Several years ago I found an amusing greetings card to give for an anniversary and was particularly pleased to see that it was by a German artist, Heinrich Zille (1858-1929), taken from the cover of his book Rund um’s Freibad. My interest in Zille deepened during a visit to Berlin when I discovered a museum dedicated to him. There was a large element of humour in his work, and as it is some time since our blog post dedicated to German humour, now feels like a good time to revisit this theme, looking at relevant works in the UL’s collections. Zille was a keen observer of the harsh realities of everyday life as well, so this post will also cover this more serious side to his work, shown in both his art and photography.

Zille was born in Saxony but moved to Berlin as a child and spent the rest of his life there. He trained and worked as a lithographer but also had artistic training which was put to good use later, especially during the last twenty years of his life when he worked as a freelance artist after losing his lithography job. In the early 20th century he contributed to the satirical magazine Simplicissimus (available to view online; find him in the Personenliste to see his illustrations). He was a popular artist during his lifetime and indeed Mein Milljöh: neue Bilder aus dem Berliner Leben (S404:23.c.9.32) which came out in 1914 was a bestselling book. Its illustrations are fine examples of his humorous style, accompanied by witty captions, but many are also honest depictions of the misery of working-class life, something he was very familiar with. Click on the images to see enlarged versions along with translations of the captions:

Cover

A blind man saying that everything he heard in Friedrichstrasse might make him laugh if his eyes didn’t hurt so much

On being told not to eat bread the patient says “Well, I don’t have any money to buy any anyway”

Daddy will be pleased when he comes out of prison that there are so many of us

In the tram a nice man comments on little Oskar’s fat legs to which Oskar proudly replies “You should see my Mum’s”

Some people dismissed Zille as too light-hearted and lightweight to be a proper serious artist. Nevertheless he gained recognition from fellow artists. Max Liebermann, president of the Prussian Academy of Arts and a friend of Zille’s, thought highly of him and nominated him for membership of the Academy in 1924. In the same year Liebermann wrote an introduction to Zille’s Berliner Geschichten und Bilder (our copy is a later 1930 edition: S404:23.b.9.85) describing him as a master. This book and its sequel Zwischen Spree und Panke: neue Folge der Berliner Geschichten und Bilder (S404:23.b.9.86) have more sketches showing both the funny and grim sides of everyday life in Berlin. Again, click on the images to see enlarged versions and translations:

Berlin heads

“Minister, don’t worry, I’m not tired, I can certainly shave with my eyes closed”

You can take a raisin but don’t get a fly

Zille’s popularity in later life is evidenced by his inclusion in the series Graphiker der Gegenwart. The volume dedicated to him (9400.d.3021) is a slim book containing black and white plates with an eye-catching cover. His 70th birthday was celebrated in 1928 with a museum exhibition, and shortly afterwards he collaborated with the journalist Hans Ostwald on Das Zillebuch (S404:23.d.9.6), which aimed to represent his complete works and the person behind them, showing many pictures for the first time. Ostwald also worked with one of Zille’s sons on a book published the year after his death, Zille’s Vermächtnis (S404:23.d.9.3).

S404:23.d.9.6

S404:23.d.9.3

Zille’s photographs have come to light more recently and have been featured in a number of books and exhibitions. See Photographien Berlin, 1890-1910 edited by Winfried Ranke (S570.c.97.27) and Heinrich Zille: das alte Berlin : Photographien 1890-1910 by Matthias Flügge (9008.c.2296). An exhibition was held in Berlin in 2008, celebrating 150 years since Zille’s birth. The accompanying catalogue, H. Zille: Berliner Leben; Zeichnungen, Photographien und Druckgraphiken1890-1914, places corresponding artwork and photographs alongside each other, yet again demonstrating his precise powers of observation.

A similar approach was taken in the 2010 exhibition and accompanying book Nahsicht: Käthe Kollwitz, Heinrich Zille (S950.b.200.4627) with the early graphic work of Käthe Kollwitz being presented in dialogue with photos by Zille. This seems appropriate as the two often explored the same themes of deprivation, featuring marginalised characters. This is not the first time that the work of these two artists has been paired together – they were the joint subjects of a 1930 book (S404:23.b.9.76) in the Zeichner des Volkes series. And in the same series, in a work devoted to just Zille (S404:23.b.9.89), Kollwitz wrote of her friend:

Der ist weder Humorist für Witzblätter noch Satiriiker. Er ist restlos Künstler. Ein paar Linien, ein paar Striche, ein wenig Farbe mitunter – und es sind Meisterwerke.

(He is neither a humorist nor a satirist, but entirely an artist. A few lines, a few strokes, a little colour sometimes – and they are masterpieces.)

Katharine Dicks

For more detail of Zille’s life see Zille und seine Zeit: “Heinrich, lieber Heinrich!” by Geerte Murmann (404:23.c.95.20)