Wilhelm Busch

Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (Apr 15, 1832 - Jan 9, 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator and painter He published comic illustrated cautionary tales from 1859, achieving his most notable works in the 1870s Busch's illustrations used wood engraving, and later, zincography

Busch drew on contemporary parochial and city life, satirizing Catholicism, Philistinism, strict religious morality and bigotry His comic text was colourful and entertaining, using onomatopoeia, neologisms and other figures of speech, and led to some work being banned by the authorities

Busch was influential in both poetry and illustration, and became a source for future generations of comic artists The Katzenjammer Kids was inspired by Busch's Max and Moritz, one of a number of imitations produced in Germany and the United States The Wilhelm Busch Prize and the Wilhelm Busch Museum help maintain his legacy His 175th anniversary in 2007 was celebrated throughout Germany Busch remains one of the most influential poets and artists in Western Europe

In the late 18th century Johann Georg Kleine, Wilhelm Busch's maternal grandfather, settled in the small village of Wiedensahl There, in 1817, he bought a thatched half-timbered house, where Wilhelm Busch was to be born about 15 years later Amalie Kleine, Johann's wife and Wilhelm Busch's grandmother, kept a shop in which Busch's mother Henriette assisted while her two brothers attended high school When Johann Georg Kleine died in 1820, his widow continued to run the shop with Henriette

At the age of 19 Henriette Kleine married surgeon Friedrich Wilhelm Stümpe Henriette became widowed at the age of 26, with her three children to Stümpe dying as infants About 1830 Friedrich Wilhelm Busch, the illegitimate son of a farmer, settled in Wiedensahl after completing a business apprenticeship in the nearby village of Loccum He took over the Kleine shop in Wiedensahl, which he completely modernised

Wilhelm Busch was born on 15 April 1832, the first of seven children to the marriage of Henriette Kleine and Friedrich Wilhelm Busch His six siblings followed shortly after: Fanny (1834), Gustav (1836), Adolf (1838), Otto (1841), Anna (1843) and Hermann (1845); all survived childhood His parents were ambitious, hard-working and devout Protestants who later, despite becoming relatively prosperous, could not afford to educate all three sons Busch's biographer Berndt W Wessling suggested that Friedrich Wilhelm Busch invested heavily in his sons' education partly because his own illegitimacy held significant stigma in rural areas

The young Wilhelm Busch was a tall child, but with a rather delicate and graceful physique The coarse boyishness of his later protagonists "Max and Moritz" was rare in his childhood He described himself in autobiographical sketches and letters as sensitive and timid, as someone who "carefully studied apprehension", and who reacted with fascination, compassion and distress when animals were killed in the autumn He described the "transformation to sausage" as "dreadfully compelling", leaving a lasting impression; pork nauseated him throughout his life

In the autumn of 1841, after the birth of his brother Otto, Busch's education was entrusted to the 35-year-old clergyman Georg Kleine, his maternal uncle at Ebergötzen, this probably through lack of space in the Busch family home, and his father's desire for a better education than the small local school could provide, where 100 children were taught within a space of 66 m2 (710 sq ft) The nearest convenient school was located in Bückeburg, 20 km (12 mi) from Wiedensahl Kleine, with his wife Fanny Petri, lived in a rectory at Ebergötzen, while Busch was lodged with an unrelated family Kleine and his wife were responsible and caring, exercised a substitute parental role, and provided refuge for him in future unsuccessful times

Kleine's private lessons for Busch were also attended by Erich Bachmann, the son of a wealthy Ebergötzen miller Both became friends, according to Busch the strongest friendship of his childhood This friendship was echoed in the 1865 story Max and Moritz A small pencil portrait by the 14-year-old Busch depicted Bachmann as a chubby, confident boy, and showed similarities with Max Busch portrayed himself with a "cowlick", in the later "Moritzian" perky style

Kleine was a philologist, his lessons not held in contemporary language, and it is not known for certain all subjects Busch and his friend were taught Busch did learn elementary arithmetic from his uncle, although science lessons might have been more comprehensive, as Kleine, like many other clergymen, was a beekeeper, and published essays and textbooks on the subject — Busch demonstrated his knowledge of bee-keeping in his future stories Drawing, and German and English poetry, were also taught by Kleine

Busch had little contact with his natural parents during this period At the time, the 165 km (103 mi) journey between Wiedensahl and Ebergötzen took three days by horse His father visited Ebergötzen two to three times a year, while his mother stayed in Wiedensahl to look after the children The 12-year-old Busch visited his family once; his mother at first did not recognize him Some Busch biographers think that this early separation from his parents, especially from his mother, resulted in his eccentric bachelorhood In the autumn of 1846, Busch moved with the Kleine's to Lüthorst, where, on 11 April 1847, he was confirmed

