Joachim Ringelnatz is the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of the German author and painter Hans Bötticher (7 August 1883 in Wurzen,

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– 17 November 1934 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

). From 1894 to 1900 he lived with his family in the Gottschedstrasse 40 in

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His pen name ''Ringelnatz'' is usually explained as a dialect expression for an animal, possibly a variant of ''Ringelnatter'', German for grass snake or more probably the

seahorse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine Osteichthyes, bony fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meanin ...

for winding ("ringeln") its tail around objects. The seahorse is called Ringelnass (nass = wet) by mariners, an occupation to which he felt kinship. He was a sailor in his youth and spent the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in the Navy on a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

. In the 1920s and 1930s, he worked as a ''Kabarettist'', a kind of satirical stand-up comedian. He is best known for his wry poems using

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, ph ...

and sometimes bordering on nonsense poetry. Some of them are similar to

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German writer and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

's, but more satirical in tone and occasionally subversive. His most popular character is the anarchic sailor ''Kuddel Daddeldu'' with his drunken antics and disdain for authority. In his final thirteen years Ringelnatz was also a dedicated and prolific visual artist. The bulk of his art went missing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but over 200 paintings and drawings survived. In the 1920s some of his work was exhibited at the

Akademie der Künste The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

along with that of his contemporaries

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and Printmaking, printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Alon ...

and George Grosz. Ringelnatz illustrated his own novel called "''...liner Roma...''" (1923), the title of which is a doubly truncated "''Berliner Roman''" (Berlin novel), for "Berlin novels usually have no decent beginning and no proper ending." ("Berliner Romane haben meist keinen ordentlichen Anfang und kein rechtes Ende."Projekt Gutenberg-DE - Kultur - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten
at gutenberg.spiegel.de) In 1933, he was banned by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

government as a "degenerate artist". Ringelnatz's widow Leonharda Pieper married Julius Gescher after Ringelnatz's death, and their son Norbert managed Ringelnatz's legacy and assembled a collection. Norbert donated the collection to the Joachim Ringelnatz Museum in Cuxhaven in 2019.

Works

*1910 ''Gedichte'' *1911 ''Was ein Schiffsjungen-Tagebuch erzählt'' *1912 ''Die Schnupftabakdose. Stumpfsinn in Versen und Bildern von Hans Bötticher und Richard Seewald'' *1913 ''Ein jeder lebt's. Novellen'' (digital reconstruction:
UB Bielefeld
*1920/1923 ''Turngedichte'' *1920 ''Kuttel Daddeldu oder das schlüpfrige Leid'' *1921 ''Die gebatikte Schusterpastete'' *1922 ''Die Woge. Marine-Kriegsgeschichten'' *1923 ''Kuttel Daddeldu'' (digital reconstruction: ''Kuttel Daddeldu. Neue Gedichte der erweiterten Ausgabe''
scans of a 1924 edition at the library of the university of Bielefeld
*1924 ''...liner Roma...'' With 10 pictures by himself. *1924 ''Nervosipopel. Elf Angelegenheiten'' *1927 ''Reisebriefe eines Artisten'' *1928 ''Allerdings'' (digital reconstruction
UB Bielefeld
*1928 ''Als Mariner im Krieg'' (under the pen name Gustav Hester) *1928 ''Matrosen. Erinnerungen, ein Skizzenbuch, handelt von Wasser und blauem Tuch'' *1929 ''Flugzeuggedanken'' *1931 ''Mein Leben bis zum Kriege'' (

Autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

) *1931 ''Kinder-Verwirrbuch'' with many pictures *1932 ''Die Flasche und mit ihr auf Reisen'' *1932 ''Gedichte dreier Jahre'' (digital reconstruction
UB Bielefeld
*1933 ''103 Gedichte'' (digital reconstruction:
UB Bielefeld
*1934 ''Gedichte. Gedichte von einstmals und heute'' Posthumously *1935 ''Der Nachlaß'' *1939 ''Kasperle-Verse'' Electronic Edition *2005 ''Joachim Ringelnatz - Das Gesamtwerk''. The total work edited by Walter Pape is published on CD-ROM by Directmedia Publishing in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

, Most of Ringelnatz's paintings were lost during the Second World War; one of them at the '' Kunsthaus Zürich'' is not on display. The Ringelnatz-Museum in Cuxhaven, managed by the Ringelnatz-Stiftung (see below) shows many of his paintings. Most came from private owners, whose paintings survived

Notes

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ringelnatz, Joachim 1883 births 1934 deaths People from Wurzen Artists from the Kingdom of Saxony Writers from the Kingdom of Saxony Writers from Saxony German male poets German satirists German satirical poets German male comedians 20th-century German poets 20th-century German male writers

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Works

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