Friedrich Karl Waechter (3 November 1937 in Danzig – 16 September 2005 in Frankfurt) was a renowned German cartoonist, author, and playwright.
Waechter was born in Danzig as a son of a teacher. His family fled over the Baltic Sea after World War II and settled in Sahms (Schleswig-Holstein).
Waechter attended the Lauenburg Scholar School in Ratzeburg, where his graphic talents became apparent. He then studied graphic art in Hamburg. In 1962, he moved to Frankfurt and took a job drawing cartoons in an advertisement magazine Die Zeit. His work attracted the attention of the editors of the soon-to-be satire magazine, Pardon. They gave Waechter a preliminary copy and asked for his suggestions. Waechter's constructive criticism earned him a job with the fledgling magazine.
While at Pardon, he co-founded the Neue Frankfurter Schule (New Frankfurt School), a group of eminent comic writers and cartoonists. The name was a play on the Frankfurter Schule of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer. The group included Robert Gernhardt, F. W. Bernstein, Bernd Eilert, Eckhard Henscheid, Peter Knorr, Hans Traxler, and Chlodwig Poth. Their work celebrated subversive nonsense, typified by Pardon's regular "Welt in Spiegel" ("In the Mirror") feature.
Waechter became a father and, by 1970, began writing children's books. Many of these encouraged the reader to complete puzzles and drawings, write in the book, cut it up, or otherwise participate in the story. The books appealed to both children and adults and showcased his artistic talents: simple yet expressive cartoons, carefully cross-hatched pen and ink, collage, and realistic paintings. He would write some forty books throughout his life. They are typified by Anti-Struwwwelpeter ("Anti-Strawpeter," a parody of Heinrich Hoffman's popular German children's book, Struwwelpeter), Die Schoepfung (Waechter's re-telling of Biblical creation), and Der Kronenklauer ("The Crown Snatchers," an anti-authoritarian fable).
In 1979 he co-founded Titanic, another satirical magazine. His cartoons featured regularly until 1992, when he began focusing on teaching, writing books, and writing and directing plays.
Waechter's final work was Vollmond ("Full Moon"), a fantastic tale of a space journey. He completed it while undergoing treatment for lung cancer. He died on September 16, 2005, at the age of 67, leaving behind a wife and three sons.
