The former director of the Caricatura Museum, Achim Frenz, died suddenly and unexpectedly on the night of March 11. It was only last October that Frenz retired from active service as director of the museum with the City of Frankfurt, which he had headed since its foundation in 2008. During his time as director of the museum, Frenz was responsible for building up and expanding the museum's collection, which at the time of his retirement included more than 8,000 original works by the cartoonists of the New Frankfurt School as well as around 6,500 drawings by other caricaturists. Under his direction, the regular rehanging of the permanent exhibition on the New Frankfurt School and 42 special exhibitions were curated. The crowning glory of his career was the current exhibition "Ach was. Loriot for the Hundredth" in honor of the probably most important German humorist.
Frankfurt's Lord Mayor Mike Josef expresses his condolences to the family and friends on behalf of the city: "The sudden and much too early death of Achim Frenz has hit me very hard. He was a life-affirming personality who combined culture and humor. Thanks to him, Frankfurt became the capital of satire. With his tireless drive and great strength of will, he not only got the Caricatura Museum off the ground, but also made it a successful institution for the city of Frankfurt, with an impact far beyond the city limits. We will always remember his commitment and dedication to the city."
Frankfurt's Head of Cultural Affairs, Ina Hartwig, was deeply saddened by the news of Achim Frenz's death: "I was shocked to hear the news of Achim Frenz's death. It was only at the end of last year that we bid him farewell on his retirement with a ceremony at the Protestant Academy. He was full of plans and ideas. His work for the city of Frankfurt and for the New Frankfurt School was always characterized by great dedication. This dedication is reflected in his great achievements. Without Achim Frenz, there would be no Caricatura Museum in Frankfurt, which helped to establish comic art as a genre to be taken seriously. With his passing, we have lost a great visionary and tireless campaigner for comic art. We will miss him very much."
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Caricatura Museum, Otto Kajetan Weixler, expressed his "deep dismay and bewilderment" and Pit Knorr, author of the Neue Frankfurter Schule, said he was "shocked and very, very sad". Martin Sonntag, who succeeded Achim Frenz as director of the museum in January 2024, spoke of a great loss: "He was not only a pioneer and trailblazer for comic art, but also a mentor and friend. He achieved so much and had so many plans. Comic art stands still for a moment - to carry on in his spirit."
The idea of founding the Caricatura Museum can be traced back to Achim Frenz: Back at the turn of the millennium, he was entrusted with the development of a museum concept by Hans-Bernhard Nordhoff, then head of the cultural department. Frenz had previously spoken out in favor of building up a collection of the New Frankfurt School and making it permanently accessible to the public. Under the motto "Show what is possible", he campaigned for eight years for an independent and autonomous museum. It was initially run as a branch of the Historical Museum, but in 2019 it was placed directly under the Cultural Office. The head of the City of Frankfurt's Department of Culture was shocked by the sudden death: "In the years of our fruitful collaboration, we learned to appreciate each other. In him, Frankfurt has lost a pioneer of comic art who always had the further development of the 'most beautiful museum in the world' in mind."
In collaboration with various publishers, Frenz published the Caricatura Museum Edition book series, which documents the diverse exhibitions at the museum. He and his team also established the Festival of Comedy, which presents satirical stage art during the Museumsuferfest every year to complement the exhibitions at the Weckmarkt. In 2020, the Caricatura Museum Frankfurt and the Caricatura Galerie Kassel were honored with the Hessian Culture Prize. This is the first time a museum and a gallery have received this award.
Achim Frenz, born in Bremerhaven in 1957, came into contact with comic art at an early age. Born in Bremen, he completed his studies at the Kunst- und Gesamthochschule Kassel with his diploma thesis "Die Grenzen der Satire". Together with fellow students, he designed and distributed political posters with a comic-satirical approach in the artists' collective "Visuelle Opposition" and focused on developing his own comic style. The lessons initiated by the students with F.K. Waechter and F.W. Bernstein, co-founders of the New Frankfurt School, who had a significant influence on the post-war satire and humor landscape. After graduating, he initially worked as an editor and cartoonist for the North Hessian edition of "Pflasterstrand", where he also dealt intensively with the medium of satire. In the mid-1980s, he played a leading role in initiating and curating exhibitions in Kassel that documented contemporary comic art in Germany. For the first time, comic art was recognized as an independent genre to be taken seriously. With the founding of the Kulturbahnhof Kassel, Frenz and his colleagues then also created a permanent exhibition venue for comic art: the Caricatura - Galerie für Komische Kunst Kassel, which he managed until 2000 and on whose board he was represented until his death.
Frenz was also co-editor of the satirical magazine Titanic from 2006. In the summer academies for comic art, which the Caricatura Galerie Kassel organizes in cooperation with the Caricatura Museum Frankfurt, he has been committed to training young illustrators since 2007. His expertise was also in demand as a jury member, including for the Göttinger Elch, the German Cartoon Prize, the Wilhelm Busch Prize and the Ludwig Emil Grimm Prize
