Fritz Grasshoff
Encyclopedia
Fritz Graßhoff was a German painter, poet and songwriter. He was known for hits sung by Lale Andersen
Lale Andersen
Lale Andersen was a German chanson singer-songwriter born in Bremerhaven, Germany. She is best known for her interpretation of the song "Lili Marleen" in 1939, which became tremendously popular on both sides during the Second World War.- Early life :She was born in Lehe and baptized Liese-Lotte...

, Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity within the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. Similar to Hans Albers two generations before him, Quinn adopted the persona of the rootless wanderer who goes to sea but longs for a home, family and friends...

 and Hans Albers
Hans Albers
Hans Philipp August Albers was a German actor and singer. He was the single biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1945 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.- Life and work :...

. As a painter, he showed at important exhibitions; as a writer, he was known for his important lyric volume Halunkenpostille
Halunkenpostille
Halunkenpostille is an important work by the German writer Fritz Graßhoff. Published in 1947, the collection of more than 100 poems, ballads and songs is one of the most successful poetry books of the postwar period. Many texts were set to music and recorded by renowned artists, both in song and...

and his autobiographical novel Der blaue Heinrich. He translated poetry of the Latin Martial
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...

 and the Swedish Carl Michael Bellman
Carl Michael Bellman
was a Swedish poet and composer. Bellman is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a very important influence in Swedish music, as well as in Scandinavian literature in general, to this day....

. Many of his writings have been set to music by composers such as James Last
James Last
James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...

, Norbert Schultze
Norbert Schultze
Norbert Arnold Wilhelm Richard Schultze was a prolific German composer of film music...

 and Siegfried Strohbach
Siegfried Strohbach
Siegfried Strohbach is a German composer and conductor. He founded and directed choirs and the vocal ensemble Collegium Cantorum and is notable for the composition of choral music...

.

Life

Graßhoff was born in Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg is a town located north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1994 the medieval court and the old town was set on the UNESCO world heritage list....

, Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

, and spent his youth there, where his father, a former sailor, lived as a coal merchant and farmer. Traces of the rugged environment later appeared in his ballads and songs. He attended the "Humanistisches Gymnasium", learning Greek and Latin. After his Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

 (college entrance exam) in 1933, he began an apprenticeship as a church painter. Later, he was involved in journalism. In 1938, he was drafted into the military and fought in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 against Russia, later falling into British captivity. He wrote his first collection of poems in captivity in 1945.

From 1946 to 1967, he lived in Celle
Celle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...

, Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

. He traveled extensively to Greece and from 1956, regularly to Sweden. In 1947, he published his most famous collection of ballads, songs and poems, the Halunkenpostille
Halunkenpostille
Halunkenpostille is an important work by the German writer Fritz Graßhoff. Published in 1947, the collection of more than 100 poems, ballads and songs is one of the most successful poetry books of the postwar period. Many texts were set to music and recorded by renowned artists, both in song and...

, which sold in more than 300,000 copies. His paintings were first shown in Celle in 1947, then in 1954 in his first important art exhibit at the Kestnergesellschaft
Kestnergesellschaft
Kestnergesellschaft - is an art gallery in Hanover, Germany.The Kestnergesellschaft, sometimes referred to as the Kestner society, was founded in 1916 with the goal of promoting the arts in Hanover, Germany. Its founders included the painter Wilhelm von Debschitz...

 in Hannover along with works by Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement...

 and Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...

. His work was purchased by the Kunsthalle Hamburg
Kunsthalle Hamburg
The Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. The art museum focuses on painting in Hamburg in the 14th century, paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German paintings of the 19th century, modern, and contemporary art...

 and the Lehmbruck Museum of Duisburg
Duisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...

. However, his income came primarily from pop lyrics. He wrote several hits for singers, such as Lale Andersen
Lale Andersen
Lale Andersen was a German chanson singer-songwriter born in Bremerhaven, Germany. She is best known for her interpretation of the song "Lili Marleen" in 1939, which became tremendously popular on both sides during the Second World War.- Early life :She was born in Lehe and baptized Liese-Lotte...

, Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity within the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. Similar to Hans Albers two generations before him, Quinn adopted the persona of the rootless wanderer who goes to sea but longs for a home, family and friends...

 and Hans Albers
Hans Albers
Hans Philipp August Albers was a German actor and singer. He was the single biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1945 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.- Life and work :...

, for whom he wrote "Nimm mich mit, Kapitän, auf die Reise" ("Take me along, captain, on your trip"). In addition to his often crude songs and ballads, set to music by such composers as Heinz Gietz, James Last
James Last
James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...

, Lotar Olias, Wolfgang Schulz, Norbert Schultze
Norbert Schultze
Norbert Arnold Wilhelm Richard Schultze was a prolific German composer of film music...

 and Siegfried Strohbach
Siegfried Strohbach
Siegfried Strohbach is a German composer and conductor. He founded and directed choirs and the vocal ensemble Collegium Cantorum and is notable for the composition of choral music...

