Heimkehr unveils a new cover and a revised edition
My book Heimkehr (back home) now has a new cover and a revised edition of its content, available in both Kindle and paperback formats.
This update was created to better reflect the spirit of the story: a true World War I maritime story shaped by the sea, distance, loyalty, exile, and the powerful longing to return home.
Heimkehr is based on real events and reconstructs the extraordinary story of the German sailing ship Herzogin Cecilie, one of the great tall ships of the early twentieth century, and the 52 German cadets who were stranded in Chile after the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
The new cover preserves a historical, nautical, and documentary atmosphere, combining an original period photograph, nautical charts, maps of southern Chile, and a visual language connected to tall ships, ocean voyages, Patagonia, Cape Horn, and classic seamanship.
The revised edition also improves the reading experience while preserving the central character of the book: a historical maritime novel built on documentary research, original photographs, maps, historical records, nautical charts, and an extensive nautical glossary.
For me, this story is also deeply personal. Among the young cadets of the Herzogin Cecilie was my own grandfather, Johannes von der Forst, whose name I later confirmed in the ship’s historical Musterrolle — the official crew register. That discovery transformed historical research into a family journey through memory, identity, and the sea.
Heimkehr (back home) is not only a war story. It is a story of maritime history, survival, exile, and human endurance. It follows a generation of young sailors who, far from Germany and stranded in Chile, had to face a world suddenly transformed by war while the ocean remained their only possible route home.
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