Hans Jürgen Press (1926 – 2002) was a German illustrator and writer of children's books. Many of his books contain stories and puzzles in which the reader searches the illustrations for clues to the mystery.

Biography

Press was born in Klein Konopken,

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. He served for about four months during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when he was captured in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and transported to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, where he was shipped to

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

. After 3 or 4 days he was transported to the United States. Press was trained as an unarmed sail plane glider pilot. While a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

at Ft. D.A. Russell in Texas, he painted detailed murals of far West Texas mountain scenes at

Building 98 Building 98 at Fort D. A. Russell is the historic US army base bachelor officer quarters, officers club, and grand ballroom near Marfa, Texas; it was active from 1911 to 1946. Building 98 is Located at Fort David A. Russell's central fort complex. ...

Marfa, Texas Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, Texas, Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Cens ...

. The murals are on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. He departed Marfa, Texas, in 1945 while there he created two west Texas watercolors of local residents one performing a Spanish dance and another playing the Spanish guitar. He returned from captivity to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1948 and attended the Hochschule für Bildende Künste. In 1953 he began to illustrate for "''sternchen''", the children's supplement of German magazine

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

. He invented ', a little man with moustache and bowler hat who never talked but whose comic strips were commented in verse. ''The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang'' was a combination of story and illustration which appeared in weekly chapters, the solution to this week's riddle was given the next week. Press was one of the inventors of the "'' Wimmelbild''", a genre of illustration deliberately overcrowded with detail, to please children on their search for a certain item. He also wrote and illustrated books about science and numerous puzzle and play books for children. His son, Julian Press, is also an author and illustrator.

Bibliography

* ''The Adventures of the Black Hand Gang'' * ''The Black Hand Gang and the Treasure in Breezy Lake'' *''The Black Hand Gang and the Mysterious House'' *''Der Natur auf der Spur''

References

External links

Author information at Randomhouse.de

Adventures of the Black Hand Gang Facebook Fan-page
* A freeware "The Adventures Of The Black Hand Gang" interactive e-book game including every story is available at
The Adventures Of The Black Hand Gang
This game allows you to read the entire adventures of the gang while participating via your mouse to help solve the puzzles on each page. 1926 births 2002 deaths People from Giżycko County Artists from East Prussia Writers from East Prussia German caricaturists German children's writers German illustrators German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States German muralists German male novelists 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German male writers University of Fine Arts of Hamburg alumni {{Germany-writer-stub