Paul Alverdes

Alverdes, Paul (1897–1979), German writer and dramatist, who turned to writing for children in the late 1930s and published an adaptation of German folk tales in 1939. He is best known for his charming fairy‐tale picture books such as Das Männlein Mittenzwei (The Little Man Mittenzwei, 1937), Grimbarts Haus (Grimbart's House, 1949), and Vom dicken fetten Pfannkuchen (About the Thick Fat Pancake, 1960).

— Jack Zipes

Alverdes, Paul (Strasburg, 1897-1979, Munich), an officer's son, spent his childhood in several German regions including the Rhineland at Düsseldorf. In 1914 he volunteered, and in 1915 received a severe throat wound, spending months in hospital. This experience underlies his best-known work, the Novelle Die Pfeiferstube (1929). After studying at Jena and Munich universities he launched out in 1922 as a freelance writer and journalist in Munich. His work includes plays and radio plays (see Hörspiel) and, especially in his later years, fairy-tales. A selection of his numerous stories appeared as Die Pfeiferstube und andere Erzählungen (1986). From 1934 to 1944 he edited with K. B. von Mechow the conservative monthly Das Innere Reich. His other editorial work includes J. P. Hebel's Alemannische Gedichte and Werke (1949 and 1960), Deutsches Anekdotenbuch (1928, with H. Rinn), Rabe, Fuchs und Löwe (1962, as Das Hausbuch der Fabeln. Fabeln aus aller Welt, 1990), and List gegen List (1963, as Das Hausbuch der Schelmenstreiche. Von Schelmen und Narren aus aller Welt, 1990). Vom Unzerstörbaren (1952) is a selection of his essays.