Manfred Böckl
Manfred B�ckl | |
---|---|
Born | Landau an der Isar, Bavaria, Allied-occupied Germany | 2 September 1948
Nationality | German |
Other names | Jean de Laforet |
Occupation | Writer |
Manfred B�ckl (born 2 September 1948) is a German writer who specialises in historical fiction. Since the 1980s, he has written novels that often revolve around Bavaria, crime, abuse of power and historical renegades and seers. He had a local breakthrough in 1991 with a novel about the Bavarian prophet M�hlhiasl. A recurring subject in B�ckl's works is Celtic culture and he practices Celtic neopaganism.
Early life and education
[edit]Manfred B�ckl was born in Landau an der Isar in Bavaria on 2 September 1948. He had a Catholic father and an Evangelical mother. He studied German studies, geography, jurisprudence, history, philosophy, literature, psychology and theology at the University of Regensburg without finishing a degree. From 1973 to 1976 he worked as an editor at the Passauer Neue Presse and after that as a freelance writer.[1]
Literary career
[edit]B�ckl debuted as a writer in 1966 when he had a novella published. From 1980 to 1984, he published a series of young adult novels, Geheimbund Blaue Rose (lit. 'Blue Rose Secret Society'), written together with Helmut Watzke under the pseudonym Jean de Laforet. Since 1984 he has written a large number of historical novels, often set in Bavaria and revolving around crimes and abuse of power.[1] He describes his approach to the genre as trying to intervene socially with lessons from history.[2]
Die Hexe soll brennen (1989, lit. 'The Witch Shall Burn'), set in the Regensburg and Straubing area, is about witch-hunts, a theme that also appears in novels about Agnes Bernauer (1993) and the witch trial of Fuersteneck (1997). Several of B�ckl's stories are about historical renegades in conflict with authorities, including novels about Michael Heigl (1990), Georg Jennerwein (1993), Mathias Knei�l (1998) and Alois Irlmaier (1999). A recurring subject is Bavarian prophets, including M�hlhiasl, who is the central character in the 1991 novel M�hlhiasl. Der Seher vom Rabenstein (lit. 'The Seer from Rabenstein') which became a literary breakthrough for B�ckl in Bavaria; as of 2021, it had been published in 10 German editions. It was followed by several novels and non-fiction books about clairvoyants and seers.[1] The history of Bavarian glassworks form part of the novels Sumava. Ein Epos aus dem B�hmerwald (1992, lit. 'An Epic from the Bohemian Forest') and Der Glasteufel (2002, lit. 'The Glass Devil').[3] In Bischofsmord und Hexenjagd. Die spektakul�rsten Kriminalf�lle aus dem historischen Bayern (2015, lit. 'Episcopal Murder and Witch Hunting. The Most Spectacular Criminal Cases from the Historical Bavaria'), B�ckl combines his interest in Bavaria and historical crimes and explores the conspiracy theory that Ludwig II of Bavaria was murdered.[4]
Another recurring subject is the Celts and their culture, including Myrddin Wyllt, Boudica, the triple goddess and the druids. B�ckl practices Celtic neopaganism in a form he describes as a "spiritual return to Celtic paganism".[1] He explores contemporary religious life and issues of tolerance and fundamentalism in his 2011 book Die kleinen Religionen Europas (lit. 'The Small Religions of Europe').[5]
As of 2016, Böckl's books had sold around one million copies in total.[4] He has had books translated into Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Estonian, Czech, Bulgarian and Dutch.[1] In 2018, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, he published his autobiography Oft war es wie im Roman (lit. 'Often It Was like in a Novel').[1] In 2019 he publicly denounced Germany's immigration policies under Angela Merkel's government.[6]
Selected publications
[edit]Novels
- Böckl, Manfred (1989). Die Hexe soll brennen: ein Tatsachenroman aus dem 17. Jahrhundert (in German). Hamburg: FACTA. ISBN 3-926827-20-3. OCLC 20153345.
- Böckl, Manfred (2008). Räuber Heigl der Höhlenmensch vom Kaitersberg (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-86520-297-0. OCLC 259952182.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Böckl, Manfred (1998). Mühlhiasl der Seher vom Rabenstein; Roman (in German). Waldkirchen. ISBN 978-3-89682-988-7. OCLC 75851010.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Böckl, Manfred (1992). Šumava: ein Epos aus dem Böhmerwald (in German). Passau: Neue Presse. ISBN 3-924484-48-1. OCLC 27644547.
- Böckl, Manfred (1996). Agnes Bernauer Hexe, Hure, Herzogin (in German). Berlin. ISBN 978-3-7466-1290-4. OCLC 246693883.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Böckl, Manfred (1993). Jennerwein: Der gewilderte Wildschütz, Roman (in German). München: Ehrenwirth. ISBN 3-431-03284-2. OCLC 29382893.
