Family audiobook - love for the ears

Love for the ears

Family audiobooks for children of terminally ill parents

6-7

Hours of listening time arise on average from three days of raw recordings

783

Mothers and fathers have been included in the project since 2017

1378

Children get the chance to grow up with a family audiobook

100

Working hours require the production of a family audiobook

Our mission

We offer all underage children of terminally ill mothers and fathers the chance to receive a family audiobook: With mom or dad's voice. A personally narrated audio piece full of love, memories and lifelong answers to the question: ‘Who were you, Mom/Dad?’

In the family audiobook, the parents tell their life stories. It's authentic. Personally. Lovingly. This is important for those affected on their difficult journey of saying goodbye and precious for those who are left behind.

The Familienhörbuch gGmbH is an independent and non-profit organization based in Cologne. The professional work on the audiobiography directs the gaze of illness, pain and loss to the fullness of life lived. After the death of the parent, the audiobooks accompany the orphaned children and families on their path of grief and support a healthy – active and self-determined – management of grief. The offer is free of charge for project participants.

Our quality association for research, training and supervision of our team:

Current fundraising campaigns

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Donation materials

We are happy to send you flyers, posters or donation boxes free of charge.
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Your donation becomes love for the ears

Promotion and Commitment

The family audiobook is financed exclusively by donations and subsidies and is free of charge for the participants. Who with one Life-shortening diagnosis and for their often small children. Family audiobook We shouldn't have to wait too long before we get one. Project commitment can do. Here you will find a variety of ways to support the family audiobook.

For participants and their relatives

The Road to Your Own Audiobook

Each History of life It is worth being told and left behind. That's why we create the biographies of incurably ill people for eternity as a gift for the future. Here you will find all information about the project participation, practical information about the process and the possibility for a Expression of interest and contact. We accompany you personally on your way to your own audiobook with great care, experience and expertise.

What we create, we create together

More and more terminally ill mothers and fathers want to keep their story with us – a trust that deeply touches us and shows the great need for our audio biographies. Thanks to donations already received, we have been able to make many of these heart projects possible for children who lose a parent far too soon.

In order to continue to cater to as many families as possible, we are bundling new applicants into groups of five families each. So we can plan exactly and get closer to the reception days step by step. In the chart you can see how many audiobooks are already funded (marked in green).

Help us and give love to your ears together with us. Each donation brings another family closer to their own audiobook.

The Family Audiobook Movie

For over a year, volunteer filmmakers from Was Gute e.V. accompanied the family audiobook and produced a documentary. ‘Social engagement needs media presence to be effective’, says Marlene Hirschfeld of ‘Was Gute’, an association of volunteer creatives who support and present socially engaged projects with high-quality, short films. Here you can see the trailer for the film.

To the film »

It's also reassuring to hear her voice again, no matter what it is now. I think it's a lot of goodbye and it helps that you can come to terms with it. The best part is when she laughs in her own audiobook, I think. You don't really remember the moments, but you feel at home.

“People with palliative diagnosis find it comforting to remain companions through audio recording. They are then part of the children's lives without being physically there. Thanks to this hearing gift, they are even a strengthening that the child may use again and again in the future. The family audiobook enables a lasting and healthy connection between the child and the deceased parent.

“You always have to listen to your heart for what you do and what you don't do. In case of doubt: Just make it easy, dear Jakob!” “I assumed that just everyone lives to the end. I just thought that the Old … that's such a generational thing … that's the only reason to die. Old …’

“We are so grateful for this treasure that allows us to experience our beloved wife and mother with her voice over and over again. Especially Sandra's address to our daughter. It's nice not only to grieve, but also to smile together about the different stages of life and many formulations so typical of Sandra.

As you can imagine, the question is what I want to leave for my son. How much can he remember his dad at a very young age? What opportunities are there for me to stay alive? Then I learned about the Familienhörbuch gGmbH and was immediately inspired by the idea of recording my own story as an audiobook with my own voice for my son.

My beloved child. I don't know when you'll listen to this audiobook, but I'd like you to listen to it with Dad. There are many funny stories. And there are the chapters with Karl, the Cancer. And they may not be so funny. And more than that, I'd like you to listen to them together, in moments when you can stand it. And that you then also continue to listen, and hear, from me, that everything does not have to be so gloomy.

Information materials and downloads

Here you will find all information material about the family audiobook for download.

To the information material »

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Our donation materials

We are pleased that you would like to support the family audiobook. We are happy to send you our information flyers, posters or our donation box by post. The donation box can be placed on celebrations, bazaars, events, in a practice or an office for collecting donations. You can then transfer the cash directly to our donation account.