Lothar Meggendorfer (6 November 1847 in Munich – 7 July 1925 in Munich) was a German

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and early cartoonist known for his

pop-up book The term pop-up book is often applied to any book with three-dimensional pages, although it is properly the umbrella term for movable book, pop-ups, tunnel books, transformations, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more, each ...

s. He was first published in 1862 in the ''

Fliegende Blätter The ' ("Flying Leaves"; also translated as "Flying Pages" or "Loose Sheets") was a German weekly humor and satire magazine appearing between 1845 and 1944 in Munich. Many of the illustrations were by well-known artists such as Wilhelm Busch, Co ...

'', an illustrated comic weekly, and from 1868 in the bi-weekly '' Münchener Bilderbogen''. He was the publisher of ''

Meggendorfer-Blätter ''Meggendorfer-Blätter'' was a German language, German art and satirical magazine, which was published in Munich, Germany, from 1888 to 1944. The magazine was closely related to the illustrator and painter Lothar Meggendorfer (1847-1925). Histo ...

'', an art and satirical magazine, from 1888 to 1905. He also illustrated a number of books with text by

Julius Beck Julius Beck ( hu, Beck Gyula) is a former association football player who represented New Zealand at international level. Beck made a solitary official international appearance for New Zealand in a 4–0 loss to New Caledonia ) , anthem ...

, among them ''Neues Struwwelpeterbuch'' published by J.F. Schreiber in the 1890s, and created some 40 board games. Every other year, the

Movable Book Society The Movable Book Society (MBS) is a nonprofit organization which provides a forum for artists, book sellers, book producers, collectors, curators, and others to share enthusiasm and exchange information about pop-up and movable books. The Society h ...

awards a pop-up book prize named after Meggendorfer.

Early life and education

Lorthar Meggendorfer, born in 1847 to Johann Nepomuk Meggendorfer and his second wife, Karoline Sichener, was the youngest of his father’s twenty-five children. His father, Johann, died in 1860. Meggendorfer began studying art at the Academy of Arts in 1862 and earned money for his education by playing the

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

. Meggendorfer was a student of the Munich-based actor and puppeteer Joseph Schmid, who was also known as “Papa Schmid”. The puppet actions would later influence Meggendorfer’s artwork.

Illustrator

Meggendorfer started working at the humor journal ''

'' (''Flying Leaves''), an illustrated comic weekly, in 1866. Others on staff included a former teacher,

Wilhelm von Diez Albrecht Christoph Wilhelm von Diez (17 January 1839, Bayreuth – 25 February 1907, Munich) was a German painter and illustrator of the Munich School. Life He attended a trade school in Munich, followed by the Polytechnic School (precursor of ...

, and illustrators

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

, Caspar Braun, Max Haider, Eduard Ille, Ludwig von Negal,

Adolf Oberlander Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

Franz von Pocci Count Franz Graf von Pocci (7 March 1807 – 7 May 1876) was a significant official in the court of King Ludwig the First of Bavaria, best known as the founding director of the Munich Marionette Theatre where he was a shadow puppeteer and wrote ...

, Arpad Schmidhammer, and

Moritz von Schwind image:Moritz von Schwind 2.jpg, 200px, Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860. Moritz von Schwind (21 January 1804 – 8 February 1871) was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna. Schwind's genius was lyrical—he drew inspiration from chivalry, folklore, and th ...

. Meggendorfer also illustrated for the bi-weekly ''Münchener Bilderbogen'' (''Munich Pictures'') published by Braun & Schneider.

Paper Engineer

Researchers have noted that Meggendorfer explored ways to make his illustrations move. His first movable picture book, ''Lebende Bilder'' (''Living Pictures''), as a Christmas gift to his eldest son, Adolph. Braun & Schneider published the book in 1878. Meggendorfer’s movable books were translated and sold not only in Germany but Belgium, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Hungary, Russia, Spain and the United States. File:Attention! A Movable Amusing Toy Book cover 1906 Lothar Meggendorfer.jpg, ''Attention! A Movable Amusing Toy-Book'', 1906 File:The Moor from Attention! by Lothar Meggendorfer, 1906. Pull tab moves arms.jpg, The Moor from ''Attention!'' Pull tab moves arms. File:The Moor from Attention! by Lothar Meggendorfer, 1906.jpg, The Moor from ''Attention!'' Pull tab moves arms. File:Attention! Lothar Meggendorfer 1906 The Moor mechanisms.jpg, Rivets and tabs back side of The Moor from ''Attention!''

Family

Meggendorfer married Elise Roedel in 1873. They had six children, two sons and four daughters. From 1891 to 1901 the family lived on a farm on the Jägerhaus estate in

Bad Kohlgrub Bad Kohlgrub is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. It lies west of Murnau am Staffelsee and north of Oberammergau, and is connected to both by the Ammergau Railway. Skiing facilities include 4 ski lifts, ...

, Upper Bavaria. The family were also musically inclined. Meggendorfer played the contra-guitar. Elise played the piano and the children various string instruments.

Additional Reading

* Hildegard Krahé: ''Lothar Meggendorfers Spielwelt ''. Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag München 1983, * ''Lothar Meggendorfers Lebende Bilderbücher''. Katalog zur Ausstellung des Puppentheatermuseums im Münchener Stadtmuseum 11. Dezember 1980 – 28. Februar 1981, Eigenverlag München * ''Lothar Meggendorfer - Annotiertes Werkverzeichnis; Bücher und verwandte Druckwerke, Spiele, Modellierbogen ; Bibliography; books and related printings, games, cut-out sheets''. Bearbeitet von Georg Friedrich und Reinhilde von Katzenheim. edition comboxx, Berlin - Wien - Zürich 2012, Catalogues raisonnés, 395 pages. In German and English. * Helmut Herbst: ''Die Illustrationen der "Meggendorfer Blätter''. In: Oberbayrisches Archiv Band 106 Seite 7 – 228, Verlag des Historischen Vereins von Oberbayern 1982, München * Doris von Senger: ''Lothar Meggendorfer und die Meggendorfer Blätter''. Dissertation München 1938

Selected works

File:Die Gartenlaube (1889) b 809.jpg, Lothar Meggendorfer and his works(1889) File:Münchener Maler-Humoristen, 1890.png, Münchener Maler-Humoristen illustrators 1890 File:Breaking a shop window - The Tricks of Naughty Boys (1900), page 8b - BL.jpg, ''Breaking a shop window'' - The Tricks of Naughty Boys (1900), page 8b File:Neues Struwwelpeterbuch.jpg, ''Neues

Struwwelpeter ''Der Struwwelpeter'' ("shock-headed Peter" or "Shaggy Peter") is an 1845 German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastr ...

buch'' File: Meggendorfer's Humoristische Blätter.jpg, ''Meggendorfer’s Humoristische Blätter'' (1890) File:Travels of Little Lord Thumb and His Man Damien, 1891.jpg, ''Travels of Little Lord Thumb and His Man Damien'', 1891

References

External links

Toy and Movable (T&M) Books
— instruction regarding use of the

Library of Congress Subject Heading The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) comprise a thesaurus (in the information science sense, a controlled vocabulary) of subject headings, maintained by the United States Library of Congress, for use in bibliographic records. LC Subject ...

for current acquisitions *
''Meggendorfer-Album''
(Digitalisat)
''Münchener Kasperl-Theater''
(München 1879, Digitalisat)
''Nimm mich mit! Ein lehrreiches Bilderbuch''
(München 1926, Digitalisat)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meggendorfer, Lothar 1847 births 1925 deaths German cartoonists Pop-up book artists German magazine founders