Pure swallow

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reiner Schwalme (born June 19, 1937 in Liegnitz , Lower Silesia ) is a German cartoonist .

Life

Schwalme was born as the only child of a wheelwright and seamstress and spent his early childhood in Klitschdorf . As a resettler child he came to Oberröblingen shortly before the end of the Second World War .

After graduating from high school, he went to Berlin, where - after a brief visit to the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art - he completed a degree in commercial graphics as a qualified designer at the Berlin School of Advertising and Design . He then worked as a graphic designer for the GDR trade union newspaper Tribüne . In 1966 he became a freelance graphic artist and mainly produced illustrations for newspapers and books on behalf of various publishers.

Increasing interest in caricature that was critical of the times and society led him to the GDR satirical magazine Eulenspiegel in 1985 , for which he still draws today. In the last years of the GDR and especially during the fall of the Berlin Wall, he developed into one of the country's most famous political cartoonists.

Today Schwalme lives in Groß Wasserburg in the Unterspreewald and, in addition to commissioned work, regularly draws for the Berliner Tagesspiegel and, since 1992, daily political caricatures for the Saxon newspaper .

His first book “The Best Caricatures from 30 Years” was published on his 70th birthday.

Form and content of his work

Reiner Schwalm's work is characterized by an unmistakable, fluid line and a wealth of ideas. Schwalme processes his topics from the areas of social and political life with appropriate punchlines and metaphors .

Schwalme appreciates the "little man's" view. He usually arranges his characters in pairs so that they can then get into conversation. His sympathy goes to the weak, whose fate moves him.

Creating before the fall of the century

Reiner Schwalme came to caricature relatively late, although drawing was his passion from childhood. He competed at the College of Fine and Applied Arts in Berlin-Weissensee, was there the entrance examination and studied for a year until he "artistic lack of imagination" on the grounds expelled has been. Then he graduated from the technical college for advertising and design in Berlin as a qualified designer.

He then worked for the trade union newspaper “Tribüne” for seven years. During this time he mainly made vignettes and illustrations, diagrams and above all designed fonts. He also illustrated for the Berliner Verlag , Neue Berliner Illustrierte , FF , for the Verlag Junge Welt , Practic and the children's and youth newspapers Bummi , Technikus , ABC-Zeitung and drum . From 1966 he illustrated as a freelancer .

In 1985 he was approached by the satirical magazine “Eulenspiegel”, for which he made caricatures from then on. In “Eulenspiegel” he stood between censorship , securing a livelihood and critical awareness, with the censorship being carried out on the one hand by the editor-in-chief, on the other hand already existing as “scissors in the head”. As a draftsman he had to master " the fine art of fine lines, concealed allusions, irony between the lines" (Hubert von Brunnen). Institutional criticism and portrait caricatures of prominent political figures were not allowed.

  • Success (1988)

  • With Us (1988) - This cartoon was offered to Eulenspiegel in the summer of 1989. See the next drawing for what became of it

  • With Us (1988) - At the instigation of the editor-in-chief, who saw the drawing as a contribution to environmental pollution, chimneys were added. The readers recognized the naked man with the optimistic slogan as a symbol of the aging government.

  • Vogel (1985) - Encrypted Thoughts on Freedom to Travel

  • Sporty (1985) - This drawing was published in Eulenspiegel as a sports caricature. It was later the title drawing of the catalog for the first major personal exhibition in June 1989.

Turning time

During the political transition, Schwalme made a name for himself as an East German chronicler of his field alongside Barbara Henniger , Heinz Behling , Manfred Bofinger and Klaus Vonderwerth. He documented the change since autumn 1989 with his drawings.

Since only a few cartoonists can make a living from their art in the Federal Republic of Germany, Schwalme was skeptical in this regard. Many apt drawings were made during the fall of the Berlin Wall. When the GDR collapsed, he had an old holder of the medal rethink: “To learn from the Soviet Union means to learn sick.” And when the D-Mark came and initially nobody wanted to buy the local goods, he foresaw the loss of jobs. When the frustration after turning point set in, he took aim at the great complaining.

Some of his works on German reunification were shown as part of the nationwide traveling exhibition "1 + 1 = ONE - four caricaturists draw the unification of Germany" and are hanging in the exhibition area of ​​the German Bundestag in the Paul-Löbe-Haus .

  • With the face to the people (1989) - Schwalme's first drawing after the events on the 40th anniversary of the GDR

  • Peoples empties the shelves

  • Unity (1992)

  • Surfer (1989)

  • Western hare

Creating since the time of reunification

After 1989, Schwalme worked for the trade union newspaper “metall”, the city magazine tip and the Berliner Tagesspiegel . This also made him known in the old federal states.

His work was reprinted in Spiegel and in the FAZ . Some of his works are in the collections of the House of History in Bonn. On his 70th birthday, the Caricatura honored him with a work exhibition in Kassel.

