Rotraut Susanne Berner

Rortraut Susanne Berner is a German graphic designer, illustrator, and author of children’s books. Rortraut Susanne Berner was born on August 26, 1948, in southwestern Germany, in Stuttgart. Her father was engaged in book trading and later headed Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), a publishing house based in Munich. There were four children in the family. The father gave one of his three daughters the unusual name Rotraut; this was the name of the king’s daughter in E. F. Mörike’s ballad “Schön-Rohtraut” (“Lovely Rohtraut”). In childhood, the first name caused the girl considerable distress: her peers teased her. When she grew up, she insisted on being addressed by her middle name, Susanne. For the first five years of her life, Rortraut Susanne lived with her grandmother on a horticultural farm near Stuttgart. Her grandmother had a Bible illustrated with copper engravings. The girl was literally enchanted by this beautiful old edition. Rortraut Susanne returned to the city when it was time to start school. As a child, drawing was not Rortraut Susanne’s passion, although she drew a great deal. Like all children of that time, when television was rare and the internet did not exist at all, in her free time she walked and played with friends outside, and in bad weather she read books, drew, and made things. In 1968, Rortraut Susanne graduated from secondary school and entered Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. There she studied newspaper studies and theatre history. From 1971 to 1975, she studied at Munich University of Applied Sciences, where she specialized in graphic design. After university, Berner worked for two years at an advertising publishing house. She then became a freelancer and has since been involved in book design and illustration. According to Berner, her artistic style was influenced by the works of the renowned illustrator Walter Trier and the poet-humorist and draughtsman Wilhelm Busch. At first glance, Berner’s illustrations are very simple: bright, lacking volume, with clearly drawn outlines. However, a closer look immediately reveals the multilayered nature of her drawings. Berner is opposed to excessive clutter in illustration. From a technical point of view, Berner’s works are diverse: fine pen drawings, brush drawings, color photo