Die Groszstadt

 Hänsel und Gretel in der Groszstadt
 (Hansel and Gretel in the big city)

Excerpt from illustration project at the university, 2010, during the lectureship of Lars Henkel. We had to come up with a new setting for the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. So in the story we don't have bread crumbs, a wood or a witch. Not even a oven I did choose an early 1930s city and an evil icecream selling clown as the witch.

Lady in red

Unpublished drawing

Viel zu hot!

It is done. My illustrated book called „VIEL ZU HOT!“ tells the story of three young people who listened to hot jazz and swing music in the late 1930s and early 40s in Wiesbaden, Germany. The text is taken from interviews I have done with contemporary witnesses earlier this year. I feel one could fill many books with the things they experienced. I did choose some of the anecdotes that relate to my topic: Swing music and being young in the Third Reich when almost everything was dominated by the Nazi ideology. In the near future I am looking for a way to publish my work. This pages are a preview of the book.

swing and life

Dear Readers,
for my friends from all over the world I decided to write in english and hope not to make too much grammar mistakes ;-)

I am currently working on my diploma thesis and won't have the time to post every day. But from time to time I will publish pictures from my past projects or sketches that won't be used in the book.

The ongoing diploma project is about Germany in the late 1930s and early 40s. Most people can't imagine how it was to be young at that time. So I did interviews with senior citizens who liked swing music when they were in their teens.
I love swing music and as we know the Nazis din't like it at all. It was never really "verboten" but still there were some laws against music made by jewish and (later) american musicians. Also the young people who listened to swing were accused to have low moral standards and sometimes were threatened by the Gestapo.

I was really impressed by their stories. I hope my book will capture the spirit of them and share it with you.