:''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel ''

Simplicius Simplicissimus ''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' () is a picaresque novel of the lower Baroque style, written in five books by German author Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen published in 1668, with the sequel ''Continuatio'' appearing in 1669. Inspired b ...

'' and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

weekly

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, founded by

Albert Langen Albert Langen (8 July 1869 – 30 April 1909) was a German publisher and founder of the satirical publication ''Simplicissimus''. Early years Langen was, after Martha and Martin, the third of four children born to Antwerp industrialist Friedrich ...

in April 1896 and headquartered in Munich. It was interrupted by a hiatus from 1944–1954, became a biweekly in 1964, and ceased publication in 1967. ''Simplicissimus'' took its name from the protagonist of

Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621/22 – 17 August 1676) was one of the most notable German authors of the 17th century. He is best known for his 1669 picaresque novel ''Simplicius Simplicissimus'' () and the accompanying ''Simplic ...

's 1668 novel '' Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch'', which is regarded as the first

adventure novel Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the introduction to the ''Encycloped ...

in the German language and the first German novel masterpiece. Combining brash and politically daring content with a bright, immediate, and surprisingly modern graphic style, ''Simplicissimus'' published the work of writers such as

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

and

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

. Its most reliable targets for caricature were stiff

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n military figures and rigid German social and class distinctions, as seen from the more relaxed, liberal atmosphere of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Contributors included

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

Gustav Meyrink Gustav Meyrink (19 January 1868 – 4 December 1932) was the pseudonym of Gustav Meyer, an Austrian author, novelist, dramatist, translator, and banker, most famous for his novel ''The Golem (Meyrink novel), The Golem''. He has been described as ...

, Fanny zu Reventlow, Jakob Wassermann,

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the developme ...

, Heinrich Kley,

Alfred Kubin Alfred Leopold Isidor Kubin (10 April 1877 – 20 August 1959) was an Austrian artist, printmaker, illustrator, and occasional writer. Kubin is considered an important representative of Symbolism and Expressionism. Biography Kubin was born i ...

, Otto Nückel, Robert Walser, Heinrich Zille,

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, libretto, librettist, Poetry, poet, Playwdramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, th ...

Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; March 27, 1871 – March 11, 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German writer known for his sociopolitical novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...

, Lessie Sachs, and

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...

. Although the magazine's satirical nature was largely indulged by the German government, an 1898 cover mocking Kaiser Wilhelm's pilgrimage to Israel resulted in the issue being confiscated. Langen, the publisher, spent five years' exile in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and was fined 30,000 German gold marks. A six-month prison sentence was given to the cartoonist Thomas Theodor Heine and seven months to the writer

. All the defendants were charged with "insulting a royal majesty." Again, in 1906, the editor Ludwig 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 into

World War I 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 ...

, 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 artists

George Grosz George Grosz (; ; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Obj ...

and

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born Schmidt; 8 July 186722 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ''The Peasa ...

(who were both contributors) and

John Heartfield John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968) was a German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. Heartfield a ...

. 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. During the Weimar era, the magazine continued to publish and took a strong stand against extremists on the left and on the right. (A

gallery of cartoons posing the question "What Does Hitler Look Like?" was published on the second page of its 5-28-1923 issue, as there were then no publicly available photographs of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

.) As the National Socialists gradually came to power, they issued verbal accusations, attacks, threats, and personal intimidation against the artists and writers of ''Simplicissimus'', but they did not ban it. The editor, Thomas Theodor Heine, a Jew, was forced to resign and went into exile. Other members of the team, including Karl Arnold, Olaf Gulbransson, Edward Thöny, Erich Schilling, and Wilhelm Schulz, remained and toed the Nazi party line, for which they were rewarded by the Nazis. The magazine adopted an aggressive satirical approach towards the Jews during this period, in line with the Nazi magazine '' Die Brennessel''. ''Simplicissimus'' continued publishing, in declining form, until finally ceasing publication in 1944. It was revived from 1954–1967. Other graphic artists associated with the magazine included

Bruno Paul Bruno Paul (19 January 1874 – 17 August 1968) was a German architect, illustrator, interior designer, and furniture designer. Trained as a painter in the royal academy just as the Munich Secession developed against academic art, he first ca ...

, Josef Benedikt Engl, Rudolf Wilke, Ferdinand von Reznicek, Joseph Sattler, and Jeanne Mammen.

Gallery

File:Angelo Jank Otto Erich Hartleben Grübchen Simplicissimus 1896.jpg, Illustration from 1896 File:Plakat Heine - Simplicissimus 1896.jpg, Cover from 1896. Art by Thomas Theodor Heine. File:Hans Rossmann - Simplicissimus Nr. 04, 1898.jpg, Cartoon from 1898. Art by Hans Rossmann. File:Simplicissimus Künstler-Kneipe und Kathi Kobus. Herausgegeben vom Hausdichter Hans Bötticher. München, Selbstverlag 1909.jpg, ''Simplicissimus Künstler-Kneipe und Kathi Kobus. Herausgegeben vom Hausdichter Hans Bötticher'', cover from 1909, with the magazine's iconic bulldog designed by Thomas Theodor Heine File:Badenummer, Simplicissimus Titelseite 1913, Privatbesitz.jpg, Cover from 1913. Art by Brynolf Wennerberg. File:Otto Lendecke Simplicissimus 1917 Seite 333.jpg, Illustration from 1917. Art by Otto Lendecke. File:Erich Schilling – Hunger und Tod (Hunger and Death) Simplicissimus No. 34 Nov. 19 1923 Satirical cartoon No known copyright (low-res).jpg, Cartoon from 1923. Art by Erich Schilling.

Notes

External links

Simplicissimus.info
Digital archive of back issues from 1896–1944
An academic appreciation of several of its notable illustrators

What Does Hitler Look Like? A satirical gallery from the 5-28-23 105-116 issue, early in Hitler's political career, when there were no publicly available photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simplicissimus 1896 establishments in Germany 1967 disestablishments in West Germany Biweekly magazines published in Germany Defunct magazines published in Germany Magazines disestablished in 1967 Magazines established in 1896 Magazines published in Munich Satirical magazines published in Germany Visual arts magazines published in Germany Weekly magazines published in Germany Weimar culture

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links