Ingeborg Meyer-Rey facts for kids

Ingeborg Meyer-Rey (also known as Ingeborg Meyer-Tschesno; born December 14, 1920 – died April 4, 2001) was a famous German illustrator. She was one of the most well-known artists who drew pictures for children's books in East Germany.

Life of Ingeborg Meyer-Rey

Ingeborg Meyer-Rey was born in Berlin, Germany. When she was 20, she started studying illustration and wall art. She went to the Berlin University of the Arts in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

In 1946, she got a job as an artist for a newspaper called Tägliche Rundschau. This newspaper was brought back to life by the Soviet military. After World War II, the Soviet military controlled a large part of central Germany, including eastern Berlin.

A year later, in 1947, she started working as an illustrator at the Soviet Arts Palace. She stayed there until 1950. In 1950, her son, Grischa Meyer, was born. His father was Grigorij Weiss, a Soviet cultural leader.

During this time, Ingeborg Meyer-Rey designed the first issues of a magazine. It was called Roman-Zeitung and helped share Soviet literature. She also created her first published drawings for children's books. This was a very important step in her career.

In October 1949, the part of Germany controlled by the Soviet Union became East Germany. In the early 1950s, Meyer-Rey started working as a freelance illustrator. This means she worked for herself and took jobs from different publishers. One of the most important publishers was "Kinderbuchverlag Berlin".

In 1957, she created "Bummi" the teddy bear. Bummi became the main character in a monthly magazine for young children, named after him. Later, the magazine came out twice a month. Ingeborg Meyer-Rey worked closely with Ursula Werner-Böhnke, who edited the "Bummi" magazine. Besides books and magazines, Bummi also appeared on a silk stage curtain. Ingeborg Meyer-Rey made this curtain for the Berlin Puppet Theatre.

Meyer-Rey was a member of the National Association of Visual Artists. Her illustrations had a realistic style. This style was greatly influenced by Soviet artists of her time. She drew many, many pictures. She is known as one of the most important children's book illustrators in East Germany. Generations of children used textbooks with her drawings.

Many of her books were printed many times. Some of them are still available today (as of 2017). Her work was also popular with publishers in other countries. These included Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain, France, Jugoslavia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Hungary, the United States, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, China, and even West Germany. Some editions were also published in Sorbian.

In 1952, her illustrated book "Der gute Held. Märchen der Völker der Sowjetunion" was chosen as one of East Germany's Most Beautiful Books. The title means "The Good Hero: Fairy Tales from the Soviet People."

Publications (selection)