Wilhelm Busch

Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908), German satirical poet and artist. Busch was born in Wiedensahl on April 15, 1832. Between 1851 and 1854 he attended art schools in Düsseldorf, Antwerp, and Munich. Max und Moritz (1865; Max and Maurice) was the first of his Bildergeschichte (picture stories), combining verse and drawings, which were to range from Der heilige Antonius von Padua (1870; St Anthony of Padua), a satire on the Catholic Church, to the more lighthearted Plisch und Plum (1882; Plisch and Plum). He also wrote prose pieces, such as Eduards Traum (1891; Edward's Dream), and several volumes of verse, including Kritik des Herzens (1874; Critique of the Heart). His sceptical outlook, influenced by the writings of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, was taken up by the satirical magazine Simplicissimus, while the first American comic strips appear to have been inspired by his drawings.

Busch died in Mechtshausen on January 9, 1908. There is a Wilhelm Busch Museum in Hanover, and the house in Wiedensahl in which he was born is also open to the public.