Heinz muscle

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Heinz Wilhelm Richard Musculus (born October 31, 1917 in Wesenberg (Mecklenburg) , † May 26, 1976 in Berlin ) was a German caricaturist , draftsman and illustrator .

Life and work

Childhood, youth

Heinz Musculus
Jugendbild (engraving)

Heinz Musculus's parents were locksmith Richard Wilhelm August Musculus (born November 2, 1892 in Berlin) and Frida Luise Karoline, nee. Bruhne (born November 27, 1893 in Wesenberg). Heinz Musculus, born there on October 31, 1917 and baptized with the name Heinz Wilhelm Richard on December 26, 1917, was his father's only child.

In 1923 the family moved to Berlin, where Heinz Musculus started school. The first documented drawings date from 1930. In his youth, it is the image of man that is expressed in fine pencil drawings of his two grandmothers and also in the first studies of nudes - depictions of human character and human beauty. Until 1935 Heinz Musculus attended the graphic technical school Andrasstraße in Berlin. Heinz Musculus was refused the planned art course because a professor had found his entrance examination paper - a drawn sheet - not to be good enough. From 1935 onwards, Heinz Musculus attended the “Höhere Reichswerbeschule” in Berlin-Schöneberg on Wittenbergplatz, where he obtained a diploma for exhibition and trade fair construction.

Second World War

Heinz Musculus spent the Second World War with the armored forces of the German Wehrmacht . Due to a minor injury, Heinz Musculus was transferred from Poland to Prague, which was already occupied, where he worked as a personal motorcyclist for General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim . There followed transfers and a. to occupied Denmark. When Heinz Musculus was captured by US troops in the spring of 1945, World War II ended. During his short-term imprisonment in West Germany, Heinz Musculus worked as a courier for the Americans; after his release he returned to Berlin.

First post-war years

The experiences of World War II then open his senses to the misery of the post-war period. From 1945 onwards, people's material need and emotional despair were depicted in detailed pen drawings such as “Victory”, “The Crucifixion”, “The Hotel of the Hour”, “The Hunger” and “The Refugees”. Nevertheless, the humor is not neglected, as for example in the drawing “The Living U-Bahn”. Heinz Musculus, who is now living in Berlin-Friedrichshain again , has been working as a cartoonist in Berlin since 1945 . a. he portrays individual members of the Soviet Army . In December 1952, Heinz Musculus was given a new apartment in Stalinallee, today Frankfurter Allee 4.

1952-1953 differences with “communist” functionaries; thereafter no further publications until 1954.

Later post-war period

Heinz Musculus
(engraving)

With increasing distance from the war, other issues come to the fore: the familiar human inadequacies, the pursuit of money, goods and privileges (“Der Aufstieg”), which resulted in animal murder (“The tragedy of the animals”), strife (“Escape”) and - in anticipation of later times - the destruction of nature (“The Environmental Tragedy I-III”). But the amiable side of human weaknesses are never neglected, for example when the bottle becomes the only truth of alcoholics (“The Alcohol”) or a poor drunkard joins “The Wrong Queue”.

From 1961 to 1965 Heinz Musculus worked in the cartoonist group “ Die 5 ”, an association of the five cartoonists Artur Grimmer , Heinz Musculus, Henryk Berg , Herbert Böhnke and Herbert Reschke initiated by the East German “Unity Union FDGB ” . The drawings of this group dealt with v. a. professional, operational, everyday sporting and political topics. With a twinkle in his eye, Heinz Musculus caricatured people's everyday lives and published around 50 current caricatures on work and business in company and district newspapers between 1961 and 1965 . The drawings of the group “The 5” were made available to all company and district newspapers, who could use and publish them as required. Often this happened with a considerable delay, probably also with the caricature by Heinz Musculus published in 1968 in the company newspaper “Neues Schaffen” of the LEW Hennigsdorf. The group's signet “Die 5” was a nib with a black handle and a white “5” on it and the name underneath. In 1965, Heinz Musculus terminated his collaboration in this cartoonist group because there were disagreements and he did not want to be forced to draw political propaganda caricatures.

In 1967 Heinz Musculus married Genunea Dimitrovici from Chernivtsi in Berlin-Friedrichshain .

West Berlin

In July 1975, Heinz and Genunea Musculus did not return to Berlin from an approved stay and finally moved into an apartment in the West Berlin district of Kreuzberg . On May 26th, 1976 Heinz Musculus opened his first exhibition in West Berlin ( Berlin-Frohnau ). Immediately afterwards, on the way from the gallery to a restaurant , Heinz Musculus dies as a result of a pulmonary embolism .

Overall characteristics

The artistic work of Heinz Musculus is a plea for humanity in the best sense. As a matter of course, this plea is shaped again and again by crowds in which everything occurs: gruffness, cheerfulness, delight, frivolity, herd instinct, the critical looks and the always critically eyed individualists in the crowd.

Services

Heinz Musculus founded the Association of Visual Artists (VBK) in Berlin-Charlottenburg (Schlueterstrasse) in 1948, together with three other draftsmen.

plant

Individual drawings

  • Pen and ink drawing Oppressed Europe . Berlin 1945.

German television broadcasting

  • Rapid draftsman in the DFF television series “Sport and Music” in Berlin-Adlershof from 1957 to 1961.

