Kulas, Heinz, Leopold Unger, Bernhard and Hella Verlage, editors.

[WEST BERLIN SUBCULTURE] Das Letzte: eine seltsame Zeitschrift [The last one: a strange journal]. Original promotional poster.

[Berlin: self-published, 1967–1968]. Single leaf of orange stock, 44.7 × 30.8 cm. Very small marginal tear; else very good. Item #55257

Rare poster promoting the rare West Berlin underground satirical journal issued from 1967 and 1968, whose contributors were anarchic bohemians from the art and literature scene, including Kurt Mühlenhaupt, Peter-Paul Zahl, Johannes Grützke, and Horst Tomayer. The distance from the established art and literary world was programmatic, even though the aforementioned protagonists gained some notoriety through their various projects. For example, Johannes Grützke became an acclaimed painter, but most of them remained thoroughly anti-establishment. Thus Horst Tomayer, later editor of the influential left-wing magazine "Konkret", became famous above all for his telephone calls printed under the title "Deutsche Gespräche" (German Conversations), which were conducted under a false name and with a disguised voice, in which he elicited reactions and statements from his counterparts that they would not otherwise have made in public. After his death, for example, the high-circulation magazine "Der Spiegel" published an obituary in which a call that went down in literary history was highlighted. In a call to Ernst Jünger in 1982, Tomayer pretended to be the actor Luis Trenker, who played in numerous entertainment films during the National Socialist era and enjoyed great popularity with Hitler. However, Jünger politely ignored the hymns of praise for Göbbels by the alleged Nazi actor. Nevertheless, the bizarre phone call made it into Jünger's diaries, which ultimately had to be corrected after a preprint. This anecdote characterizes the political thrust and humor of the magazine very well. For example, the cover of issue number 2 features a caricature of Ernst Jünger. The published drawings are thematically and stylistically reminiscent of the tradition of George Grosz. For example, the main themes of the satire are the petty bourgeoisie, militarism, double standards, nationalism, and bureaucracy.

Cf. Dietzel/Hügel 659.