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John Heartfield George Grosz Neue Jugend

The Berlin Dada Art & Dadaists Writers Of Neue Jugend (New Youth)


The brothers, John Heartfield and Wieland Herzfelde, were the creative force behind the German Dada print masterpiece Neue Jugend (New Youth). The content Heartfield produced removed any doubt that the brothers were committed to an anti-war agenda. It was a slap in the face to the German military command.

Heartfield and Herzfelde printed and handed out Neue Jugend (New Youth) in Berlin in July, 1916. It was the first of a string of sarcastic witty Berlin Dada papers. The revolutionary Dada typography and raw graphic design would have caused an uproar. The anti-war content of Neue Jugend was completely out of line with strict military guidelines of what could be published in Germany at that time.

Wieland Herzfelde had to be clever even to get permission to publish Neue Jugend (New Youth). The war was still on and paper was rationed. The German army was in charge of issuing permits for new publications.

Wieland, always the sharp businessperson, was able to acquire the printing rights of an already existing school magazine titled Neue Jugend (New Youth). Through ownership of those publishing rights, he was able to convert the content of that school magazine into a radical Berlin Dada paper promoting German anti-war sentiment.

Neue Jugend (New Youth) was stitched together in the homes of Heartfield and Herzfelde. Money was tight. But their anti-war sentiments and creativity produced an exceptional publication.

Berlin Dadaists such as Johannes R. Becher, Walter Benjamin, George Grosz, Else Lasker-Schüler, Harry Graf Kessler, Felix J. Weil and Julian Gumperz contributed in some way to the German Dada groundbreaking publication Neue Jugend.