Born on January 2, 1823, in Würzburg, Stephan Gätschenberger hailed from a prosperous merchant family and received a solid education intended to prepare him to take over the family business. However, the business went bankrupt in early 1848, an outcome for which Gätschenberger later blamed Bavaria’s fiscal and tax policies. Due to the strain of liquidating the family business, Gätschenberger was unable to participate in the 1848 Revolution.

 

Later in 1848, Gätschenberger began his journalistic career, initially with the Neue Fränkische Zeitung (New Franconian Newspaper), which, due to its democratic stance and support for the Würzburg student body, faced opposition from the authorities and had to cease publication in 1850. This was followed by Fränkischer Punsch (Franconian Punch), a humoristic weekly. In 1852, Gätschenberger was imprisoned for several weeks. To support himself, he ran a spice shop for several years, while also publishing numerous literary and literary-historical works that earned recognition and support, even from the Bavarian royal family.

 

By the late 1850s, Gätschenberger had turned his attention to the newly established pan-German clubs, aligning politically with the moderately liberal Bavarian government. His Würzburger Journal (Würzburg Journal) became the organ of the Würzburg club. He later founded the Fränkisches Morgenblatt (Franconian Morning Paper) and the Bayerische Volkszeitung (Bavarian People's Newspaper), each of which lasted a few years.

 

Gätschenberger remained politically active throughout the following years, until the 1869 election defeat of the Ministry of Hohenlohe, which he had supported. It was during this period of political and journalistic engagement that he published the Würzburger Stechäpfel. The articles, poems, jokes, and caricatures of this satirical journal focused on the conditions in Würzburg and Lower Franconia, openly addressing local and regional issues, often with sharp, biting satire. Personal enmities and journalistic disputes led to several lawsuits, and in 1877, Gätschenberger was once again sentenced to prison. After his release, he founded a new journal, the Würzburger Glöckli (Würzburg Little Bells). In 1878, Gätschenberger was sentenced again, but he avoided imprisonment by fleeing to Switzerland and later Hungary, where he died on October 12, 1882, in Budapest. The Würzburger Glöckli was continued by C. J. Rick after his death.

 

Literature:

Brigitte Kleinlauth: "Stephan Gätschenberger", in: Fränkische Lebensbilder 15 (1993), pp. 219–239.