Hans Fischerkoesen

Hans Fischerkoesen was born Hans Fischer in Bad Koesen, Germany. A sickly child, he was encouraged by his parents to indulge in such indoor activities as drawing and puppetry. His asthma kept him from active service during WWI, but he did work in a hospital near the front. His experiences there haunted him for the rest of his life. In the 1920s Fischerkoesen turned to advertising, developing earlier animated cartoons for German merchants. He later established his Fischerkoesen Studio in Leipzig to produce advertising animation. After the Nazis passed an edict in 1941 declaring most non-German art "degenerate", Fischerkoesen was forced by the German government to relocate to Potsdam, near UFA studios, and began producing theatrical cartoons. Despite governmental control, Fischerkoesen managed to keep his productions free of Nazi propaganda. When the war ended, Fischerkoesen was imprisoned by the Soviets as a possible Nazi sympathizer, despite the fact that he had been a member of the Underground. He was released after three years imprisonment, and later escaped to West Germany, where he re-established his advertising animation studio. Fischerkoesen spent the remainder of his life working in advertising, receiving many awards for his work.