Book illustrations

  • Animal illustrations of the story How the hedgehog saved world peace in the children's book Stachelwanst (4th edition, Berlin-Reinickendorf 1948) with seven animal drawings.
  • Illustrations for the book by Werner Bauer: Toi, toi, toi - Antonius . Berlin 1956.
  • Illustrations for the book by Hanns Krause: That had to happen to us! . Berlin 1956.
  • Illustrations for the book by Hanns Krause: Shots in the forest . Berlin 1956.
  • Illustration of the three children's books Bear Hunt in Tulpenau (1958), The Boys from Grützebartstrasse (1958) and About Poachers, Butter Cream Tarts and Restless Ghosts (1959); Cover pictures in color, book content in black and white. Children's book series “Bunte Bären-Bücher”, Berlin 1958 and 1959.
  • Children's book The great hit ; Cover picture in color, book content in black and white. Published as part of the children's book series Robinson's cheap books , Volume 56. Berlin 1960.
  • Illustrations for the book by Hanns Krause: From slings, pancakes and young dogs . Published as part of the children's book series Robinson's cheap books , Volume 84. Berlin 1966.

Cartoons in newspapers and magazines

  • Satirical magazine Frischer Wind . Berlin, April 1946.
  • Daily newspaper BZ am Mittag , Berlin, in numerous editions from 1946.
  • Nachtexpress magazine , Berlin, from around 1946.
  • Magazine Berliner Illustrierte , Berlin, from about 1946th
  • Youth magazine Junge Welt . Berlin, November 10, 1946 and from 1954 to 1959.
  • FDGB publication Die Arbeit . Berlin, from around 1946.
  • Magazine range expansion . VEB expansion. Berlin, from around 1946.
  • Journal Museums of the VVB Chemie . VVB chemistry. Berlin, from around 1946.
  • New Germany newspaper . Berlin, from 1946 to 1952.
  • Daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung . Berlin, from 1947 (e.g. on July 26, 1947, January 10, 1951 and September 8, 1951).
  • Leprechaun humor magazine . Berlin, 1947.
  • Farmer's Echo magazine . Berlin, from 1950 to 1951.
  • Magazine The Free Farmer . Berlin, from 1950 to 1951.
  • VEB daily newspaper grandstand . Berlin, from 1950 to 1951.
  • Magazine Neue Berliner Illustrierte . Berlin, from 1950 to 1951.
  • BZ magazine in the evening . Berlin, from 1950 to 1951.
  • Sport and Technology magazine . Ed. " Society for Sport and Technology ", Berlin, from 1954 to 1955.
  • Satirical magazine Eulenspiegel . Berlin, from 1954 to 1959.
  • Parents and Schools magazine . Berlin, from 1954 to 1955.
  • School mail magazine . Ed. " Society for Sport and Technology ", Berlin, from 1955 to 1957 (e.g. the political caricatures Lieschen and the Stupo Schnüffelnase from 1955/1956, the caricatures Die Wunderkugel and the illustrations for Werner Bender's future fantasy fair adventure 1999 from 1957).
  • Weekly mail magazine . Berlin, from 1955 to 1958 (e.g. in issue 18/1958).
  • Youth magazine Robinson . Colored cover pictures and colored cartoon stories Adventurous things from buckle and club in monthly sequence. Berlin, 12/1956 - 08/1957.
  • Atze youth magazine . Berlin, from 1956 to 1960 (e.g. January 1960 a full-page, color picture puzzle).
  • Periodical German teacher newspaper , Berlin, from 1955 to 1960.
  • Sportrevue magazine , Berlin, from 1955 to 1960.
  • Der Rundfunk / Unser Rundfunk magazine , Berlin, from 1955 to 1960.
  • Youth magazine Robinson (three colored cover pictures and the monthly, colored cartoon story series Adventures of Buckle and Club ), Berlin, from 1955 to 1960.
  • Youth magazine Fröhlich sein und singen ("Frösi"). Colored covers and colored cartoons ( [1] ). Berlin, 12 / 1956-1960.
  • Monthly magazine Welt und Bild . Berlin 03/1959.
  • Children's monthly magazine Rakete : Comics series Latsch and Bommel (8 episodes). Berlin, 11/1959 - 06/1960.
  • Monthly magazine Wort und Bild (color illustrations of all twelve front pages from 1960). Berlin, 1960.
  • Children's book Of Snares, Pancakes and Young Dogs ; Cover picture in color, book content in black and white. Children's book publisher Berlin, 1961.
  • Illustration in the magazine Neues Schaffen (company newspaper of the LEW Hennigsdorf), September 15, 1962.
  • Caricature about a decision on sport in a district newspaper in Straßberg, October 29, 1965.
  • Illustration in the company newspaper Neues Schaffen (company newspaper of the LEW Hennigsdorf), October 1, 1968. Last publication in the GDR.

poster

  • Poster by Heinz Musculus and Artur Grimmer with the politically motivated slogan “Plan with - Work with - Govern with”. Berlin 1960.

Cartoons

Heinz Musculus made cartoons between 1950 and 1965, for which more detailed information is not available. From 1953 to approx. 1967, Heinz Musculus had a second studio in his home at Frankfurter Allee 4 especially for this animation work.

Awards

Web links

Commons : Heinz Musculus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Musculus, Heinz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Musculus, Heinz Wilhelm Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German caricaturist, draftsman and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Wesenberg (Mecklenburg)
DATE OF DEATH May 26, 1976
Place of death Berlin