Simplicissimus was a satirical German weekly magazine started by Albert Langen in April 1896 and published through 1944.

Combining brash and politically daring content with a bright, immediate, surprisingly modern graphic style, Simplicissimus featured the work of German cartoonist Thomas Theodor Heine on every cover, and published the work of writers such as Thomas Mann and Rainer Maria Rilke. Its most reliable targets for caricature were stiff Prussian military figures, and rigid German social and class distinctions as seen from the more relaxed, liberal atmosphere of Munich. Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann (June 6, 1875 – August 12, 1955) was a German novelist, social critic, philanthropist and essayist, lauded principally for a series of highly symbolic and often ironic epic novels and mid-length stories, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and intellectual and... Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926) is generally considered the German languages greatest 20th century poet. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia and... For the 2005 Steven Spielberg film, see Munich (film). ...

In 1898 Kaiser Wilhelm's objections to being ridiculed on the cover resulted in the magazine being suppressed, publisher Langen taking five years' exile in Switzerland and a fine of 30,000 Mark, a six month prison sentence for the cartoonist Heine, and seven months prison for the writer Frank Wedekind. Again in 1906 the editor Ludwig Thoma was imprisoned for six months for attacking the clergy. These controversies only served to increase circulation, which peaked at about 85,000 copies. Upon Germany's entry into World War I, the weekly dulled its satirical tone, began supporting the war effort, and considered closing down. Thereafter the strongest political satire expressed in graphics became the province of artists George Grosz and Käthe Kollwitz (who were both contributors) and John Heartfield. Wilhelm II of Prussia and Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Hohenzollern (January 27, 1859 - June 4, 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and the last King (König) of Prussia from 1888 - 1918. ... German 20 Mark banknote from 1914 (www. ... Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 - March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, the War of the Nations and... George Grosz (July 26, 1893 - July 6, 1959) was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Objectivity group. ... Käthe Kollwitz (July 8, 1867 - 22 April 1945) was a German artist. ... Self-portrait, 1920 John Heartfield (June 19, 1891 - April 26, 1968) is the anglicised name of the German photomontage artist Helmut Herzfeld. ...

The editor Ludwig Thoma joined the army in a medical unit in 1917, and lost his taste for satire, denouncing his previous work at the magazine, calling it immature and deplorable. He left the magazine in the 1920s. During the Weimar era the magazine continued to publish and took a strong stand against extremists on the left and on the right. As the National Socialists gradually came to power, they issued their pattern of verbal accusations, attacks, threats, personal intimidations, then arrests against the artists and writers of Simplicissimus. It continued publishing, in declining form, until finally ceasing publication in 1944. Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... The period of German history from 1919 to 1933 is known as the Weimar Republic (in German Weimarer Republik). It is named after the city of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to produce a new constitution after the German monarchy was abolished following the nations defeat in World... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ...

Other graphic artists associated with the magazine include Olaf Gulbransson, Edward Thöny, Bruno Paul, and Karl Arnold.

External links

• a generous selection of Simplicissimus graphics, in French
• Simplicissimus history from Munich newspaper