Märchen und Geschichten zur Winterzeit

by Erich Ackermann

Der Winter hat von allen Jahreszeiten, zumindest in den bäuerlich strukturierten Gesellschaften, die Menschen am tiefsten geprägt. Ist es doch die Zeit, da Mensch und Tier in ihren Unterkünften verweilen, und die Arbeit draußen ruht. Diese Arbeitsruhe gibt der Phantasie einen breiten Raum und führt die Menschen zum Erzählen und Fabulieren. Zahlreich sind die Märchen und Mythen, Sagen und Geschichten, die sich um die Winterzeit und die Herkunft und Bedeutung der vielen Feste zwischen Advent und Dreikönigstag ranken, und kein Fest strahlt einen solchen Zauber aus wie Weihnachten. In diesem »Fest der Feste« spiegelt sich auch auf unvergleichliche Weise ein Teil der Kulturgeschichte des Abendlandes wider.

383 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Varied and versatile with regard to content, genre type and general stylistics (and with examples from not only German literature and tradition either), this extensive anthology of almost fifty Christmas themed stories and fairy tales is due to its very and intense diversity the kind of compilation of tales where one often likes some and might not so much enjoy others (but this salient fact is actually in many ways even a positive, as Märchen und Geschichten zur Weihnachtszeit really and truly thus contains something for everyone, from childhood memoirs and simple fairy tales of sweetness and light to more sombre and even a select few rather tragic offerings). Preceded by editor Erich Ackmann's academically interesting, enlightening and exceedingly well researched introduction on the origins and different meanings of Christmas traditions, the bibliography at the back of Märchen und Geschichten our Weihnachtszeit is an added bonus, although from an academic point of view, I also would have much welcomed either footnotes or endnotes (in other words, I do wish that Erich Ackermann had not only included a bibliographical list of works he had clearly and obviously used and cited in his introduction, but that he had also chosen to indicate within the text proper of the same from which of the listed tomes he had gleaned, he had obtained his utilised and presented information and details). Highly recommended (but with the usual caveat that because the featured narrative selections are in German, a decent amount of fluency in the German language is both suggested and in fact generally required, and that while the majority of these tales can definitely be shared with children and read to children, Märchen und Geschichten our Weinachtszeit is not in and of itself a children's literature Christmas anthology, and that there are in fact a few stories that I would personally consider not all that suitable, and not all that understandable for younger children in particular).

Now while I have to admit and state that while the lack of adequate citations in the introduction does bother a bit me on an academic and intellectual level, I was actually still more than prepared to give Märchen und Geschichten our Weihnachtszeit a four star rating until I realised and noticed that while most of the presented short stories, fairly tales and anecdotes are complete in and of themselves, there are also a number of inclusions that are basically simply chapters from longer literary pieces, something that I personally do tend to find somewhat annoying and frustrating, as for me, a work of fiction, a novel, a novella, should be seen, should generally be regarded as a complete entity and not have chapters removed, republished and read out of context (and thus, I find that reading Thomas Mann's chapter on Christmas celebrations at the Buddenbrooks mansion rather strange and removed from the reality of the novel, just like I find Theodor Storm's Da stand das Kind im Wege, which has been gleaned from his novel Immensee, similarly out of time and out of context). But all that being said, my annoyance with the above is probably more of a very much private so-called pet peeve and as such, should more than likely not really affect other potential readers from perusing and enjoying Märchen and Geschichten our Weihnachtszeit, especially since from the fifty included offerings, only about four or five have been taken from longer novels, had originally been chapters in longer works (and I certainly have enjoyed Märchen und Geschichten our Weihnachtszeit, and in fact, do regularly reread a goodly number of the selections both at Christmastime and beyond).

[Carmen Chérie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Habe die klassischen Wintermärchen erwartet in schöner Erzählform. Gereizt hat mich die Auswahl an Geschichten aus aller Welt. Ich muss aber sagen das viele Geschichten sehr langweilig waren und mich nicht motiviert haben weiter zu lesen. Hin und wieder schaue ich Mal rein aber bis jetzt hat mich keine Geschichte gepackt. Der Erzählstil ist sehr trocken und die Auswahl an Stücken uninteressant. Vielleicht etwas für ältere Leser, aber für jüngere und Kinder nicht zu empfehlen. Ein Stern gibt es für das blaue Anaconda Cover. Macht sich schön im Bücherregal.