''Halunkenpostille'' is the title of a collection of poetry by the German writer

Fritz Graßhoff Fritz Graßhoff (9 December 1913 – 9 February 1997) was a German painter, poet and songwriter. He was known for hits sung by Lale Andersen, Freddy Quinn and Hans Albers. As a painter, he participated in important exhibitions; as a writer, he ...

. It could be translated as ''Scoundrel's Postil'', and it reflects the title of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

's ''Hauspostille'', a collection of poems, which parodies Martin Luther's ''Hauspostille'', a collection of Bible commentaries. A recording of songs from the ''Halunkenpostille'' was subtitled ''Schräge Songs, halbseidene Lieder und wunderschöne Gedichte'', which may be rendered as ''Cockeyed Songs, Dubious Ditties and Wonderful Poems''. The style shows similarities to works by

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...

Walter Mehring Walter Mehring (29 April 1896 – 3 October 1981) was a German author and one of the most prominent satirical authors in the Weimar Republic. He was banned during the Third Reich, and fled the country. Early life He was the son of the trans ...

and Joachim Ringelnatz.

Halunkenpostille

First 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. The first printing, by J.A. Keune in Hamburg, was illustrated by Bernd Hering. Carl Lange published it in 1954 with drawings by the author. Many texts were set to music and recorded by renowned artists, both in song and recitation. The total circulation was about 300,000 copies. Songs from the ''Halunkenpostille'' were set to music for example by

Siegfried Strohbach Siegfried Strohbach (27 November 1929 – 11 July 2019) was 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 was a conductor of major t ...

, ''Halunkensongs'' for baritone, trumpet, violin, accordion, double bass and percussion, published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1956. Texts from the book were recited and sung on a 1967 recording ''Halunkenpostille. Schräge Songs, halbseidene Lieder und wunderschöne Gedichte'', with music by Hans-Martin Majewski and Norbert Schultze, performed by Hanne Wieder,

Hannelore Schroth Hannelore Emilie Käte Grete Schroth (; 10 January 1922 – 7 July 1987) was a German film, stage, and television actress whose career spanned over five decades. Career Born in Berlin in 1922, she was the daughter of popular stage and film actor ...

, Gustav Knuth, Gisela aus Schwabing,

Kirsten Heiberg Kirsten Heiberg (25 April 1907 – 2 March 1976) was a Norwegian/German actress and singer who had a major film career in Germany between 1938 and 1954. She reached the peak of her career in 1942–43, performing in Joseph Goebbels version ...

Ralf Bendix Karl Heinz Schwab (16 August 1924 – 1 September 2014), known professionally as Ralf Bendix, was a German Schlager singer, music producer, composer and songwriter. Biography Early on, Ralf Bendix played the modern music of his time in bands ...

, Jens Brenke, Inge Brandenburg, Werner Schmalenbach and Fritz Graßhoff.

Die klassische Halunkenpostille

Graßhoff wrote a second collection, ''Die klassische Halunkenpostille. Epigramme und Satiren.'' (The classical Halunkenpostille,

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

s and satires), translations of Roman authors such as

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

, Catullus and

Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara ( grc-gre, Φιλόδημος ὁ Γαδαρεύς, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; c. 110 – prob. c. 40 or 35 BC) was an Arabic Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving ...

, published by

Kiepenheuer & Witsch Kiepenheuer & Witsch is a German publishing house, established in 1948 by Joseph C. Witsch and on behalf of Gustav Kiepenheuer (who was already terminally ill). The partners initially held respectively 30% and 40% of the company's share capita ...

in 1964.

Printed editions

* ''Halunken-Postille'', illustrated by Bernd Hering. Noten. J.A. Keune. Hamburg 1947 * ''Halunkenpostille. Rumpelkammerromanzen, Hafenballaden, Spelunkensongs'', with drawings by Fritz Graßhoff. Carl Lange. Duisburg 1954 * ''Die klassische Halunkenpostille. Epigramme und Satiren.''

Köln/Berlin 1964 * ''Halunkenpostille. Rumpelkammerromanzen, Hafenballaden, Spelunkensongs. Neu: Zinkenklavier''. Carl Lange Duisburg 1959, now Mercator-Verlag Duisburg 1968 * ''Die große Halunkenpostille. Songs, Balladen, Moritaten. Alte und neue Verse''.

Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag The dtv Verlagsgesellschaft is a German publishing house headquartered in Munich. It was founded in 1960 by eleven publishers as a common paperback publishing house named "Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag" (German paperback publishing house). Starti ...

( in German) Munich 1963, 11th edition 1981. * ''Graßhoffs neue große Halunkenpostille. Das ist die 1947 erstmalig erschienene auf Zuwachs geschneiderte und hiermit beträchtlich erweiterte Halunkenpostille. Beigefügtes Werk: Nebst dem Allgemein ungültigen Bauernkalender von 1954. Neu bebildert vom Autor selbst''. Limes Wiesbaden 1981. * ''Kleine Halunken-Postille. Eine Querbeet-Lese aus den Lieder- und Lästerbüchern des Fritz Graßhoff''. Special edition for the

Bertelsmann Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...

Lesering (Book Club), Gütersloh 1988

Sources

Friedrich Zehm Friedrich Zehm (22 January 1923 – 4 December 2007) was a German classical composer. Life Zehm was born in Neusalz in Lower Silesia. He received first piano lessons by the composer in Stettin when he was 8 years old. In 1941, he began studies ...

: ''Ein Bündel Chanson''. In: ''The Musical Times'' Nr. 1519. Berkhamsted 1969. * Eva Demski: ''Vagabund, Bänkelsänger, Malerpoet, Klabautermann''. '' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', 22 December 1989 *Wolfgang Ries
Gebrauchsware und Unnützes / Einige subjektive Anmerkungen zu Person und Werk von Fritz Graßhoff
(Gebrauchsware und Unnützes / some subjective remarks on the person and work of Fritz Graßhoff) muschelhaufen.de

References

{{Authority control German poetry collections 1947 poems