Sequential cartoon about Charles De Gaulle.
Henry Meyer-Brockmann (sometimes spelled as "Henri") was a mid-20th century German caricaturist, cartoonist and illustrator. He was one of the most prominent post-war contributors to the satirical magazine Simplicissimus and a house cartoonist for the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. His most famous cartoon is 'Das Veto der Bombe' (1956).
Early life and career
Heinrich Brockmann was born in 1912 in Berenbostel, a district of the city of Garbsen, near Hannover. His father was a salesman. As a young teen, Brockmann worked as a coal transporter and book printer. For a while, he studied at the Kunstgewerbe und Handwerkerschule ("Art and Crafts School") in Hannover. In 1934, he was thrown out of school for organizing a movement in support of teachers who had been fired by the new Nazi regime. Brockmann didn't despair and hitchhiked to Munich, where he studied at the local Academy from 1934 until 1939. To earn the necessary income, he worked as a part-time nude model. At the Academy, Brockmann went straight to his main graphic influence, the Norwegian caricaturist Olaf Gulbransson. According to legend, Gulbransson originally rejected him, because "he couldn't teach him anything he didn't already know." But he was eventually accepted and studied under his guidance. The two men got along so well that they barely had any arguments. One time Brockmann was making out with a girl in the empty classroom, when suddenly Gulbransson caught them in the act. Instead of being angry, he let her pose for a drawing and gave the original to his pupil.
In 1939, World War II broke out and the Academy closed down. Brockmann was drafted into the German army and fought in Finland. After the war he married a woman named Henriette Meyer. As a token of his love, he added her last name to his own when signing his work. Even his first name "Heinrich" was remodelled after her first name, making it "Henry" from then on.
"The Rontgen Machine" (Der Simpl #4, May 1946).
Cartooning career
Meyer-Brockmann's talent for cartooning was discovered by the German satirical writer and poet Erich Kästner (most famous for 'Emil und die Detektive'). Stimulated by his approval, Meyer-Brockmann started publishing cartoons as soon as World War II was over. They ran in two newly founded magazines, Ruf and the Süddeutsche Zeitung. He provided caricatures for the weekly column 'Die Süddeutsche besucht', in which journalist Jürgen von Hollander interviewed celebrities. Meyer-Brockmann portrayed many famous politicians, musicians, writers, artists and media stars, capturing their facial features in just a few well-chosen lines.
In March 1946, Meyer-Brockmann became one of the contributors to Der Simpl, a new version of the pre-war satirical magazine Simplicissimus. Under the Nazi regime, Simplicissimus had become a propaganda vehicle. On top of that, there were many copyright issues that prevented its post-war comeback, so Der Simpl functioned as a stylistically similar substitute, based on what Simplicissimus was before the Nazi takeover. Many former Simplicissimus cartoonists joined in, but Der Simpl was never a huge success. By March 1950, the title was discontinued. In 1954, the copyright issues regarding the original Simplicissimus were finally cleared, paving the way for a reboot. This version lasted longer, all the way until 1967, with Meyer-Brockmann back on board. He received the honor of designing the cover of the very first issue (9 October 1954), depicting Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyateslav Molotov bowling over various Western heads of state, portrayed as bowling pins. Meyer-Brockmann also drew caricatures for Simplicissimus' column 'Leute von heute' ("People of Today").
His caricatures and cartoons were compiled in various books, 'Satiren: 50 Zeichnungen' (with a foreword by Erich Kästner, Weismann, München, 1949), 'Leute von heute... und gestern: 99 Porträts und viele, viele Anekdoten' (Pranger Verlag, München, 1955), 'Das deutsche Wunder: Ein ABC in Karikaturen' (Pranger Verlag, München, 1955). 'Gesammelte Siebenundvierziger: 100 Karikaturen literar. Zeitgenossen' (Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, München, 1967) and 'Iwan der Schreckliche: Cartoons.' (with a foreword by Heinz Friedrich, Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, München, 1969).
