ruth901
Anyone who attended Michael Kobr's “Tatort Fulda” reading in the Orangery on Friday was not only served a crime novel – but also a whole entertainment menu.
Fulda – More than 250 listeners celebrated the best-selling author at the end of the series “Tatort Fulda” – and were rewarded with an evening that oscillated between tension, self-irony and stand-up comedy.
Even the start left no doubt about where the journey was going. “I'm happy to be able to end this wonderful festival,” said Kobr – and followed up with a broad grin: “I usually write the Kluftinger crime novels that play in the Allgäu together with Volker Klüpfel. Not today. If that bothers you, you can leave now. But you probably won't get the ticket price back.” The audience was immediately on his side.
Kluftinger author inspires 250 listeners at the finale of “Tatort Fulda”
On stage: a table, an iPad – and a small lighthouse. The latter was symbolic of Kobr's new literary home. Because instead of Allgäu the setting is called Bornholm. The idea for his own series about police chief Lennart Ipsen came about while on the road, he reported: “I have to go on vacation every now and then – I'm married.”
So the family went to Sweden in the motorhome – “that was okay for me, I'm an Ikea customer and I already know what there is to eat there”. Ultimately, however, the Kobrs were stranded on the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm. The fact that the family found accommodation next to a pig farm, while the sea was five kilometers away, is one of the anecdotes that Kobr shared with obvious joy.
He then found the name of his investigator by chance – on a garbage truck. “Lennart Ipsen” was written on it. “And then I thought to myself: If the garbage collector is called the same as poets and thinkers elsewhere, then my inspector should be called that too.”
It quickly became clear while reading that the new series is a little more serious than the cult crime novels about the lovable, clumsy Kluftinger. Ipsen is a commissioner with rough edges – and real problems. But Kobr wouldn't be Kobr if he didn't lighten up the story with subtle humor.
Michael Kobr kept talking about things
The author read from the third volume, “Shadows over Somarken”, in which Ipsen gets involved in a case that affects him personally: a guest dies in his friend Maren's restaurant – her ex-boyfriend of all people. Ipsen is not officially allowed to investigate. Of course he does it anyway.
Between the passages he read, Kobr kept chatting, talking about his wife, about research trips – and about how he turned a real gourmet restaurant into the scene of a murder. However, the visit there was initially canceled for cost reasons. “I’m Swabian,” Kobr confessed. “I’m not so happy about having to pay for the others too.” So instead of a 14-course meal, there were supermarket hot dogs to warm up.
Later he returned alone – armed with a notebook and under the suspicious eyes of the staff. “They thought I was a restaurant tester.” His observations eventually found their way into the book – as did the culinary specialties of Bornholm. For example, using ants instead of lemons: “They also have acid.”
Kobr didn't just read in the orangery – he played his characters. Women's voices were quickly “beeped” into higher pitches, while men's voices were deepened sonorously. The reading developed its own dynamic, particularly in the dialogues.
A scene from the as yet unpublished fourth volume, which will be released on June 10th, in which Ipsen's father performs gymnastics exercises naked – much to the chagrin of his son – caused a particularly big laugh. The audience roared with laughter. The crowning finale was a trip back to the Allgäu. Kobr read a passage from a Kluftinger novel – more precisely, from a memorable and hilarious Thermomix evening. At this point at the latest there was no stopping us. The orangery shook.
