An important platform for Käthe Kollwitz’s work was the magazine “Simplicissimus” from 1908. It was one of Germany’s best-known satirical magazines and was published from 1896 to 1944. The magazine was famous for its critical attitude towards political and social grievances and used art, caricatures and satire to draw attention to them.
The Munich magazine Simplicissimus, founded by Albert Langen in 1896, was a political satirical weekly. With its bitingly critical articles on the politics of the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, it positioned itself as anti-feudal and anti-clerical. It provided a platform for revolt against the authoritarian state and class society. Its heraldic animal, a bright red bulldog, was designed by Thomas Theodor Heine, who helped design the magazine as a graphic artist. Through the contributions of artistic and literary celebrities, the Wochenblatt advanced in its early days to become a magazine of the avant-garde
Initially conceived as a literary paper, many important authors of the era contributed to its prominence, such as Frank Wedekind, the brothers Heinrich Mann and Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hermann Hesse, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, to name but a few. Thomas Mann was even part of the editorial staff as a permanent employee. The founder Albert Langen, who had previously tried his hand as a painter, made many contacts with cultural workers and tried to increase the demand for his magazine with talented draftsmen. Among the best-known artists who published their works in Simplicissimus were Käthe Kollwitz, Georg Grosz, Lovis Corinth, Alfred Kubin, Heinrich Zille and Josef Hegenbarth. The Munich draftsmen Karl Arnold, Olaf Gulbransson, Thomas Theodor Heine, Bruno Paul and Eduard Thöny were particularly prominent in the magazine.
