Seagulls are birds of hope and terror. On the high seas, they herald the harbour of salvation as well as the deadly storm. In the works of the Old Masters, they foreshadowed the end of the world, which is not only evident today in the alternation of droughts and cloudbursts, and as Jonathan Livingston Seagull they have entertained generations of children. Author, dramaturge and director Holger Teschke follows the traits of this white-grey bird, of which there are 55 known species today, once around the globe. Gulls have adapted to almost every habitat in the world, and today they are not only found in harbours and on coasts, but increasingly also inland, where they are displaced by the meagre food of overfished seas. Even in Berlin, they are already breeding on the roofs above the city. And then there is the sailor's superstition that the souls of dead sailors find a second home in seagulls. So learning from seagulls means learning to remember. If you look carefully into the pupils of a seagull, you will realise that nothing and nobody will stop it.
"They lie lightly like foam balls on the waves and stand out so vividly from them with their dazzling colours that they become a true ornament to the sea." – Alfred Brehm, BREHMS THIERLEBEN
Non-fiction
Holger Teschke, born on Rügen in 1958, went to sea as a machinist on fishing boats before studying theatre directing in Berlin, where he worked as a dramaturge and author. From 2000 to 2010 he worked as a director and directing teacher in the USA, Australia and South East Asia, and since 2010 he has been a lecturer in theatre history and dramaturgy. Holger Teschke's last book, Guide to Rügen and Hiddensee, was published in 2013. He writes for mare, Theater der Zeit and Deutschland Radio Kultur and lives in Berlin and South Hadley, Massachusetts.
