A woman who loved adventure

The stories of Jonathan the Magic Mouse and Fabian Ferkel inspire children around the world.

They come from the pen of the recently deceased children's book author Ingrid Ostheeren from Weilheim.

The author's life story is no less exciting to read than the adventures of her imaginary characters.

Weilheim

- In the summer we received a request from a reader that she had the obituary notice of a Dr.

Ingrid Ostheeren discovered in the local newspaper.

"I am not one hundred percent sure," it said in the request.

"But I believe that this is a well-known children's book author from Weilheim."

Ostheeren's stories had given the reader and her children imaginative and carefree hours.

"The adventures of Jonathan the Magic Mouse were even re-enacted in our living room for weeks," reported the reader.

We then went on a search for clues and dealt with the extraordinary life story of the author and journalist Ingrid Ostheeren, for whom this newspaper published a large portrait over 20 years ago.

The son is happy "that I didn't always know everything about her"

"I'm glad I didn't always know everything about her," says Wolf Ostheeren about his mother.

“On the one hand, so as not to be jealous, but on the other hand, so that I don't have to worry.” Upon request, the 44-year-old outlines the life of his mother, who died on July 24th.

It becomes clear: Ingrid Ostheeren loved adventure.

In 1940 the woman, whose maiden name was Ingrid Hantsch, was born in Munich.

“She was drawn out into the world at an early age,” says son Wolf.

Shortly after graduating from high school in the late 1950s, the young woman went to France alone and worked there as an au pair.

She was also enrolled at the Sorbonne University in Paris.

After a few years she returned to her hometown and studied English and French there.

In 1975 he received his doctorate with top marks on the subject of "semiotics of storytelling."

In 1991 Ingrid Ostheeren came to Weilheim

During her studies and her time as a research assistant at the university, she met and fell in love with the English professor Klaus Ostheeren.

Together they went to Cologne, where Wolf was born.

“My mother always jokingly said that I was her habilitation thesis,” he says.

But his parents' marriage broke up and Ostheeren then moved back to Upper Bavaria alone with their one-year-old child.

They first lived in Herrsching, but they didn't move to Weilheim until 1991.

The little wolf finally gave his mother the idea of ​​children's books.

“She always told me great stories,” he says.

That's why he kept telling her to write down the stories.

"So that they can hear the other children too."

Her books are known all over the world

The adventures of Jonathan the Magic Mouse, the Blue Monster or Fabian Piglet are still popular and known all over the world because they have been translated into all kinds of languages, including Finnish, Czech and even Chinese.

Agnès Mathieu illustrated the stories.

Ostheeren only wrote the children's books on the side; she mainly worked as a freelance journalist.

She worked for major German daily newspapers such as the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Frankfurter Allgemeine.

According to Wolf Ostheeren, she wrote articles under several pseudonyms.

And that on very different topics: From art and culture to health and sport, everything was included.

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She was also a travel journalist for many years.

The list of cities and countries visited is long: Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, but also South Africa and Switzerland.

Ostheeren published in "Business Traveler", in "Geo Saison" or "Asia Bridge".

"I don't even know how she endured all the traveling," says son Wolf.

"She had so much energy."

With the icebreaker through the Arctic

That she loved adventure is also shown by various certificates that the journalist had obtained on her travels.

For example, a trip on an arctic icebreaker, an overnight stay in an ice hotel or crossing the equator.

“Although she didn't cross the equator just once,” her son remarks with a laugh.

He admired his mother very much for her strength of will and way of life.

"She was a great woman."

In his obituary notice, Wolf Ostheeren wrote: “My mother went on her last trip and this time won't come back with wild stories, exciting photos, exotic recipes and funny T-shirts.” He knows that he has chosen unusual words.

“But that exactly suited her and her life,” says Wolf Ostheeren.