''Muschelhaufen'' (heap of shells) is a German

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

, originally combining literature and

graphic arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface.

. It was founded by

Erik Martin Erik Martin (12 January 1936 in Neuss – 25 April 2017) was a German writer, songwriter and composer of songs. He was the founder and editor of the literature and art magazine ''Muschelhaufen''. Life and work Erik Martin was the first-born son ...

from

Viersen Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...

in 1969 and published - with an interruption of 11 years - until 2008, when the last issue came out (No. 47/48-2007/2008).

History

The annual replaced a small magazine that was published from 1962 – 1969 in the wake of the

German Youth Movement The German Youth Movement (german: Die deutsche Jugendbewegung) is a collective term for a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896. It consists of numerous associations of young people that focus on outdoor activities. The movement ...

. When the members finally spread all over the country, literature, arts and music became the main subjects of the review. In 1969 it got the new title and the ''Muschelhaufen'' was born. From 1975 to 1985 there was a publishing-break. Since 1993 only first publications were edited and each issue had an overboarding part of graphics, paintings, cartoons and photographs. In 1999 ''Muschelhaufen'' was subtitled "Jahresschrift für Literatur und Graphik". Among the permanent members of the editorial staff were artist Martin Lersch und writer Peter Klusen. Muschelhaufencover

Subjects and specialities

The subjects of each issue were prose, poetry, essay and critique – throughout combined with illustrations, photographs and graphics. Many famous writers published poems and stories in ''Muschelhaufen'' but also new texts by upcoming authors were included, e.g. Katrin Askan, Uwe Tellkamp and Markus Orths – all of whom were awarded later the

Ingeborg Bachmann Prize The Festival of German-Language Literature (german: Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur, links=no) is a literary event which takes place annually in Klagenfurt, Austria. During this major literary festival which lasts for several days a number of ...

Theo Breuer Theo Breuer (born 30 March 1956) is a German poet, essayist, editor, translator and publisher. Life and work Theo Breuer was born in Bürvenich, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany and educated at Cologne University where he studied German an ...

, freelancer of ''Muschelhaufen'' from 1994 to 2008, annually contributed long essays (e.g. on

Mail art Mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, is an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the postal service. It initially developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence Schoo ...

, contemporary poetry and prose) and new poems. Erik Martin edited numerous special editions (dedicated to writers Werner Helwig, Fritz Grasshoff and Margot Scharpenberg and to artist Gertrude Degenhardt). Further special editions concerning the literature of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

(2005) and the young Danish and

Norwegian literature Norwegian literature is literature composed in Norway or by Norwegian people. The history of Norwegian literature starts with the pagan Eddaic poems and skaldic verse of the 9th and 10th centuries with poets such as Bragi Boddason and Eyvindr ...

(2000).

Writers and artists

Well-known writers that published in ''Muschelhaufen'' are the Austrian poet

Ernst Jandl Ernst Jandl (; 1 August 1925 – 9 June 2000) was an Austrian writer, poet, and translator. He became known for his experimental lyric, mainly sound poems (''Sprechgedichte'') in the tradition of concrete and visual poetic forms. Poetry Inf ...

Annemarie Schimmel Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992. Early life and education ...

(honoured with the

Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (English: ''German Publishers and Booksellers Association''), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in ...

Günter Kunert Günter Kunert (; 6 March 1929 – 21 September 2019) was a German writer. Based in East Berlin, he published poetry from 1947, supported by Bertold Brecht. After he had signed a petition against the deprivation of the citizenship of Wolf Biermann ...

Siegfried Lenz Siegfried Lenz (; 17 March 19267 October 2014) was a German writer of novels, short stories and essays, as well as dramas for radio and the theatre. In 2000 he received the Goethe Prize on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's bi ...

Walter Bauer Walter Bauer (; 8 August 1877 – 17 November 1960) was a German theologian, lexicographer of New Testament Greek, and scholar of the development of Early Christianity. Life Bauer was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, and raised in Marburg, ...

Christoph Meckel Christoph Meckel (12 June 1935 – 29 January 2020) was a German author and graphic artist. He received awards for his works which connect illustrations with the written text, sometimes texts by others. Life Born in Berlin, Meckel spent his yo ...

Lutz Rathenow Lutz Rathenow (born 22 September 1952 in Jena) is a dissident German writer and poet who was haunted by the Secret Police until the German reunification. From then on, his fortunes changed, and he received several literary honors and awards. ...

and

James Krüss James Krüss (31 May 1926 – 2 August 1997) was a German writer of children's and picture books, illustrator, poet, dramatist, scriptwriter, translator, and collector of children's poems and folk songs. For his contribution as a children's writ ...

and many more. Erik Martin invested special efforts in recovering the work of the authors Werner Helwig and Albert Vigoleis Thelen (still publishing unknown texts from both). There were young (Jan Wagner, Anja Utler) and well-known poets (

Friederike Mayröcker Friederike Mayröcker (20 December 1924 – 4 June 2021) was an Austrian writer of poetry and prose, audio plays, children's books and dramatic texts. She experimented with language, and was regarded as an avantgarde poet, and as one of the lea ...

Eva Zeller Eva Zeller (25 January 1923 – 5 September 2022) was a German poet and novelist. Zeller was born in Eberswalde, Province of Brandenburg on 25 January 1923. She lived in the former East Germany until 1956, then lived for six years in Namibia, be ...

) publishing in the annual and famous artists delivered their photographs and paintings to it (Barbara Klemm,

Clemens Weiss Clemens Weiss (born 1955) is a German artist living in the United States. Youth and Education Clemens Weiss grew up in the Region of the Lower Rhine Valley where he received technical training in mechanical engineering from 1970 to 1973. Fr ...

Elke Rehder Elke Rehder (born 1953) is a German artist living in Barsbüttel Germany. Life and work Elke Rehder studied at the Heatherley School of Fine Art in London (1979–80). During that time she was predominantly active as a sculptor, where she creat ...

).Helga Seifert: ''Der letzte Muschelhaufen''. In:

Rheinische Post ''Rheinische Post'' is a major German regional daily newspaper published since 1946 by the ''Rheinische Post Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH'' company, and headquartered in Düsseldorf. The Post is especially dominant in the western part of North Rhine- ...

, 24 February 2007

References

Secondary Literature

* Michael Buselmeier: ''Hungerphasen, Wandervögel''. In:

Frankfurter Rundschau The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (FR) is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It is published every day but Sunday as a city, two regional and one nationwide issues and offers an online edition (see link below) as well as an e-pa ...

, 8 April 2000 * Hermann Kurzke: ''Mit frischem Wind in die Romantik''. In:

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

, 1 January 1994 * Paul Wietzorek: ''Muschelhaufen 2007/2008''. In: ''Der Niederrhein''. No. 3/2007, Krefeld,

External links

Homepage of ''Muschelhaufen''

(Photo: Ursula Brunbauer)
ZDB Katalog
1969 establishments in West Germany 2008 disestablishments in Germany Annual magazines published in Germany Defunct literary magazines published in Germany German-language magazines Magazines established in 1969 Magazines disestablished in 2008 Paper art Visual arts magazines published in Germany {{italic title