In September 1847 Busch began studying mechanical engineering at Hanover Polytechnic Busch's biographers are not in agreement as to why his Hanover education ended; most believe that his father had little appreciation of his son's artistic inclination Biographer Eva Weissweiler suspects that Kleine played a major role, and that other possible causes were Busch's friendship with an innkeeper, Brümmer, political debates in Brümmer's tavern, and Busch's reluctance to believe every word of the Bible and catechism

Busch studied for nearly four years at Hanover, despite initial difficulties in understanding the subject matter A few months before graduation he confronted his parents with his aspiration to study at the Düsseldorf Art Academy According to Bush's nephew Hermann Nöldeke, his mother supported this inclination His father eventually acquiesced and Busch moved to Düsseldorf in June 1851, where, to his disappointment at not being admitted to the advanced class, he entered preparatory classes Busch's parents had his tuition fees paid for one year, so in May 1852 he traveled to Antwerp to continue study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts under Josephus Laurentius Dyckmans He led his parents to believe that the Academy was less regimented than Düsseldorf, and had the opportunity to study old masters At Antwerp he saw for the first time paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Adriaen Brouwer, David Teniers and Frans Hals The pictures aroused his interest, but made him doubt his own skills Eventually, in 1853, after suffering heavily from typhus, he abandoned his Antwerp studies and returned penniless to Wiedensahl

Busch was ravaged by disease, and for five months spent time painting and collecting folk tales, legends, songs, ballads, rhymes and fragments of regional superstitions Busch's biographer Joseph Kraus saw these collections as useful additions to folklore, as Busch noted the narrative background to tales and the idiosyncrasies of storytellers Busch tried to release the collections, but as a publisher could not be found at the time they were issued after his death During the Nazi era Busch was known as an "ethnic seer"

After Busch had spent six months with his uncle Kleine at Lüthorst, he expressed an aim to continue study in Munich This request caused a rift with his father who, however, eventually funded this move; - see for comparison Busch's illustrated story of Painter Klecksel Busch's expectations of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts were not met His life became aimless; there were occasional return visits to Lüthorst, but contact with his parents had been broken off In 1857 and 1858, as his position seemed to be without prospects, he contemplated emigration to Brazil to keep bees

Busch made contact with the artist association Jung München (Young Munich), met several notable Munich artists, and wrote and provided cartoons for the Jung München newspaper Kaspar Braun, who published the satirical newspapers Münchener Bilderbogen (Picture Sheets from Munich) and Fliegende Blätter (Flying Leaves), proposed a collaboration with Busch This association provided Busch with sufficient funds to live An existing self-caricature suggests that at this time he had an intense relationship with a woman from Ammerland His courtship with a seventeen-year-old merchant's daughter, Anna Richter, whom Busch met through his brother Gustav, ended in 1862 Busch's biographer, Diers, suggests that her father probably refused to entrust his daughter to an almost unknown artist without regular income

In his early Munich years Busch's attempts to write libretti, which are almost forgotten today, were unsuccessful Up to 1863 he worked on two or three major works; the third was composed by Georg Kremplsetzer Busch's Liebestreu und Grausamkeit, a romantic opera in three acts, Hansel und Gretel and Der Vetter auf Besuch, an opera buffa of sorts, were not particularly successful There was a dispute between Busch and Kremplsetzer during the staging of Der Vetter auf Besuch, leading to the removal of Busch's name from the production; the piece was renamed Singspiel von Georg Kremplsetzer

In 1873 Busch returned several times to Munich, and took part in the intense life of the Munich Art Society as an escape from provincial life In 1877, in a last attempt to be a serious artist, he took a studio in Munich He left Munich abruptly in 1881, after he disrupted a variety show and subsequently made a scene through the effects of alcohol The 1878 nine episode illustrated tale Eight Sheets in the Wind describes how humans behave like animals when drunk Busch's biographer Weissweiler felt the story was only superficially funny and harmless, but was a study on addiction and its induced state of delusion

Between 1860 and 1863 Busch wrote over one hundred articles for the Münchener Bilderbogen and Fliegende Blätter, but he felt his dependence on publisher Kaspar Braun had become constricting Busch appointed Dresden publisher Heinrich Richter, the son of Saxon painter Ludwig Richter, as his new publisher — Richter's press up to that time was producing children's books and religious Christian devotional literature Busch could choose themes, although Richter raised some concerns regarding four suggested illustrated tales that were proposed However, some were published in the 1864 as Bilderpossen, proving a failure Busch then offered Richter the manuscripts of Max and Moritz, waiving any fees Richter rejected the manuscript as sales prospects seemed poor Busch's former publisher, Braun, purchased the right to Max and Moritz for 1,000 gulden, corresponding to approximately double the annual wage of a craftsman

