Stettenheim, Julius:

By: Isidore Singer , Frederick T. Haneman

German humorist; born at Hamburg Nov. 2, 1831. He at first pursued a commercial career, but went in 1857 to Berlin, where he studied until 1860. Returning to Hamburg in 1861, he founded the humoristic-satiric periodical "Die Wespen." This publication did not attain any considerable success, whereupon Stettenheim transferred its publication to Berlin (1868); there it appeared under the name of "Berliner Wespen," and soon took rank among the best of its kind in Europe. The name of the paper was subsequently changed to "Deutsche Wespen," under which name it still appears (1905) with Stettenheim as editor. From 1885 to 1894 he was the editor also of "Das Humoristische Deutschland," which was published first at Stuttgart, and later at Berlin.

Stettenheim is regarded as the greatest living satirist in Germany, and there have been few public events of importance which he has not commemorated by poems published in his paper. Many of these poems were soon forgotten, but the figure of "Wippchen," which began to appear in 1870 as war reporter, still continues to hold the attention of the German public. Of Stettenheim's works the following may be mentioned: "Letzte Fahrt," Berlin, 1861; "Berliner Blaubuch aus dem Archiv der Komik," ib. 1869-70; "Wippchens Sämmtliche Berichte," ib. 1878-96; "Muckenichs Reden und Thaten," ib. 1885; "Wippchens Gedichte," ib. 1889 and 1894; "Humor und Komik," ib. 1890; "Wippchen in Chicago," ib. 1890; "Ein Lustig Buch," ib. 1894; "Heitere Erinnerungen," ib. 1895; "Humoresken und Satiren," ib. 1896; "Heiteres Allerlei," ib. 1898; "Der Moderne Knigge," ib. 1899; "Lustige Gesellschaft," ib. 1900.