, he translated Greek and Latin texts of the Roman Martial
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...

 and others, and of the Swedish national poet, Carl Michael Bellman
Carl Michael Bellman
was a Swedish poet and composer. Bellman is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a very important influence in Swedish music, as well as in Scandinavian literature in general, to this day....

.

In 1967, Graßhoff moved to Zwingenberg
Zwingenberg
Zwingenberg lies in the Bergstraße district in southern Hesse, Germany, south of Frankfurt and Darmstadt, and with the granting of town rights coming in 1274 it is the oldest town on the Hessian Bergstraße.- Location :...

. He stayed away from the literary world because he felt that his reputation was primarily from his hit lyrics. When his biographical novel, Der blaue Heinrich, was published in 1980, it hardly received any attention.

In 1983, he and his family left Germany for Canada, where he spent the last 13 years of his life at his home on the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...

. He died in Hudson, Quebec
Hudson, Quebec
Hudson, Quebec, Canada, is a town with a population of 5,088 on the south-west bank of the lower Ottawa River, in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. Situated about west of downtown Montreal, many residents commute to work on the Island of Montreal.- Location and...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. His late poetry brought him a respected place in the literary world, reflected in numerous essays. His paintings are held by museums, such as the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. In Celle, an archive is kept at the Bomann-Museum, his atelier
Atelier
Atelier is the French word for "workshop", and in English is used principally for the workshop of an artist in the fine or decorative arts.Atelier may also refer to:* The Atelier Method of art instruction...

 in the garden of his home still exists, and the Fritz-Grasshoff-GasseGrasshoff is an alternate spelling for Graßhoff. The German letter, "ß" can be written as a double-s, if the special character is unavailable. Non-Germans often mistake the letter for a B; Graßhoff may have changed the way he wrote his name after moving to Canada. is named after him.

Literary works

  • Zeltlieder und Barackenverse. J.M. Klopp, Lütjenburg/Holstein 1945
  • Das Heiligenhafener Sternsingerspiel 1945. J.A. Keune, Hamburg 1946.
  • Halunkenpostille
    Halunkenpostille
    Halunkenpostille is an important work by the German writer Fritz Graßhoff. Published in 1947, the collection of more than 100 poems, ballads and songs is one of the most successful poetry books of the postwar period. Many texts were set to music and recorded by renowned artists, both in song and...

    . J.A. Keune. Hamburg 1947
  • Das Gemeindebrett. Allgemein-ungültiger Jahresweiser für Landleute. Lange. Duisburg 1954
  • Im Flug zerfallen die Wege der Vögel. Gedichte. Lange, Duisburg 1956
  • Die klassische Halunkenpostille. Epigramme und Satiren. Kiepenheuer & Witsch
    Kiepenheuer & Witsch
    Kiepenheuer & Witsch is a German publishing house, established in 1951 by Joseph C. Witsch in Cologne. Among the authors it published are Joseph Roth, Heinrich Böll, Günter Wallraff, and Gabriel García Márquez....

    . Köln/Berlin 1964
  • Graßhoffs unverblümtes Lieder- und Lästerbuch. Kiepenheuer & Witsch. Köln/Berlin 1965
  • Der neue Salomo. Eine Art Predigt an der Straßenecke. Edition Esplanade. Hamburg 1965
  • Carl Michael Bellman. Durch alle Himmel alle Gossen. Ein Bündel Fredmanscher Episteln und Songs. Aus dem Schwedischen singbar ins Deutsche gebracht. Kiepenheuer & Witsch. Köln/Berlin 1966
  • Der singende Knochen. Kurzgelochte Parahistorie zur echten Flötenforschung. Edition Edition Moeck
    Moeck Musikinstrumente + Verlag
    Moeck Musikinstrumente + Verlag is a leading German manufacturer of recorders and a music publisher.The company was founded in 1925 by Hermann Moeck in Celle. In 1960 his son Dr. Hermann Alexander Moeck took over the business. The current owner is Sabine Haase-Moeck.The company produces recorders...

    . Celle 1971
  • Seeräuber-Report. Songs, Lieder & Balladen. Erdmann. Tübingen/Basel 1972. ISBN 3-7711-0142-5
  • Philodemos und die antike Hintertreppe. 20 griechisch–römische Autoren neu übersetzt und umhost mit Graphiken des Autors. Eremiten-Presse. Düsseldorf 1975
  • Foxy rettet Amerika. Ein Musical für Kinder von 8-80 (a musical for children from 8 to 80). Schott
    Schott Music
    Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe and is currently the second oldest music publishing house. The company headquarters of Schott Music was founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, Germany in 1770.Established in...

