Second Chemnitz fairytale book tells of the magical tower of history
Today, Lord Mayor Sven Schulze presented the second Chemnitz fairytale book together with author Hannah Schmuck and two other winners in the city library.
Hannah Schmuck's text "Der magische Geschichtenturm" won the writing competition "Dein Chemnitz. Your fairy tale" and receives prize money of 500 euros. Her story tells of the courageous and curious girl Fenja and Mr Ohrenklang, who lives in a wondrous tower. The latter soon comes under threat and with it all the stories of the town.
Axel Gerhard won second place and 300 euros with his story "Eerie noises in Rabenstein". The story centres on frog Ferdinand, who, together with many other animals in Chemnitz, searches for the cause of strange noises that are depriving everyone of sleep.
Third place and 200 euros went to Monique Brucke for her story "Duck race with unexpected consequences". In it, a squeaky duck experiences an exciting journey on the city's rivers and streams.
Lord Mayor Sven Schulze: "Three new, exciting and imaginative fairy tales can be read in the second Chemnitz fairy tale book. It shows Chemnitz from very unusual perspectives and makes you curious to see the city from a different angle. This can be through the eyes of a child or from a frog's perspective. At the same time, the stories also tell us a lot about the things that are important to us in Chemnitz. I would be delighted if many people embarked on this exciting journey and were enchanted by the fairy tales."
The book "Der magische Geschichtenturm" was illustrated by the Chemnitz graphic artist Veronica Seidel with large-format pictures and was published by the regional publishing house edition claus from Limbach-Oberfrohna. It has 52 pages and costs 14 euros in bookshops.
Visitors can get a first taste of the book at the "Die Weihnachtsmacher" event on Saturday and Sunday, 26 and 27 November, at 2 p.m. in the Stadthalle Chemnitz. Hannah Schmuck will be reading there on both days. The programme will take place in the "Vulcanus" ("Winterhütte") room of the Carlowitz Congress Center Chemnitz.
Other fairy tales from the writing competition that did not make it into the book but are still worth listening to will be presented in January at the Siesta reading in the Universitas bookshop (Tuesdays, 1 pm). Readings will also take place in the "Karl liebt Käthe" gallery.
The jury consisted of five participants: Veronika Ahnert, winner of the City of Chemnitz's fairytale competition in 2021 and author of the story "Benno and the Keeper of the Riddle"; Robert Aßmann, owner of Evangelische Buchhandlung Max Müller and the Universitas bookshop; Kerstin Dimter, teacher at Chemnitz School Model; Cornelia Siegel, amt. Head of European and International Relations, Protocol, City of Chemnitz; Ulrike Abraham, editor at Claus Verlag.
The book "Benno und der Hüter des Rätsels" was published last year in the first writing competition of 2021.
Opinions of the jury:
"From the entries submitted, it's easy to see which places in the city Chemnitz residents have a particularly close relationship with: On the one hand, there are the parks and forests, the Schilling figures, the colourful chimney, of course. That's exciting to see. I was also touched by the loving view of the city in all the entries.
In the winning story "The magical tower of history", a little girl becomes the heroine and we learn how the chimney got its colours. The story is an invitation to retain a childlike view of the world. Because then the magical shines through the everyday - and makes colourful what was previously bleak." (Ulrike Abraham)
"There are wonderful creatures in Chemnitz. We've always suspected that, but now we have proof. Readers embark on an exciting journey with Ferdinand Frosch, Edeltraud Ente, Paul Pinguin and many other funny fellows. They take us to the village of Rabenstein and many other endearing places in the town. An amusing story that tells of solidarity, courage and ingenuity." (Cornelia Siegel)
"The fairy tale 'Duck Race with Unexpected Consequences' takes us into the world of a lost squeaky duck and lets us discover a part of Chemnitz's water veins from a completely new perspective. The story sensitively opens our eyes to the concerns of nature and emphasises the power of friendship, help and integration. You can't help but cheer along with the duckling!" (Veronika Ahnert)
"Once upon a time, no: it is once again fascinating to see the creative power with which so many Chemnitz residents have written down creative nature fairy tales, adventure stories and colourful adventures during the winter restrictions at the beginning of 2022. From the flying Karl Marx to technical excursions by tram and on city transport to the most fantastic troll and fairy stories, there was a wide range of endearing texts." (Robert Aßmann)