Robert Gernhardt (13 December 1937 – 30 June 2006) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist and poet.

Life

Robert Gernhardt was born the son of a judge and a chemist in Tallinn, where his family was part of the

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

minority. In 1939 they had to relocate to

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. In 1945 his father was killed in the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, and after the end of the war, his mother fled west with her three sons Robert, Per, and Andreas, finally ending up in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, where Robert Gernhardt finished school in 1956. Afterwards, he studied painting, first in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and then at the

Hochschule der Künste The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

in Berlin, also doing German Studies at Berlin's Freie Universität. Beginning in 1964, he lived in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, working as a freelance artist and writer. In 1965 he married his first wife, Almut Gernhardt, née Ulrich, who died in 1989. In 1990 he married his second wife, Almut Gehebe. Since purchasing a house in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

in 1972, he regularly spent many months in Italy. In 1996 he had to undergo a multiple bypass operation and, in 2002, he was diagnosed with

Colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

, which he succumbed to in 2006.

Work

Robert Gernhardt was a regular contributor to the satirical magazine ''

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

'', where he edited the section ''Welt im Spiegel'' ("World in the Mirror") with F. K. Waechter and F. W. Bernstein, using the pseudonym ''Lützel Jeman'' until 1971. Gernhardt co-founded the satirical magazine ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' in 1979. He was a member of the so-called

Neue Frankfurter Schule Neue Frankfurter Schule (NFS, New Frankfurt School) is a group of writers and artists which was founded by former members of the editorial staff of the German satirical magazine ''Pardon (magazine), pardon''. They have published the magazine ''Tita ...

(New Frankfurt School) together with artists like Waechter, , and . Gernhardt's satirical style combines social critique with a self-consciously irreverential attitude to cultural and literary traditions. His poetry and prose are situated within the comic traditions of

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

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 ...

and the urban poetry of

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

and

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

. Gernhardt's poems, which frequently produce their comic effects through play with language and sound as well as through playfully quoting literary tradition, have become part of public consciousness in Germany. During the '70s and '80s, he wrote material for

Otto Waalkes Otto Gerhard Waalkes (born 22 July 1948), also known as simply Otto, is a German comedian, actor, musician, writer, and comic book artist. He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s in Germany with his shows, books and films. His best known tradema ...

, one of Germany's most popular comedians. A lot of Waalkes' most famous routines were written by Gernhardt, often in collaboration with and . In 2006, shortly before his death, he was the Writer in Residence at the German department of the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. He died on 30 June 2006 in

am Main, after a long fight against cancer, aged 68. In 2009 a CD-ROM with the title: ''der ton im wörtersee'' was published in the German language.

Awards

He won the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

in 1983 and the Kassel Literary Prize in 1991. He won the

Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis () is a literary award in Augsburg, Germany, birthplace of Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre pract ...

in 1998, and the

Rheingau Literatur Preis Rheingau Literatur Preis is a literary prize of Hesse. It is awarded annually since 1994 by the which follows the Rheingau Musik Festival. An author is awarded whose prose gained the attention of the literary critics ("") The prize of 11,111 Eu ...

in 2002. In 2004 he was awarded the

Heinrich Heine Prize Heinrich Heine Prize refers to three different awards named in honour of the 19th-century German poet Heinrich Heine, Christian Johann Heinrich Heine: * ''Heinrich Heine prize of Düsseldorf'' * ''Heinrich Heine prize of the Ministry for Culture'' ...

, and in 2006, the Wilhelm Busch Prize. The state-owned bank Helaba is sponsoring an award named after Gernhardt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gernhardt, Robert 1937 births 2006 deaths Artists from Tallinn People of Baltic German descent German satirists 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century German male artists Academics of the University of Warwick Deaths from cancer in Germany Burials at Frankfurt Main Cemetery German male poets 20th-century German poets German humorous poets German satirical poets German draughtsmen German-language poets 20th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart alumni

Life

Work

Awards

See also

References