  • Jammerossi (1990)

  • Fairy tale (2006)

  • Golgotha ​​2001 - German Prize for Political Caricature

  • Freedom (2005) - German Prize for Political Caricature

humor

In addition to political caricatures and illustrations, Reiner Schwalme's work also includes a number of humorous drawings.

  • Adam & Eva (1992) - Audience Award of the 39th International Cartoon Festival in Knokke-Heist 2000

  • Laugh Yourself Dead (2002)

  • organ

  • Lesender (2000) - main prize at the international caricature competition at EXPO 2000 in Hanover

comics

Reiner Schwalme's comic series Rolf and Robert (appeared in the drum ), The Treasure of Finkenrode and Holidays in the Middle Ages (published in Für Dich ) were among the longest-lived GDR comics, and represented GDR everyday life and - Mentality. His picture stories are characterized by the use of creative means, such as a change of perspective or changing panel layout.

  • The treasure of Finkenrode

  • Holidays in the Middle Ages

  • Rolf and Robert

Awards (selection)

  • 1982: Art Prize of the FDGB
  • 1992: "Silver Gothaer" from the Gothaer Karikade
  • 1993: "Goldener Gothaer" of the Gothaer Karikade
  • 1996: German Prize for Political Caricature (1st place)
  • 1997: German Prize for Political Caricature (3rd place)
  • 1998: German Prize for Political Caricature (1st place)
  • 2000: German Prize for Political Caricature (2nd place)
  • 2000: German Caricature Award, “Winged Pencil” in bronze
  • 2000: Audience Award at the 39th Knokke-Heist International Cartoon Festival
  • 2000: Main prize of the caricature competition of the Expo, Hanover
  • 2002: German Prize for Political Caricature (1st place)
  • 2006: 1st place Caricature Award of the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers in the context of the flashback 2005
  • 2006: 1st prize in the Vision D caricature competition ("How Germany will look in 20 years")
  • 2010: German Caricature Award - Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2013: 2nd place Caricature Award of the Association of German Newspaper Publishers as part of the 2012 flashback

Publications (selection)

  • Heinz Behling, Manfred Bofinger, Frank Leucht, Barbara Henniger, Reiner Schwalme and Klaus Vonderwert: Zero Problemo. GDR cartoonists on the state of the nation . ELEFANTEN PRESS Berlin, 1990, ISBN 3-88520-332-4
  • Reiner Schwalme and Jens Prockat: Wall puzzle . Eulenspiegelverlag, 2001, ISBN 3-359-01308-5
  • Gabriele Stave and Reiner Schwalme: Germany O. A happy travel guide . Tomus Verlag Munich, 1990, ISBN 978-3-8231-0545-9
  • Nikolaus Bavarius and Reiner Schwalme: GDR-German. A happy dictionary . Tomus Verlag Munich, 1990, ISBN 978-3-8231-0181-9
  • Ernst Röhl, Reiner Schwalme and Thomas Wieczorek: Five years are enough. New GDR jokes. Sadomasochism Project - German Unity . Verlag Eulenspiegel, 1995, ISBN 978-3-359-00795-1
  • Reiner Schwalme: Classics of GDR visual history. Volume 2: The treasure of Finkenrode . Holzhof Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-939509-01-1
  • Olaf Kittel and Reiner Schwalme: The best caricatures from three decades . Edition Sächsische Zeitung, 2007, ISBN 978-3-938325-33-9
  • Reiner Schwalme and Klaus Stuttmann : Inverted Worlds. Script catalog for the exhibition of the same name by the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and the Brandenburg Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Planning. Potsdam 2009.

Web links

Commons : Reiner Schwalme  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Axel Frohn: Schwalme makes summer . In: Berliner Zeitung . April 30, 1997 ( online ).
  2. ↑ Martina Schellhorn, Brandenburg State Center for Political Education: Can caricatures change the world?
  3. ↑ Guido Weißhahn: Reiner Schwalme. on ddr-comics.de
  4. ↑ Reiner Schwalme: Interview with Reiner Schwalme. on ddr-comics.de
  5. ↑ 1 + 1 = ONE - four cartoonists draw the Unification of Germany on bundestag.de
  6. ↑ We still have to work on that. ( Memento from July 29, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), German Historical Museum
  7. ^ Exhibition from March 10 to May 28, 2007. Reiner Schwalme. »Die Werkschau« ( Memento from April 19, 2007 in the web archive archive.today ) on caricatura.de
  8. ↑ Guido Weißhahn: http://www.ddr-comics.de
  9. ↑ Stuttgart Caricature Prize: Prize Winner 2002 ( Memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  10. ↑ The winners of the flashback 2005 have been determined: Christian Langbehn and Reiner Schwalme ( Memento from February 22, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), State Representation Rhineland-Palatinate
  11. ↑ Vision D - INSM and CICERO caricature competition ( Memento from March 31, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Schwalme, Reiner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwalme, Rainer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cartoonist
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Liegnitz , Lower Silesia