100th birthday
“That’s why we still love him”: The media celebrates Loriot
Loriot and his green sofa are inseparable.
© imago images/TBM United Archives
Even twelve years after his death, Loriot has lost none of his relevance. In many media outlets, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, he is recognized for his compassionate humor, which never rises above people.
He is undoubtedly one of the greatest humorists the country has produced. On the occasion of his 100th birthday star Loriot was honored with “a kind of homage” in which companions have their say. But numerous other media also remembered the comedian, who died twelve years ago.
“Southgerman newspaper”:
Axel Hacke probably gave the most impressive tribute in the “South German newspaper” written. The columnist starts from the – at first glance – surprising thesis that the core of Loriot’s work is the tragic – and not the comic. Humor, as Loriot understands it, is not the opposite of tragedy, but is in deep inner connection with it: “Every joy in life that does not consist of banal fun has its roots here.”
By repeatedly holding a mirror up to us and showing us the human drama, Loriot gives us consolation: “I don’t think an author can do more for people: comfort by making their own laughter possible. Maybe we should remember that “Consolation is one of the most beautiful acts of kindness that exists between people. It requires that you have listened to them and looked at them. That is exactly what Loriot’s work contains everywhere.”
SWR:
Similar to Hacke, Michael Schäfermeyer also emphasizes SWR Above all, the attitude that Loriot takes towards people stands out: the humorist is on an equal level. “He often looks very similar to the subject of his comedy, doesn’t look down on the characters he cartoonishly exaggerates, but seems to become a part of them.” Loriot’s criticism remains “always mild in tone, almost understanding.”
“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”
Loriot shows the inevitable failure of human communication, writes Hubert Spiegel in his article in the “FAZ”, which is entitled, with good reason, “The Human Deficiency.” “He portrayed this failure again and again, in countless facets, a pedantic chronicler of human comedy and at the same time a Prussian anarch who liked to turn things on their head. In agreement with Hacke and Schäfermeyer, Spiegel also emphasizes the comfort in Loriot’s gaze: “The fact that he still knew how to look at us so indulgently and lovingly is why we still love him.”
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“the daily newspaper”
“And then Loriot got me at some point.” Nina Apin describes in her personal text in the “daily newspaper”how, after initial skepticism, she still became a supporter: “In any case, I was now all-German enough to be able to enjoy the tender attacks of irony that Loriot fired at the whole (West) German philistine madness, from game evenings to house music to dates at your favorite Italian restaurant – ‘Don’t say anything now, Hildegard’!” writes the Bavarian native in her homage, which is worth reading and proves: You don’t have to be born a Loriot fan, but in the end you get (almost) everyone.