Josef Ponten (1883–1940)

I bought this little novella in early August (2017), when I spent a few days in Eupen, Belgium. The only book I had read about the Buckriders was [b:De Bokkerijders|11226360|De Bokkerijders (Suske en Wiske #136)|Willy Vandersteen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327667776s/11226360.jpg|16152218] (a comic book by [a:Willy Vandersteen|265814|Willy Vandersteen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1284901724p2/265814.jpg]). As the legend of the Buckriders is set in the eastern part of Belgium, a bit of the Netherlands and the western part of Germany (Aachen and surroundings), I could not go back home without this perfect "souvenir".

In addition, the author, Josef Ponten, was born in Raeren, not far from Eupen. At the time, in the 19th century, this part of Belgium (East Belgium; Wikipedia-link) was still part of Germany. After WW1, in the 1920s, Belgium was given this territory as compensation for the damages of WW1. Many years later, Germany reclaimed the region, but after WW2 it returned under Belgian rule and has been ever since. Hence Belgium's three national languages: Dutch, French, and German.

Anyway, [b:Die Bockreiter|35905468|Die Bockreiter|Josef Ponten|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501764578s/35905468.jpg|57430095] was published in 1919. Ponten, as it's written in the bonus section, never planned to write an official, historical account of what really happened in the 18th century (at which time Belgium was part of the Netherlands; Belgian independence occurred in 1830), of who those Buckriders were, etc. Much is still unknown, hence taking what was known and adding his own imagination to create an entertaining tale.

Who were the Buckriders? Were they simply playing games with people? Did they steal riches to redistribute it among the poor (à la Robin Hood)? Or were they an evil bunch, who raped and pillaged for whatever reason? Also, they seem to have worn hoods and no one knew the other's identity; sort of like the KKK and alike? But when they were caught or identified, they were condemned and executed (death by hanging, for example). Torture was also used to make them speak, confess, and give the names of who else was a gang member.

In Ponten's story, the first generation Buckriders don't really harass people, yet commit mischief and so on. As its members grow older, new blood is needed to keep the Buckriders gang alive. One has to swear an oath to the devil and eternal allegiance to the leader. Woe unto him who does not obey. But as it goes with newbies, they have little patience. It doesn't take long before they want to show they're (not) ready, with more serious consequences than before (now, the victims go get tortured, harassed, beaten... until they tell where they hid their money and riches).

Furthermore, at least in this story, the Buckriders were mainly people who were living a good to very good life: doctors, preachers, judges, ...

Ponten also threw in a bit of romance (daughter-father, with the mother not really being against it, strangely enough) and enough mystery to make you anxious to know how the story ends, who the Buckriders were, if they were going to be tried, etc.

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This re-edition was reworked by [a:Günter Krieger|6551385|Günter Krieger|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png], who updated the old vocabulary to a more modern version, but left most untouched, as it would otherwise have damaged the original story too much. There is bonus content:

* about Ponten's life (his upbringing, his love-life, and his short-lived friendship with [a:Thomas Mann|19405|Thomas Mann|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1430109860p2/19405.jpg])
* about the Buckriders (of which there is more information available in German [Wikipedia-link] and Dutch [Wikipedia-link])
* about a few places that were part of the setting for this story, with links to respective websites: Rolduc abbey, Gut Melaten (Wikipedia-link), etc.

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Long story short: very much recommended. Ponten knew how to write and keep one's attention. An exciting novella about an important part of Belgium's/Germany's history. The bonus content makes this edition all the more worthwhile. One must, however, have a more than average knowledge of the German language. At least B2 (and with a dictionary close-by), although I would put this under C1 (C2 = mother tongue). See also the website of Goethe Institut.

P.S.: Too bad Mr Krieger didn't provide a list of the words and expressions he changed into more readable versions. It would have been nice to know what Josef Ponten wrote back then.… (plus d'informations)