Dr. Murkes gesammeltes Schweigen (intro)

Heinrich Böll

In 1972 at school I learned to speak German. I did not know which profession I would choose in the future, but my teacher was surely clear-sighted, because she thought the story of Dr. Murkes gesammeltes Schweigen by Heinrich Böll was really something for me. It is a story about a sound engineer. I read it, I did my lecture and I kept it in remembrance.

Somewhere around 1990 I visited the Süd Westfunk in Baden-Baden (Germany) with two of my colleques. On our way I remembered the story about Dr. Murke and I still could tell it. At the end of our visit we passed a window with SWF-goodies. One of them was a CD with the recorded story "Dr. Murkes gesammeltes Schweigen". Just a lucky accident?

In 1999, I was building this website about silence. VPRO Radio presentor Wim Bloemendaal and engineer Geert Kramer reminded me of the story about Dr. Murke.
For the third time this story crosses my way. I immediately understood what they ment: this story belongs here, on the Site of Silence.