Overview
- Heine died on November 20 in Russell, New Zealand, according to publisher Beltz, which cited his son.
- He is best known for the modern classic "Freunde" and for designing the dragon Tabaluga in collaboration with Peter Maffay.
- Peter Maffay paid tribute to a four-decade friendship and credited Heine with bringing Tabaluga to life.
- Over a career of more than 50 books, Heine also wrote for adults and worked across film, theater, sculpture and painting.
- Born in Berlin in 1941, he launched his picture-book career in South Africa in 1976, settled in New Zealand around 1990 with his wife Gisela von Radowitz, and earned honors including the European Youth Book Prize and the Grand Prize of the German Academy for Children’s and Youth Literature.