Exhibition in the Neubrandenburg Regional Library Regional legends, Johanna Beckmann's fairy tale pictures - and Annalise Wagner ; small discoveries on the intangible cultural heritage "Fairy tale telling" and "Legend telling in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern"
In keeping with the "fairy tale and legend season" around Christmas and the turn of the year, the Neubrandenburg Regional Library is presenting a small exhibition of colorful "book treasures" on the subject of fairy tales and legends until the New Year: historical editions from the library collections, which complement the wide range of books on loan with publications from four centuries of cultural history and regional history. In addition, fairy tale and legend illustrations light up the library windows around the clock: Fairy tale pictures of German folk tales by Johanna Beckmann (1868-1941) and - in cooperation with the Mecklenburg Foundation - legend pictures from the children's book "Riesen, Zwerge, Fabeltiere - Sagen aus Mecklenburg für Kinder" by Hartmut Schmied, illustrated by Andrea Sommerfeld, published by the Mecklenburg Foundation (2023). A great suggestion for telling fairy tales and legends as a family right now! By the way, those who take part are actively keeping intangible UNESCO cultural heritage alive: "Fairy tale telling" has been a UNESCO cultural heritage site since 2016 and "Legend telling in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" was added to the nationwide list of intangible cultural heritage in Germany in 2021.
The Annalise Wagner Foundation brings interesting regional facets to the exhibition. It is committed to a special legacy of the founder Annalise Wagner (1903-1986): the awarding of the Annalise Wagner Prize, a regional literature prize.
When it comes to "storytelling", the foundation recalls that the local historian, archivist, author and benefactor Annalise Wagner from Neustrelitz provided the initial impetus for the rediscovery of the artist Johanna Beckmann (1868-1941) in the 1970s. She was a "master of the silhouette" and her life and work are closely associated with the region, especially with the town of Burg Stargard. Among other things, she created fascinatingly intricate silhouette illustrations of fairy tales. On display are a magnificent edition of Andersen's fairy tales (Teschner, 1909), the first Andersen fairy tale book, whose illustration technique is reminiscent of Andersen's own silhouette art, as well as sheets from the picture folder "German Folk Tales" (Stiftungsverlag Potsdam, 1919).
The subject of "Legend-telling in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" was particularly close to Annalise Wagner's heart. She was committed to the "memory of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz region" in many ways and explicitly referred to the unique value of historical legends from this region as an important regional cultural asset and cultural-historical source. In the Karbe-Wagner-Archiv series of publications (1970, 1973), she retold legends from south-east Mecklenburg for everyone in order to arouse the curiosity of many people and revive active legend-telling. There are also legend texts to discover in the regional library that relate to the Christmas season and Neubrandenburg: these include the "legend of the poor wool weaver", to which the name of Neubrandenburg's Christmas market refers: "Weaver's Bell Market". This legend also tells a "Christmas foundation story", as the "Weaver's Bell" in St. Mary's Church, which is still rung today, was donated by the rescued wool weaver.
And last but not least: Prize-winning texts from the Annalise Wagner Prize can also be discovered in the exhibition, as these texts also contain astonishing references to regional legends. For example, the publications by Gisela Krull (2nd Annalise Wagner Prize, which includes local legends from Peckatel), Dr. Wilfried Bölke (6th Annalise Wagner Prize, which tells of Heinrich Schliemann's childhood and other stories). Heinrich Schliemann's childhood and how it was shaped by regional legends) or Dr. Friederike Werner (34th Annalise Wagner Prize, explores the myth of the legendary Rethra in relation to the "Egyptian" secret of Hohenzieritz Castle).
