Inspiration: Karl Fischer
I had my mom from Germany visiting and she gave me an old fairy tale book, which I owned when I was younger. Now I realise that the illustrations in this book had a strong influence on me and how I perceive Grimm’s Fairy Tales. When I think of them, the images from this book immediately come to mind. The illustrator’s name is Karl Fischer and he is still working to this day (according to Wikipedia that is). I looked at some of his other illustrations and realised that much of his work dominated the East German children’s literature. He has various different styles, one of which has strong colour contrasts with the images being drawn on black backgrounds. However this here is some of his earlier work, which is truly enchanting. It’s from that said book, which was printed in 1956 and is now very rare. The pages are coming out and in it you can find my first illustrations scribbled on the pages with coloured pencil (East German TV characters and tanks nonetheless, being a true East German child ;)) but it still has charm. The book in itself is quite remarkable in that it contains some very rare stories and some with strong local dialects. I wondered if there is any way to preserve it, so I thought I will at least scan the illustrations for you to enjoy. Put your hands together for the talented Herr Karl Fischer!
Der Wolf und die Sieben Geisslein (The Wolf and the Seven Kids) (one of my favourite fairy tales)
Frau Holle (Mother Hulda) (another favourite)
Dornroeschen (Sleeping Beauty)
Tischchen deck dich, Goldesel und Knüppel aus dem Sack (The Wishing-Table, The Gold-Ass,and the Cudgel in the Sack)
Schneewittchen und die Sieben Zwerge (Snowwhite and the Seven Dwarves)
Der Fischer und seine Frau (The Fisherman and his Wife)
Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten (The Town Musicians of Bremen )
Oh, you brought back memories!! I also grew up with that book. Loved those illustrations :) Thanks for the memories
You are most welcome. I now have got volume 2 and 3 as well and might scan them in soon. Just missing volume 4 now.