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 was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

. He served for about four months during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when he was captured in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and transported to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, where he was shipped to

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

. 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 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 war for a ...

at Ft. D.A. Russell in Texas, he painted detailed murals of far West Texas mountain scenes at Building 98 in Marfa, Texas. The murals are on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. 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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

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. 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-novelist-stub