Cartoons on the covers of Der Simpl #6 (June 1946) and Simplicissimus #1, 1954 (9 October 1954).
Style and reputation
Meyer-Brockmann was an independent spirit, described by many as a rough individual who never compromised. He consistently refused any permanent contract, to avoid being tied to one specific newspaper or magazine. Although Meyer-Brockmann considered himself a political cartoonist, he, ironically enough, didn't regard himself as "political". Interviewed for the 15 July 1952 issue of Der Spiegel, he said: "One can't draw about politics if one thinks politically. You just get mad at circumstances or people, you compare them with one or another stupid ideal, and then you get even angrier and more caricatural."
Meyer-Brockmann was regarded as one of the sharpest post-war German political cartoonists. In July 1952 he made a caricature of German novelist and playwright Carl Zuckmayer, printed next to a review of his latest publication. Zuckmayer wrote an angry letter of complaint, warning the poor man who put this drawing next to the review. He claimed that the caricature "didn't even express the slightest aspect of me and isn't even a caricature, just awful."
While he offended quite a number of people, Meyer-Brockmann felt this was his duty as a cartoonist. He once said: "If punctuality is the politeness of princes, then ruthlessness should be the politeness of caricaturists." His motto, "Man kann niemanden angreifen, der sich nicht selbst zur Zielscheibe macht" ("You can't attack somebody who doesn't make himself a target"), has become a famous citation, often used in discussions of freedom of speech and the right to be offended. While attributed to Meyer-Brockmann, he actually paraphrased an earlier, slightly similar statement about the same subject, by German writer Robert Neumann. The cartoonist, however, did add: "Somebody who is completely intact cannot be broken", meaning that most people who feel offended are actually not comfortable with themselves. Still, Meyer-Brockmann had his personal limitations. He never made an offensive caricature of politician Kurt Schumacher, because his battered face was the result of war wounds, torture by Nazis and life in concentration camps. To him this would have been unnecessarily cruel.
'Das Veto der Bombe', on the cover of Simplicissimus #20 of 1956. Translation: "There's a lot of talk about peace, dear gentlemen. But peace, that's me."
Das Veto der Bombe
Meyer-Brockmann's most famous cartoon, 'Das Veto der Bombe' ("The Bomb's Veto"), appeared on the front cover of Simplicissimus issue #20 of 1956 (19 May 1956). The drawing depicts a conference where a huge atom bomb declares: "There's a lot of talk about peace, dear gentlemen. But peace, that's me." At first reading, this appears to be an ironic punchline. After all, the threat of nuclear war has loomed over every major international conflict since 1945. But the punchline is actually not too far from the truth. The Bomb has made politicians, generals and diplomats more conscious to avoid military escalation. They deliberately use traditional or otherwise less destructive methods of warfare. Without this dangerous weapon of mass destruction, a Third World War might have happened already. In that sense, the Bomb is indeed a peace bringer. Meyer-Brockmann's cartoon has frequently been reprinted in history books and anti-war pamphlets. It's a perfect symbol of the uneasy "peace" of the Cold War. At the same time, it is also a timeless reflection on our modern-day world.
Final years, death and legacy
Henry Meyer-Brockmann regarded himself as one of the last "real" caricaturists and illustrators. In his opinion, stated in the aforementioned 1952 interview with Der Spiegel, most present-day illustrators were "idiots from the editorial board who, in their vanity, merely want to illustrate what they are already writing about." Later in life, the veteran was in bad health due to being a diabetic. He died in 1968 in Munich, one day before what would have been his 56th birthday.
Between 3 December 2018 and 13 January 2019, an exhibition of Henry Meyer-Brockmann's drawings was held in the B1 Hall at the Bahnhofplatz 1 in Utting, Germany. Another expo, held between 4 April and 18 April 2021, was for show at Kurparkschlösschen in Herrsching, Germany.
Maria Callas, by Henry Meyer-Brockmann.