Figure 1.--This little German boy was photographed at Paunsdorf-Stüntz. We are not sure about the date, probabluy about 1905. Theboy looks to be about 1 year old and wears a dress and pinafore. Notice his toys and illustrated children's books. Some of these early books for younger children were not bound pages, but rather thick pages that opened up in a chain fashion althought they folded together in book form. Image coutesy of the MD collection.

We have little information on German children's literature at this time. We have little information on either fiction or non-fiction children's books in Germany. Certainly the best known books are the Grimm Brothers story books with fairy tales published in the 19th century. Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-1894) wrote illustrated verses for "Struwwelpeter" in 1844. We do note images of younger German children in the early 20th century reading illustrated children's books. Some of these early books for younger children were not bound pages, but rather thick pages that opened up in a chain fashion althought they folded together in book form. I am not sure what these books were called. These books were primarily picture books for children who could not yet read or who were just beginning to read. Many were beaurifully illustrated. We have seen similar books in Belgium and other countries. We are not familiar with publications like the Boys' Own Paper in Germany or annuals. Our information, however, is very limited. Hopefully our German readers will provide some additional information so we can build a more ballanced few of German's children's literature.

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Created: February 26, 2003
Last updated: February 26, 2003