 1944, then finally in Brunswick
. In 1944, he was drafted into the air force
and was stationed in Ústí nad Labem
, now Czech Republic
at the end of World War II.
From 1945 he lived with his parents in Cuxhaven. In 1946, he published his first book, Der goldene Faden and then visited the college of education in Lüneburg
, Lower Saxony
. In 1948, he received his teaching license, but never worked as a teacher. In the same year, he moved to Reinbek
, near Hamburg
, and founded the magazine Helgoland, which was meant for inhabitants of the island, who had been expelled from it; it existed until 1956. In 1949, he moved to Lochham, near Munich
, where he got to know Erich Kästner
, among others.
From 1956, he wrote audio dramas for children and children's poems together with Peter Hacks
. In 1956, Krüss published the children's book The Lighthouse on Lobster Cliffs in the publishing house Friedrich Oetinger. He also travelled to Italy
and Yugoslavia
. The subsequently well-known picture book
Henriette Bimmelbahn, whose eponymous protagonist
is an anthropomorphized steam locomotive
-hauled train
, and which started a small series of similar, related picture books, was first published in 1958. After a reading of My Great Grandfather and I (which won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
in 1960) in the Tagesschau
in 1960, he suddenly became very famous. In the same year he bought a house with garden in Gilching
, Bavaria
. In 1962, his arguably most famous book Timm Thaler
was published. It would later be adapted into a TV miniseries in 1979 directed by Sigi Rothemund, which was also known as The Boy Who Lost His Laugh in the UK. In 1965, he bought a house in Gran Canaria
and settled there a year later.
At the end of his life, Krüss had heart problems and spent a lot of time in clinics. He died in 1997 in Gran Canaria and was buried at sea
on September 27 near Heligoland.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
poet and writer.
James Jacob Hinrich Krüss was born as the son of the electrician Ludwig Krüss and his wife Margaretha Krüss (born Friedrichs) on Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
. In 1941, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the inhabitants of the island were evacuated to Arnstadt
Arnstadt
Arnstadt is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, situated on the Gera River. It is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia and is nicknamed Das Tor zum Thüringer Wald, The Gate to the Thuringian Forest....
, Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, later to Hertigswalde, near Sebnitz
Sebnitz
Sebnitz is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.- Geography :The town of Sebnitz lies in the valley of the River Sebnitz and its side valleys between 250 and 460 m above sea level between the mountains of Saxon Switzerland and the Lusatian...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. After finishing high school in 1943, he studyed to become a teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, first in Lunden
Lunden
Lunden is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the river Eider, approx. 16 km north of Heide.Lunden is part of the Amt Kirchspielslandgemeinde Eider....
until 1943, Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, then in Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
until 1944, then finally in Brunswick
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
. In 1944, he was drafted into the air force
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
and was stationed in Ústí nad Labem
Ústí nad Labem
Ústí nad Labem is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Ústí nad Labem Region. The city is the 7th-most populous in the country.Ústí is situated in a mountainous district at the confluence of the Bílina and the Elbe Rivers, and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction...
, now Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
at the end of World War II.
From 1945 he lived with his parents in Cuxhaven. In 1946, he published his first book, Der goldene Faden and then visited the college of education in Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
. In 1948, he received his teaching license, but never worked as a teacher. In the same year, he moved to Reinbek
Reinbek
Reinbek is a town located in Stormarn district in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein within the metropolitan region of Hamburg...
, near Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, and founded the magazine Helgoland, which was meant for inhabitants of the island, who had been expelled from it; it existed until 1956. In 1949, he moved to Lochham, near Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where he got to know Erich Kästner
Erich Kästner
Emil Erich Kästner was a German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known for his humorous, socially astute poetry and children's literature.-Dresden 1899–1919:...
, among others.
From 1956, he wrote audio dramas for children and children's poems together with Peter Hacks
Peter Hacks
Peter Hacks was a German playwright, author, and essayist.Hacks was born in Breslau , Lower Silesia. Displaced by World War II, Hacks settled in Munich in 1947, where he made acquaintance with Thomas Mann and Bertolt Brecht...
. In 1956, Krüss published the children's book The Lighthouse on Lobster Cliffs in the publishing house Friedrich Oetinger. He also travelled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. The subsequently well-known picture book
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
Henriette Bimmelbahn, whose eponymous protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
is an anthropomorphized steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
-hauled train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
, and which started a small series of similar, related picture books, was first published in 1958. After a reading of My Great Grandfather and I (which won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...
in 1960) in the Tagesschau
Tagesschau
Tagesschau is a German national and international television news service produced by Norddeutscher Rundfunk on behalf of the German public-service television network ARD.The main edition of the programme is aired at 8 o'clock p.m. on Das Erste...
in 1960, he suddenly became very famous. In the same year he bought a house with garden in Gilching
Gilching
Gilching is a municipality in the district of Starnberg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 13 km north of Starnberg, and 22 km west of Munich . The quarters Argelsried, Neugilching and Geisenbrunn belong to the municipality of Gilching....
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. In 1962, his arguably most famous book Timm Thaler
Timm Thaler (novel)
Timm Thaler oder Das verkaufte Lachen is a 1962 children's novel by famed German author James Krüss...
was published. It would later be adapted into a TV miniseries in 1979 directed by Sigi Rothemund, which was also known as The Boy Who Lost His Laugh in the UK. In 1965, he bought a house in Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, with a population of 838,397 which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago...
and settled there a year later.
At the end of his life, Krüss had heart problems and spent a lot of time in clinics. He died in 1997 in Gran Canaria and was buried at sea
Burial at sea
Burial at sea describes the procedure of disposing of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat. It is regularly performed by navies, but also can be done by private citizens in many countries.-By religion:...
on September 27 near Heligoland.