    . Mainz 1976
  • Der blaue Heinrich. novel, Nymphenburger. München 1980. ISBN 3-485-00388-3
  • Prosit ein Leben lang. Wollust & Müßiggang. Carl Michael Bellman, Episteln & Songs. Fritz Graßhoff, Nachdichtungen. Edition Handpresse Gutsch. Berlin 1985. ISBN 3-924993-09-2
  • Les animaux en pantalons. Tiere in Hosen. Eine Auswahl aus Menschenfabeln. (animals in trousers, fable
    Fable
    A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...

    s) Éditions du Silenoe. Montréal 1991
  • Bellman auf Deutsch. Fredmans Episteln. Aus dem Schwedischen des 18. Jahrhunderts singbar ins Deutsche gerückt. (Bellman in German) Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg. Potsdam 1995. ISBN 3-930850-10-9
  • Martial
    Martial
    Marcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...

     für Zeitgenossen. Epigramme von Marcus Valerius Martialis
    . Eremiten Presse. Düsseldorf 1998. ISBN 3-87365-315-X
  • Von der Wichtigkeit der Dinge. Heritage Fritz Graßhoff / Stiftung. Deutsches Kabarettarchiv. Mainz 2003
  • Satire. Preface by Roswitha Grasshoff, postscript by Pierre Filion. German and French. Éditions du Silence. Montreal 2007. ISBN 978-2-920180-71-0

Picture books, exhibition catalogs

  • Bilder und Zeichnungen von Fritz Graßhoff. Städtisches Kulturamt. Celle 1947
  • Gerhard Händler: Fritz Grasshoff. Städt. Kunstmuseum Duisburg. Museumsverein. Duisburg 1956
  • Paintings, Peintures, Gemälde 1984–1986. Montreal (Kanada)
  • Graphik − Graphic − Graphique. 1943–1993. Éditions Vaudreuil [Canada] 1993

Recordings and music books

  • Halunkensongs for baritone, trompet, violin, akkordeon, double bass and percussion. music: Siegfried Strohbach
    Siegfried Strohbach
    Siegfried Strohbach is a German composer and conductor. He founded and directed choirs and the vocal ensemble Collegium Cantorum and is notable for the composition of choral music...

    , sheet music: Breitkopf & Härtel
    Breitkopf & Härtel
    Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...

     1956
  • Großer Kalender (after texts from "Das Gemeindebrett") for male choir, piano and large orchestra. music: Siegfried Strohbach, sheet music: Breitkopf & Härtel 1961
  • Songs für Mündige. arranged by Hans Last (James Last
    James Last
    James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...

    ). with Lotar Olias, Lale Andersen and others. Polydor. Hamburg 1965
  • Halunkenpostille
    Halunkenpostille
    Halunkenpostille is an important work by the German writer Fritz Graßhoff. Published in 1947, the collection of more than 100 poems, ballads and songs is one of the most successful poetry books of the postwar period. Many texts were set to music and recorded by renowned artists, both in song and...

    . Schräge Songs, halbseidene Lieder und wunderschöne Gedichte. music by Hans-Martin Majewski and Norbert Schultze
    Norbert Schultze
    Norbert Arnold Wilhelm Richard Schultze was a prolific German composer of film music...

    . spoken and sung by Hanne Wieder, Hannelore Schroth
    Hannelore Schroth
    Hannelore Schroth was German film, stage and television actress whose career spanned over five decades.-Career:...

    , Gustav Knuth
    Gustav Knuth
    Gustav Knuth was a German film actor. He appeared in 128 films between 1935 and 1982.-Selected filmography:* Friedemann Bach * Das Grosse Spiel * Die Mücke * Sissi...

    , Gisela aus Schwabing, Kirsten Heiberg
    Kirsten Heiberg
    Kirsten Heiberg was a Norwegian actress and singer who had a major film career in Germany between 1938 and 1954. Heiberg was a Nazi, but was not punished by the Norwegians, as she was a German citizen....

    , Ralf Bendix, Jens Brenke, Inge Brandenburg, Werner Schmalenbach and Fritz Graßhoff. Electrola
    Electrola
    Electrola was a record label founded in Berlin in 1925 by the Gramophone Company. In March 1931 Electrola, along with its parent label and Carl Lindström Company parent Columbia Graphophone Company, merged to form the Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. . The German EMI unit was first called...

    . Köln 1967
  • Unerhörte Chansons. voice: Illo Schieder, orchestra: Bert Grund. MPS 15108. Villingen 1968
  • Warehouse-Life. Chor-Revue. music by Peter Seeger. Schott
    Schott Music
    Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe and is currently the second oldest music publishing house. The company headquarters of Schott Music was founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, Germany in 1770.Established in...

