Frantz Wittkamp

Poet Frantz Wittkamp takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the world

The poems by Frantz Wittkamp are impossible to forget. The elephants and ravens and whoever else is cavorting about. And this is what makes a poem for Wittkamp. "You can memorize rhymes," he says. "They catch your ear. They are anchors for the memory."

Frantz Wittkamp observes. He observes people, animals, everyday situations, behaviors. And he already has the material from which his verses are made. He now has over 1000 poems. He knows most of them by heart.

"Voices told me to take a break to relax a bit. And I had nothing against it." Or: "Every thing has a purpose. Whenever I drop cookies in my coffee, the coffee splashes out of the cup." There is wit in everything he writes. Or wisdom. Or both.

At first, the Lüdinghausen native worked as an illustrator. For DTV Junior or for Christine Nöstlinger's "Konrad oder das Kind aus der Konservenbüchse". "From the age of 40, I only wrote and painted," says Wittkamp. Roger Mc Gough, who has already worked for the Beatles, even translated his book "Into the woods gone a lion caught" into English. "The humorous and enigmatic aspects make translation very difficult, of course," says Wittkamp. The illustrations for the book were created by Grüffelo inventor Axel Scheffler.

Everything is white or at least light gray in Frantz Wittkamp's gallery and studio. "Small can be colorful," says Wittkamp. This can also be seen in the colorful fonts in which his poems can be read on the postcards. Everything that is large and hangs on the wall must be discreet. "Perhaps that has to do with my sensitive soul," says Wittkamp with a twinkle in his eye. In fact, he tells almost everything with a wink.

Connected to Lüdinghausen

The Wittkamps have been connected to Lüdinghausen for a long time. They met at school when they went to "Cani" together. Annette Wittkamp was accepted to the Folkwangschule at the age of 16, where she studied sculpture. At 20, she had her first studio, and at 30, the Wittkamps had their first gallery with only their own works. Annette Wittkamp quickly became very successful and had early commissions for the city. Many of her bronze works can be admired in Lüdinghausen.

"We like the town," says Frantz Wittkamp. They never really wanted to move away. "Here you have a view of the Münsterland. There's a lot of nature here," says Frantz Wittkamp. Once a day, he goes to Klutensee and looks out over the water.

And the beauty of art for both of them is: "We're always discovering something new. We are always evolving." They have also passed on their love of art to their children. Daughter Julia is a children's book painter, son Valentin is a graphic artist and helped design his father's last books. He is now studying theology.

"How do you actually become a poet?" I want to know from Frantz Wittkamp. "It's a predisposition," he believes. "You can do it or you can't." Nadine Wenge

Annette Wittkamp-Fröhling passed away in May 2021.