For Braun the manuscript was fortuitous Initially the sales of Max and Moritz were slow, but sales figures improved after the 1868 second edition Overall there were 56 editions and more than 430,000 copies sold up to Busch's death in 1908 Despite at first being ignored by critics, teachers in the 1870s described Max and Moritz as frivolous and an undesirable influence on the moral development of young people

Increasing economic success allowed Busch to visit Wiedensahl more frequently Busch had decided to leave Munich, as only few relatives lived there, and the artists' association was temporarily disbanded In June 1867 Busch met his brother Otto for the first time, in Frankfurt Otto was working as a tutor to the family of a wealthy banker and industrialist, Kessler Busch became friends with Kessler's wife, Johanna, a mother of seven and an influential art and music patron of Frankfurt She regularly opened salons at her villa, frequented by artists, musicians and philosophers She believed Busch to be a great painter, a view supported by Anton Burger, a leading painter of the Kronberger Malerkolonie, the Kronberg-based group of painters While his humorous drawings did not appeal to her, she supported his painting career At first she established an apartment and studio for Busch in her villa, later providing him with an apartment nearby Motivated by Kessler's support and admiration, and introduction to the cultural life of Frankfurt, the 'Frankfurter Years' were the most artistically productive for Busch At this time he and Otto discovered the philosophical works of Arthur Schopenhauer

Busch did not remain in Frankfurt Towards the end of the 1860s he alternated between Wiedensahl and Lüthorst, and Wolfenbüttel where his brother Gustav lived The association with Johanna Kessler lasted five years, and after his return to Wiedensahl in 1872 they communicated by letter This contact was interrupted between 1877 and 1891, after which it was revived with the help of Kessler's daughters

Biographer Weissweiler does not dismiss the possibility that Busch's increasing alcohol dependence hindered self-criticism He refused invitations to parties, and publisher Otto Basserman sent him to Wiedensahl to keep his alcohol problem undetected from those around him Busch was also a heavy smoker, resulting in symptoms of severe nicotine poisoning in 1874 He began to illustrate drunkards more often

Dutch writer Marie Anderson corresponded with Busch More than fifty letters were exchanged between January and October 1875 in which they discussed philosophy, religion and ethics Although only one Anderson letter survives, Busch's letters are in manuscripts They met in Mainz in October 1875, after which he returned to Basserman at Heidelback in a "horrible mood" According to several people at the time, Busch's failure to find a wife was responsible for his conspicuous behaviour There is no evidence that Busch had a close relationship with any woman after that with Anderson

Busch lived with his sister Fanny's family after her husband Pastor Hermann Nöldeke's death in 1879 His nephew Adolf Nöldeke remembers that Busch wanted to move back to Wiedensahl with the family Busch renovated the house, which Fanny looked after even though he was a rich man, and became "father" to his three young nephews She would, however, have preferred to live in a more urban area for the education of her sons For Fanny and her three sons, Busch could not replace their former idyllic life The years around 1880 were psychically and emotionally exhausting for Busch, who was still reliant on alcohol He would not invite visitors to Wiedensahl; because of this Fanny lost contact with her friends in the village, and whenever she questioned his wishes, Busch became furious; Even his friends Otto Friedrich Bassermann, Franz von Lenbach, Hermann Levi and Wilhelm von Kaulbach were not invited; he would meet them in Kassel or Hanover

Busch stopped painting in 1896 and signed-over all publication rights to Bassermann Verlag for 50,000 gold marks Busch, now aged 64, felt old He needed spectacles for writing and painting, and his hands trembled slightly In 1898, together with his aging sister Fanny Nöldeke, he accepted Bassermann's suggestion to move into a large parsonage in Mechtshausen Busch read biographies, novels and stories in German, English and French He organized his works and wrote letters and poems Most of the poems from the collections Schein und Sein and Zu guter Letzt were written in 1899 The following years were eventless for Busch He developed a sore throat in early January 1908, and his doctor detected a weak heart During the night of 8–9 January 1908 Busch slept uneasily, taking camphor, and a few drops of morphine as a tranquilizer Busch died the following morning before his physician, called by Otto Nöldeke, came to assist

The first biography on Busch, Über Wilhelm Busch und seine Bedeutung (About Wilhelm Busch and His Importance), was released in 1886 The publisher Eduard Daelen, also an artist and writer, echoed Busch's anti-Catholic bias, putting him on equal footing with Leonardo da Vinci, Peter Paul Rubens and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and uncritically quoting correspondences Even Busch and his friends were embarrassed Literary scholar Friedrich Theodor Vischer attacked Daelen's biography and called him the "envious eunuch of the desiccated Philistine" After reading this biography Johannes Proelß posted an essay in the Frankfurter Zeitung, which contained many biographical falsehoods — as a response to this, Busch wrote two articles in the same newspaper Published in October and December 1886, the autobiographical essay Regarding Myself (Was Mich Betrifft) includes basic facts, and some description of his troubles; analysts see within the essay a deep identity crisis Busch revised his autobiography over the following years The last such essay was published under the title From Me About Me (Von mir über mich), which includes fewer biographical details and less reflection on bitterness and amusement than Regarding Myself

