Hansi

We drove from Calais to Alsace today. As we are eventually heading to Provence, this is obviously a detour, the reason for which is known by some . . . but that is tomorrow.

Tonight we are in Colmar, not that far from Strasbourg. It's a town that can appear more German than French and has often over the centuries had to fight for its freedom. The picture I have blipped is of a street in Colmar, typically Alsation in character. I chose this as it gives a link to someone who has intrigued me from the time I was here previously a number of years ago now - a talented caricaturist and watercolour artist, Jean-Jacques Waltz, better known as Hansi.

During German occupation of Alsace, between 1870 and 1914, Hansi stimulated the town's passive resistance to German influence and kept alive the traditional image of Alsace with his humorous drawings of German soldiers and good-natured, likeable villagers in regional costume. At first sight the drawings look like rather sweet children's pictures, it's only in the detail that the true nature of what he was doing is evident.

I haven't been able to link to any of his pictures at the moment, but I'm sure that an Internet search will find some, if anyone doesn't know of his work. Here's a typical picture I've found. Worth looking at closely.