F. K. Waechter
1937–2005 · German cartoonist, author and playwright, a key figure of the Neue Frankfurter Schule
Friedrich Karl Waechter (Danzig, 1937 – Frankfurt am Main, 2005) was a German cartoonist, author and playwright, best known for his satirical drawings and his children's books. Although he also wrote plays and novels, his reputation rests mainly on his work as an illustrator and graphic humorist.
After World War II his family settled in Schleswig-Holstein. In 1962 he moved to Frankfurt and drew cartoons for the magazine Die Zeit. His work for the satirical magazine Pardon earned him a place on its staff, and there he helped found the Neue Frankfurter Schule, a group of writers and cartoonists who celebrated subversive nonsense. Around 1970 he began writing children's books that invited readers to draw, cut and take part in the story. He wrote some forty books in all, combining pen-and-ink cross-hatching, collage and realistic painting.
Among his best-known books are the parody Der Anti-Struwwelpeter and Die Schöpfung, his retelling of the biblical creation. In 1979 he co-founded the satirical magazine Titanic. He received several prizes, including the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1975 and 1999, and his work remains part of German children's literature.