The Wolf and His Duckling
Dietmar Wolf from Düsseldorf-Friedrichstadt writes a book about ducks
German newspaper Rheinische Post 05.12.2020 by Nicole Kampe
Foto: Rheinische Post, Anne Orthen
Friedrichstadt · Anyone who drives a ‘Duck’ is in for quite an experience, just like Dietmar Wolf, who has put many of his memories down on paper. The result is a book entitled ‘Duck Stories’, which are sometimes true and sometimes ‘pure fiction’.
PHOTO: For his 60th birthday, Dietmar Wolf was given a wooden duck bearing the inscription: ‘The duck eats the wolf’ – a reference to the cost of repairs. By Anne Orthen
As a child, Dietmar Wolf had a piggy bank. On one side was a sticker of a Porsche 911, “but I knew I’d never be able to afford one,” says Wolf, who stuck a little picture of a duck on the other side of the piggy bank, “I liked that one too,” says the 62-year-old, though at the time he didn’t seriously consider actually buying a duck one day.
At some point, he needed a car he could drive around in; as a travel agent, he was on the road a lot. That was the start of a wonderful friendship, which eventually turned into love – even though Wolf’s first ‘Duck’ caught fire on the motorway, in the middle of the night, somewhere near Dormagen. “I wondered why it had suddenly got so warm,” says Dietmar Wolf. And he’s had his fair share of run-ins with his current pride and joy too: “She’s a bit of a handful,” says Wolf. The two of them haven’t seen each other for just under a year. The 2CV is in a garage: “The little bodywork is damaged,” explains Wolf. No big deal, if the mechanic hadn’t had such rotten luck. First, one employee quit, “then the second one died,” says Wolf. And to top it all off, the 2CV even fell off the trailer.
Dietmar Wolf – who is actually a Green Party politician and has been district mayor of District 3 for two and a half weeks – has countless stories like this to tell. And because he has put quite a few anecdotes down on paper for *Entenschnabel*, the german Citroën 2CV magazine – though by no means all of them – this 2CV enthusiast has now published a book. *Entengeschichten* by Anton Wolfpril – that is Dietmar Wolf’s pseudonym, which he was given years ago by an editor at the 2CV magazine. At the time, the 62-year-old was also vice-chairman of an umbrella organisation for 2CV enthusiasts that was at loggerheads with *Entenschnabel*. As Anton Wolfpril, he was able to publish his writings incognito.
The book is set over the course of a single year. It begins at Christmas and ends at Christmas. ‘The 2CV, a car like Christmas’ – that’s how Wolf concludes the final chapter. The protagonist, a first-person narrator named Anton Wolfpril – married, a family man and also a bit of a free spirit – wants to give his beloved a 2CV for Christmas. In an advert, he spots a bright yellow model, but before buying it, he first has to raid the family account. However, it’s empty, so he asks his father for money. When he arrives at the dealer’s, the yellow 2CV is gone, so Wolfpril takes a green one instead. And on Christmas Eve, he realises that his wife has bought the yellow one – for Christmas, for her husband Anton Wolfpril.
This story is pure fiction, “complete and utter nonsense”, says Wolf, “my girlfriend would never drive a 2CV.” However, Wolf has experienced other stories just like this, or one of his 2CV-driving friends has. His mate was on his way to southern Germany with his wife; the slope on the Elzer Berg was quite steep. The 2CV picked up speed, going faster and faster, reaching 130 kilometres per hour. “And suddenly the rear window fell out,” says Wolf. He wrote down the experience, “I do exaggerate a bit now and then,” says the 62-year-old, in whose book the 2CV is written off after the downhill run. But that only happens once in the book; most of the time, the 2CV remains intact. More or less, anyway. Sometimes it gets stolen, sometimes it ends up in a ditch – if you drive a 2CV, you’re bound to have an adventure.
The original article at rp-online.de:
Wolf and his 2CV by Nicole Kampe
Dietmar Wolf’s debut collection has room for 16 short stories; many more texts are still lying in a drawer at home. The 62-year-old has given his short stories titles such as ‘Vive la 2CV’ or ‘Elsa, the Gummy Bear Cow’ – cheeky and funny, just as Wolf is in real life. He always has a quip at the ready and usually has the last word, as was the case during negotiations with the publisher.
The two of them had a beer, and then another. Then came the herbal schnapps, “which he couldn’t handle,” says Wolf, “that was my lucky break”. Anton Wolfpril’s *Duck Stories* were published on 27 July – a date that duck lovers will recognise. Thirty years ago, on 27 July, the last 2CV rolled off the production line in Portugal.
Anton Wolfpril’s ‘Duck Stories’, price €14.90, ISBN: 978-3-9821608-0-1
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Thank you Nicoe Kampe!