    . Mainz 1972
  • Seeräuber-Report. Heinz Reincke, Ingrid van Bergen
    Ingrid van Bergen
    Ingrid van Bergen is a German film actress. She has appeared in 100 films since 1954. She was born in Free City of Danzig, today Gdansk, Poland....

    , Günter Pfitzmann
    Günter Pfitzmann
    Günter Pfitzmann was a German film actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1952 and 2001.He was born and died in Berlin, Germany.-Selected filmography:* Die Brücke * Auf Wiedersehen...

    , Hannes Messemer
    Hannes Messemer
    Hannes Messemer was a German actor best known for his role as the commandant in The Great Escape . The movie had a star-studded cast, but it was the relatively unknown Messemer who uttered the film's most famous line Hannes Messemer (May 19, 1924 – November 2, 1991) was a German actor best...

     and others. Electrola. Köln 1973; CD: Conträr Musik 2004
  • Fritz Grasshoff's Unartige Lieder. Songs und maulfaule Balladen + Badewannenlieder für Mündige und Dickfellige unter Musik gesetzt von Lotar Olias. spoken and sung by Helmut Brasch, Inge Meysel
    Inge Meysel
    Inge Meysel was a German actress. From the early 1960s until her death, Meysel was one of Germany's most popular actresses...

    , Ernst Stankovski, Gustav Knuth
    Gustav Knuth
    Gustav Knuth was a German film actor. He appeared in 128 films between 1935 and 1982.-Selected filmography:* Friedemann Bach * Das Grosse Spiel * Die Mücke * Sissi...

    , Lothar Olias, Mal Sondock, Edith Hancke, Eckart Dux, Lale Andersen, Günter Jerschke, Erich Uhland, und Hanne Wieder. Intercord 720-08
  • Foxy rettet Amerika. musical by Heinz Geese. EMI-Electrola. Köln 1977
  • Süverkrüp singt Graßhoffs Bellman (Süverkrüp sings Graßhoff's Bellman), Conträr Musik 1996
  • Hört mal her, ihr Zeitgenossen. Black und Pit. for Graßhoff's zum 90th birthday. Conträr Musik 2003

Selected exhibitions

  • 1954 Kestnergesellschaft
    Kestnergesellschaft
    Kestnergesellschaft - is an art gallery in Hanover, Germany.The Kestnergesellschaft, sometimes referred to as the Kestner society, was founded in 1916 with the goal of promoting the arts in Hanover, Germany. Its founders included the painter Wilhelm von Debschitz...

    , Hannover
  • 1956 Städtisches Kunstmuseum
    Lehmbruck-Museum
    The Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum - Center for International Sculpture is a museum in Duisburg, Germany. Sculptures by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, after whom the museum is named, make up a large part of its collection...

    , Duisburg
  • 1961 Studio für neue Kunst, Wuppertal-Elberfeld
    Elberfeld
    Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...

  • 1970 Kunstverein, Celle
  • 1991 Stewart Hall, Montréal (Kanada)
  • 1991 Goethe-Institut
    Goethe-Institut
    The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural institution operational worldwide, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. The Goethe-Institut also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on German...

    , Montréal (Kanada)
  • 2003 Schlossmuseum, Quedlinburg

Literature

  • Oskar Ansull: Und fliege in die Fremde. In: Von Dichterfürsten und anderen Poeten. Kleine niedersächsische Literaturgeschichte. Band III. Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-927715-30-1.
  • Friedrich Zehm: Ein Bündel Chanson. In: The Musical Times Nr. 1519. Berkhamsted 1969, .
  • Eva Demski: Vagabund, Bänkelsänger, Malerpoet, Klabautermann. In: FAZ
    Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
    The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...

    22 December 1989.
  • Ralf Busch: Fritz Graßhoff – Maler und Poet. Bomann-Museum, Celle 1993, ISBN 3-925902-18-X.
  • Maria Katharina Grote: Fritz Graßhoff – eine Bildmonographie. Diplomarbeit, Universität Hildesheim 1997.
  • Jacques Outin: Graßhoff, Bellman und Schweden. In: Muschelhaufen
    Muschelhaufen
    Muschelhaufen is a German annual, originally combining literature and graphic arts. It was founded by Erik Martin from Viersen in 1969 and published - with an interruption of 11 years - until 2008, when the last issue came out Muschelhaufen (heap of shells) is a German annual, originally...

    . Nr. 44. Viersen 2004, .
  • Wolfgang Ries: Gebrauchsware und Unnützes. Einige subjektive Anmerkungen zu Person und Werk von Fritz Graßhoff. In: Muschelhaufen. Nr. 44. Viersen 2004, .
  • Eva Demski: Fritz Grasshoff – Der letzte Klabautermann. In: Land und Leute. Schöffling, Frankfurt/M. 1994, ISBN 3-89561-000-3.

External links

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