Museum

Museum for Caricature Wilhelm Busch

Karikieren heißt kurz zusammengefasst: "Bewusstes Hervorheben des Charakterisierenden einer Erscheinung, Abstrahieren von den Nebensächlichkeiten, dem Allgemeinen". (Eduard Fuchs)

In special exhibitions the Karikaturmuseum Wilhelm Busch shows the work of international artists who, by virtue of their critical attitude, are akin to Wilhelm Busch, e. g. James Gillray, George Cruikshank, Honoré Daumier, J. J. Grandville, Francisco de Goya, Heinrich Zille, Walter Trier, Loriot, Gerald Scarfe or Ronald Searle.

The museum’s collection with caricatures and critical graphic arts has been continually expanded and now includes more than 40,000 different items. The main focuses here are on representatives of the “Golden Age” of English satire, including William Hogarth, George Cruikshank, James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, artists who worked for the German magazine Simplicissimus, and contemporary international satirical artists such as Tomi Ungerer, Jean-Jacques Sempé, André François, David Hughes, Steve Bell and Gerhard Haderer.

Wilhelm Busch

Over and above the "Wilhelm Busch - Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und Zeichenkunst" (Wilhelm Busch - German Museum for Caricature and Draftsmanship), as it is officially named, keeps the most extensive collection of works by German artist Wilhelm Busch (1832–1908), born in a small village near Hanover. He became worldwide famous for his picture story (“Bildergeschichte”) Max und Moritz from 1864, being one of the most influential ancestors of modern comic-strip art. The Busch-collection contains the bigger part of his artistic complete works: drawings, paintings, manuscripts and printed copies of his writings, including the sketches and drawings for Max und Moritz and other picture stories.

Wallmodenpalais

The museum is housed in the Wallmodenpalais (built in 1779 to 1782), idyllically located right in the middle of an English landscape garden, the so-called Georgengarten, forming part of the world-famous royal Herrenhäuser Gärten.

(Source: Wilhelm Busch - Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und Zeichenkunst)