- Simplicissimus
:"Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel Simplicius Simplicissimus and its protagonist.""Simplicissimus" was a satirical German weekly
magazine started byAlbert Langen in April1896 and published through1967 , with a hiatus from 1944-1954. It became a biweekly in 1964. [Harvard University Library Catalog, Hollis number 006013229.] It took its name from the protagonist of Grimmelshausen's 1668 novel "Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch ".Combining brash and politically daring content, a bright, immediate, surprisingly modern graphic style, "Simplicissimus" published the work of writers such as
Thomas Mann andRainer Maria Rilke . Its most reliable targets for caricature were stiffPrussia n military figures, and rigid German social and class distinctions as seen from the more relaxed, liberal atmosphere ofMunich .In 1898
Kaiser Wilhelm 's objections to being ridiculed on the cover resulted in the magazine being suppressed, publisher Langen taking five years' exile inSwitzerland and a fine of 30,000 mark, a six month prison sentence for the cartoonist Heine, and seven months prison for the writerFrank Wedekind . Again in 1906 the editorLudwig Thoma was imprisoned for six months for attacking the clergy. These controversies only served to increase circulation, which peaked at about 85,000 copies. Upon Germany's entry intoWorld War I , the weekly dulled its satirical tone, began supporting the war effort, and considered closing down. Thereafter the strongest political satire expressed in graphics became the province of artistsGeorge Grosz andKäthe Kollwitz (who were both contributors) andJohn Heartfield .The editor
Ludwig Thoma joined the army in a medical unit in 1917, and lost his taste for satire, denouncing his previous work at the magazine, calling it immature and deplorable. He left the magazine in the1920s . During theWeimar era the magazine continued to publish and took a strong stand against extremists on the left and on the right. As the National Socialists gradually came to power, they issued their pattern of verbal accusations, attacks, threats, personal intimidations, then arrests against the artists and writers of "Simplicissimus". It continued publishing, in declining form, until finally ceasing publication in 1944. It was revived from 1954-1967.Graphic artists associated with the magazine include
Thomas Theodor Heine ,Olaf Gulbransson ,Edward Thöny ,Bruno Paul ,Josef Benedikt Engl ,Rudolf Wilke ,Ferdinand von Reznicek , and Karl Arnold.Notes
External links
* [http://www.old-coconino.com/sites_auteurs/simplicissimus/index.html generous selection of Simplicissimus graphics, in French]
* [http://www.simplicissimus.info/ The complete series available as individual pdf files] (click: "Abruf der Hefte â hier"}
* [http://www.munichfound.de/new.cfm?News_ID=1680 Simplicissimus history from Munich newspaper]
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