Busch celebrated his 70th anniversary at his nephew's house in Hattorf am Harz Over 1,000 congratulatory messages were sent to Mechtshausen from around the world Wilhelm II praised the poet and artist, whose "exquisite works are full of genuine humour and are everlasting for the German people" The Austrian Alldeutsche Vereinigung (Pan-German Association) repealed the ban on Der heilige Antonius von Padua Verlag Braun & Schneider, who owned the rights of Max and Moritz, gave Busch 20,000 Reichsmark (around €200,000 or $270,000), which was donated to two hospitals in Hanover

Since then, on the dates of his birth and death, he has been celebrated frequently During the 175th anniversary in 2007, there were numerous re-publications of Busch works Deutsche Post issued stamps depicting the Busch character Hans Huckebein — itself the inspiration for the nickname of the never-built Focke-Wulf Ta 183 German jet fighter design of 1945 — and the German Republic minted a 10 Euro silver coin faced with his portrait Hanover declared 2007 the "Wilhelm Busch Year", with images featuring Busch works erected within the city centre

The Wilhelm Busch Prize is awarded annually for satirical and humorous poetry The Wilhelm Busch Society, active since 1930, aims to "() collect, scientifically revise and promote Wilhelm Busch's works with the public" It supports the development of caricature and satirical artwork as a recognized branch of the visual arts It is an advocate of the Wilhelm Busch Museum Memorials are located in places he lived, including Wiedensahl, Ebergötzen, Lüthorst, Mechtshausen and Hattorf am Harz

Influence on comics:
Andreas C Knigge described Busch as the "first virtuoso" of illustrated stories From the second half of the 20th century he was considered the "Forefather of Comics" His early illustrations differ from those of the colleagues of Kaspar Braun They show an increasing focus on protagonists, are less detailed in drawing and atmosphere, and develop from a dramatic understanding of the whole story All Busch's illustrated tales have a plot that firstly describes the circumstance, then a resulting conflict, then solution Plots are developed through consecutive scenes, similar to film storyboards Busch conveys an impression of movement and action, at times strengthened through a change of perspective According to Gert Ueding, his depiction of movement is unique

One of Busch's notable stories is Der Virtuos (1865), which describes the life of a pianist who plays privately for an excited listener Satirizing the self-publicizing artist's attitude and his overblown adoration, it varies from Busch's other stories as each scene does not contain prose, but is defined with music terminology, such as "Introduzione", "Maestoso" and "Fortissimo vivacissimo" As the scenes increase in tempo, each part of his body and lappet run around The penultimate scene again depicts the pianist's movements, with score sheets floating above the grand piano on which musical notes are dancing Over the years graphic artists have been fascinated by Der Virtuos August Macke, in a letter to gallery owner Herwarth Walden, described Busch as the first Futurist, stating how well he captured time and movement Similar pioneering scenes are in Bilder zur Jobsiade (1872) Job fails to answer rather easy questions set by twelve clergy, who shake their heads in synchronicity Each scene is a movement study that presages Eadweard Muybridge's photography Muybridge began his work in 1872, not released until 1893

"Moritzian" influence:
Busch's greatest success, both within Germany and internationally, was with Max and Moritz: Up to the time of his death it was translated into English, Danish, Hebrew, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Hungarian, Swedish and Walloonian Several countries banned the story – about 1929 the Styrian school board prohibited sales of Max and Moritz to teens under eighteen By 1997 more than 281 dialect and language translations had been produced

Some early "Moritzian" comic strips were heavily influenced by Busch in plot and narrative style Tootle and Bootle (1896), borrowed so much content from Max and Moritz that it was described as a pirate edition The true "Moritzian" recreation is The Katzenjammer Kids by German artist Rudolph Dirks, published in the New York Journal from 1897 It was published though William Randolph Hearst's suggestion that a pair of siblings following the pattern of "Max and Moritz" should be created The Katzenjammer Kids is regarded as one of the oldest, continuous comic strips

German "Moritzian"-inspired stories include Lies und Lene; die Schwestern von Max und Moritz (Hulda Levetzow, F Maddalena, 1896), Schlumperfritz und Schlamperfranz (1922), Sigismund und Waldemar, des Max und Moritz Zwillingspaar (Walther Günther, 1932) and Mac und Mufti (Thomas Ahlers, Volker Dehs, 1987) These are shaped by observations of the First and Second World Wars, while the original is a moral story In 1958 the Christian Democratic Union used the Max and Moritz characters for a campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia, the same year that the East German satirical magazine Eulenspiegel used them to caricature black labour In 1969 Max and Moritz "participated" in late 1960s student activism
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