Happy Birtday, Charlie Brown!
60 years of Peanuts
3 to 6 June 2010
Opening hours: Thu noon–7 p.m., Fri/Sat 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Sun 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Rathaus, Bürgermeistergang (1. Stock)

It is 2 October 1950. The 27-year-old Charles Schulz is standing in front of a news-stand in the city centre of Minneapolis, Minnesota that also carries newspapers from other cities. He is holding the “Minneapolis Tribune” with his first “Peanuts” strip and asking the news agent whether he has any other papers with “Peanuts”. He said: “No.” “And I don’t have any with popcorn.” That was 60 years ago. And the new comic strip that only debuted in seven newspa-pers became the most successful comic series of all time. Much more surprising is the continuously high level and technical brilliance with which Schulz drew his strip for almost 50 years. Over the years he created 17,897 strips, 15,391 weekday strips and 2,506 coloured Sunday pages. And every line is by Schulz, he didn’t even have help with the lettering – an accomplishment without parallel! The exhibition “Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown!“ tells the „Peanuts“ story from the beginning.
Andreas C. Knigge

An exhibition by the Erlangen International Comic Salon and Carlsen Comics, Hamburg. Curator: Andreas C. Knigge