- Böckl, Manfred (1997). Der Hexenstein : ein Roman aus dunkler Zeit (in German). Waldkirchen: SüdOst Verlag. ISBN 3-89682-002-8. OCLC 39186076.
- Böckl, Manfred (1998). Mathias Kneissl der Raubschütz von der Schachermühle (in German). Dachau. ISBN 978-3-89251-258-5. OCLC 75995724.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Böckl, Manfred (2009). Prophet der Finsternis Leben und Visionen des Alois Irlmaier (in German). Erfurt. ISBN 978-3-86680-561-3. OCLC 467891387.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Böckl, Manfred (2002). Die Bischöfin von Rom: Roman (in German). Berlin: Aufbau Taschenbuch. ISBN 3-7466-1293-4. OCLC 54728260.
- B�ckl, Manfred (2002). Der Glasteufel: historischer Roman (in German). Dachau: Verl.-Anst. Bayerland. ISBN 3-89251-316-3. OCLC 57635276.
- B�ckl, Manfred (2005). Die letzte K�nigin der Kelten historischer Roman (in German). Berlin. ISBN 978-3-7466-1296-6. OCLC 76562544.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - B�ckl, Manfred (2007). Merlin der Druide von Camelot; Roman (in German). Berlin. ISBN 978-3-7466-1299-7. OCLC 180971171.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Non-fiction
- B�ckl, Manfred (2017). Der M�hlhiasl seine Prophezeiungen; sein Wissen um Erdstrahlen, Kraftpl�tze und Heilige Orte, sein verborgenes Leben (in German). Regenstauf. ISBN 978-3-95587-057-7. OCLC 986999626.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - B�ckl, Manfred (2004). Die Botschaft der Druiden Weisheit aus der Anderswelt (in German). Saarbr�cken. ISBN 978-3-89060-073-4. OCLC 76519359.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - B�ckl, Manfred (2003). Ceridwen die R�ckkehr der dreifaltigen G�ttin der Kelten; ein Buch des Kelten (in German). Saarbr�cken. ISBN 978-3-89060-065-9. OCLC 76523973.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - B�ckl, Manfred (2005). Merlin Leben und Verm�chtnis des keltischen Menschheitslehrers (in German). Uhlst�dt-Kirchhasel. ISBN 978-3-935581-95-0. OCLC 181519655.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - B�ckl, Manfred (2011). Die kleinen Religionen Europas: woher sie kommen und welchen Einfluss sie haben (in German). Ostfildern: Patmos. ISBN 978-3-8436-0000-2. OCLC 723262086.
- B�ckl, Manfred; S�dOst Verlag (2015). Bischofsmord und Hexenjagd die spektakul�rsten Kriminalf�lle aus dem historischen Bayern (in German). Regenstauf. ISBN 978-3-86646-714-9. OCLC 908642457.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - B�ckl, Manfred (2018). Oft war es wie im Roman mein Schriftstellerleben mit allen H�hen, Tiefen, Verr�cktheiten, Erkenntnissen und vielem mehr (in German). Regenstauf: S�dOst Verlag. ISBN 978-3-86646-783-5. OCLC 1044936450.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Manfred Böckl". Literaturportal Bayern (in German). Bavarian State Library. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ "'Größtenteils Dreck' − Manfred Böckl kritisiert aktuelle Historienromane". Passauer Neue Presse (in German). 10 August 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ Baron, Bernhard M. "Glasteufel & Glasmacher". Literaturportal Bayern (in German). Bavarian State Library. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ a b Kratzer, Hans (13 January 2016). "Alles spricht für Mord". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ Kellen, Ralf bei der (11 June 2011). "'Ökologische und spirituelle Aussöhnung'". deutschlandfunkkultur.de (in German). Deutschlandfunk Kultur. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ Göller, Jutta (15 February 2019). "Schriftsteller Manfred Böckl rechnet ab". Mittelbayerische Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 22 October 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Rammer, Stefan (2004). "Manfred Böckl (*2.9.1948). Im Dienst von Toleranz und Humanität". In Schweiggert, Alfons; Macher, Hannes S. (eds.). Autoren und Autorinnen in Bayern. 20. Jahrhundert (in German). Dachau: Bayerland. pp. 369–370. ISBN 978-3-89251-340-7.
External links
[edit]- Personal website (in German)
- 1948 births
- Living people
- People from Dingolfing-Landau
- Writers from Bavaria
- 20th-century German novelists
- 21st-century German novelists
- 21st-century German non-fiction writers
- German male novelists
- German male non-fiction writers
- German crime fiction writers
- German historical novelists
- German modern pagans
- Modern pagan novelists
- Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity
- Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages
- Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period
- Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age
- 20th-century German male writers