author
Friedrich Wilhelm Mader
1886–1947
Best remembered as the "Swabian Karl May," this German writer mixed far-off adventure with early science-fiction wonder. His stories carried young readers to Africa, Australia, South America, and even into imagined worlds beyond Earth.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Nice on September 1, 1866, Friedrich Wilhelm Mader grew up in a Protestant pastor's household and later studied theology in Tübingen. He worked as an evangelical pastor before becoming widely known as a writer.
Mader wrote adventure novels, future-fiction, plays, fairy tales, poems, and songs. Many of his books were aimed at younger readers and often unfolded in exotic or distant settings; because of their popularity and spirit of adventure, he was sometimes called the "Swabian Karl May."
He died in Bönnigheim on March 30, 1945. Today he is especially remembered for his lively adventure fiction and for works such as Wunderwelten, which helped give him a place in the early history of German science fiction.