Edition Tintenfaß makes language diversity visible!

We are an independent boutique publishing house based in Neckarsteinach, Germany. Our family business began publishing in November 2001 and since then we have been sharing our passion for languages and cultures with readers worldwide. With each new book, we celebrate the linguistic diversity of our world and are committed to recognizing, strengthening and preserving minority, endangered and indigenous languages.

Our program includes over 450 titles in more than 210 foreign, regional, minority and historical languages and (not only German) dialects. With our monolingual, bilingual and multilingual books, our readers can learn new languages and dialects, refresh their knowledge, or remember how their ancestors spoke. Languages from all continents are represented. In addition to books in dialect, there are titles in languages of the Global South. In some cases, they represent the very first writing of a language, in others possibly the last chance to document a dying idiom.

In our selection of titles, we focus on visually strong classics with great recognition potential and themes such as otherness, tolerance and friendship. More unusual editions (Hieroglyphics, Morse code, Binary language, Afro-Bolivian Little Prince) are also a source of great pleasure. Titles of fiction, poetry, regional literature, religion and specialist linguistic literature also complement our cross-genre profile.

Between 20 and 30 new titles are published each year, some of which are also available as e-books and CDs. The first print run of the titles is usually between 300 and 500 copies. The books are typeset by a typesetting studio in Heidelberg, Germany and printed mainly by a medium-sized printing company in Upper Franconia, Germany, exclusively in Europe and with a climate certificate (mainly reforestation projects). We are happy to support selected social and charitable projects with our publishing work.

We are known worldwide for our books and our selection of linguistically qualified and exciting authors, translators and illustrators, who we often find through contacts at universities worldwide. Texts and translations are linguistically sound (in some cases peer-reviewed) and guaranteed not to be AI-generated. Our authors are often award-winning language activists. Many have become friends, and one project often leads to others.

Our name and logo go back to Heinrich Hoffmann's Struwwelpeter. We believe that (children's literature) classics should be read with consideration for their historical context and regret that many works celebrated as progressive at the time of their publication with a new form of illustrated children's book are little appreciated.

Increasingly, we see ourselves as part of the German publishing landscape with a responsibility for democracy and cultural diversity. We are proud to contribute to this cause with our publishing program.

SüdOst Service GmbH in Waldkirchen, Germany is our trusted distributor worldwide. We also ship directly from our publishing house. Further distributors can be found in Pennsylvania and Michigan, USA and in Italy. The “Barsortimente” Libri, Umbreit and Zeitfracht are supplied. Our books can be found in the “Verzeichnis lieferbarer Bücher” (VLB) and can be ordered from all bookshops in Germany and abroad and directly from the publisher.

The Publishing Family

Nadine was born in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1952. She studied “International Studies” and French at universities in Seattle and Aix-en-Provence (France) and received her Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Washington in her hometown. She has lived in Neckarsteinach since 1974. There, she learned the German language through independent study, radio and television, and from the “locals.” Through her interest in the history of her new home, she has also contributed to the history of Neckarsteinach as a genealogist through her publications. In 2001, she and her husband founded “Edition Tintenfaß”.

Walter was born in Mannheim in 1942. In the postwar period, hearing and speaking the Kurpfalz dialect of his hometown, he grew up early with an awareness of other dialects and languages. He studied English and Romance languages and literatures at the universities of Heidelberg, Rennes (France), and Swansea (Wales), earning his doctorate in Heidelberg in 1971. He taught at various universities in the United States and English linguistics and Medieval Studies at the University of Heidelberg from 1974 until his retirement in 2005. In addition to his academic publications, he is known far beyond the region as a translator and dialect author and has received several awards (e.g. Emichsburg Prize 2017 for his service to the Palatinate dialect, dialect literature and regional culture).

Philipp (*1981) contributed significantly to the success of our publishing house in its early years through his skills in typesetting our books. As a computer scientist (Dipl. Ing., KIT, Karlsruhe) his technical talents are always in demand, but he also likes to communicate in languages other than programming languages. Philipp's early passion for the Star Wars movies inspired Nadine to transliterate the Little Prince into Aurebesh, the alphabet of the Star Wars movies. Philipp's two daughters (both bilingual) are also growing up to be true bookworms, especially the elder one can often be found engrossed in a book.

Alison (*1979) primarily supported our publishing house in the early years through her editorial work. She is an alumna of the Universities of Tübingen and Berne, Switzerland (lic.phil.). After studying humanities (History, Protestant Theology and Near Eastern Archaeology), she worked in the private sector, in science management, as a headhunter and as an editor and translator of scientific publications in German and English (>30 projects at universities in Germany and abroad). She also taught English in a monastery in Burma. When travelling far from home, she recognizes fellow Palatines (due to her heritage) and is delighted to greet them in the local dialect: "Ihr seid awwer aa net vun do!" Since 2021, the succession in the family business has been settled. Since then, Alison has been primarily responsible for sales and marketing and is working on a sustainable corporate strategy.
An interview with Alison (in German) was published in “schöne bücher - Lesetipps aus unabhängigen Verlagen.”

Together we speak/read/understand (with varying degrees of proficiency) the following languages:
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Latin, Palatine, Pennsylvania-Dutch, Hessian, Odenwald dialect, Badish, Alsatian, Yiddish, Dutch, C#, C++, Java...

In 2007, Walter and Nadine initiated the now traditional, nationally recognized “Small Book Fair in the Neckar Valley” in Neckarsteinach. From 2007 to 2020, Nadine and Walter Sauer organized the fair in cooperation with the local history and culture association. Every year, the fair offers more than 30 mostly regional publishers the opportunity to present themselves with their publishing programs. As of 2021, the organization of the fair was passed on to our friend, publisher Ulrich Wellhöfer.