''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 w ...

. It could be translated as ''Scoundrel's

Postil A postil or postill (; ) was originally a term for Bible commentaries. It is derived from the Latin ("after these words from Scripture"), referring to biblical readings. The word first occurs in the chronicle (with reference to examples of 1228 a ...

'', and it reflects the title of

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

's ''Hauspostille'', a collection of poems, which parodies

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

's ''Hauspostille'', a collection of

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

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'' and '' Lisa an ...

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 Mehring was Jewish, the so ...

and

Joachim Ringelnatz Joachim Ringelnatz is the pen name of the German author and painter Hans Bötticher (7 August 1883 in Wurzen, Saxony – 17 November 1934 in Berlin). From 1894 to 1900 he lived with his family in the Gottschedstrasse 40 in Leipzig. Profile Hi ...

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 Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

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 Norbert Arnold Wilhelm Richard Schultze (26 January 1911 in Braunschweig, Brunswick – 14 October 2002 in Bad Tölz) was a prolific Germany, German composer of Film score, film music and a member of the NSDAP and of Joseph Goebbels' staff dur ...

, 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 Gustav Knuth (7 July 1901 – 1 February 1987) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1935 and 1982 and starred in the TV series ''Alle meine Tiere''. He was married to the actress Elisabeth Lennartz. Selected ...

, 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, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

s and satires), translations of Roman authors such as Martial, Catullus and

Philodemus Philodemus of Gadara (, ''Philodēmos'', "love of the people"; – prob. or 35 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher and poet. He studied under Zeno of Sidon in Athens, before moving to Rome, and then to Herculaneum. He was once known chiefly for h ...

, published by

Kiepenheuer & Witsch Kiepenheuer & Witsch is a German publishing house, established in 1948 by Joseph C. Witsch and Gustav Kiepenheuer. The partners initially held 30% and 40% of the company's share capital respectively. The publisher is based in Cologne, Germany an ...

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 (

in German IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

) 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 The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

Lesering (Book Club), Gütersloh 1988

Sources

* Friedrich Zehm: ''Ein Bündel Chanson''. In: ''The Musical Times'' Nr. 1519. Berkhamsted 1969. * Eva Demski: ''Vagabund, Bänkelsänger, Malerpoet, Klabautermann''. ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'', 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