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Children's book villain Robber Hotzenplotz is back

May 7, 2018

The last adventure of Robber Hotzenplotz, one of Germany's best known childhood villains, was published in 1973. Now, five years after author Otfried Preussler's death, the ne'er-do-well is making an unexpected return.

https://p.dw.com/p/2xIBM
Cartoon drawing of Robber Hotzenplotz with kasperl and Seppel
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Five years after the death of children's author Otfried Preussler, one of the writer's best-known characters is coming back to life in an out-of-this-world adventure. A manuscript for "The Robber Hotzenplotz and the Moon Rocket" was discovered by the writer's daughter as she sorted through his estate.

Book cover of the new Robber Hotzenplotz
The book is set for a July 17 releaseImage: picture alliance/dpa/Thienemann-Verlag

Among her father's original writings, Susanne Preussler-Bitsch found a 20-page theater piece entitled "Journey to the Moon," written by Preussler 50 years ago. She reworked her father's piece into an adventure that will hit shelves in Germany on July 17, 2018 — nearly 45 years after the last in the original series went to print.

Read more:Robber Hotzenplotz turns 50

The old gang is back

All of the characters we know from Preussler's series are in the latest: Kasperl and Seppel, the grandmother, Sergeant Dimplemoser and of course, the Robber Hotzenplotz himself. It's an unexpected addition to the works of one of Germany's most beloved children's book writers.

Original rights for the theater adaptation have already been given to the Theater Dusseldorf, which is set to debut the piece November 11, 2018.

Read more: Augsburger Puppenkiste: 70 years of Germany's most famous marionette theater

ct/eg (dpa, AFP)