Who was Hansi ?

Hansi, the Ambassador of Alsatian Popular Traditions

Jean-Jacques Waltz, alias Hansi and/or Uncle Hansi was born in Colmar in 1873. An illustrator, caricaturist and watercolourist, Hansi is the most popular illustrator in Alsace. He was the youngest of four children, born of the marriage of Jacques André Waltz and Rosalie Clémence Dunan.

Biography of Hansi

Jean-Jacques Waltz, better known as Hansi or Uncle Hansi, was born on 23 February 1873 in Colmar in Alsace, which had been German since 1871.

He grew up in Colmar in the culture of history and art, especially Alsatian, transmitted by his father, the curator of the Unterlinden Museum.

At the age of 10, Jean-Jacques Waltz was enrolled in the Reichsland school, where his critical mind and his taste for drawing made him stand out as a bad student who contradicted the discipline.

He left Alsace in 1894 to train as an industrial draughtsman in Lyon where he also attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts.

Back in Alsace, he practised this profession in Cernay and then in Logelbach.

It was at the same time that Jean-Jacques Waltz drew the first of his postcards, where Alsatian villages and anti-German caricatures were combined, which he signed under the pseudonym of Hansi, a contraction of Hans and Iakob (date of the first card signed by Hansi).

This was followed by numerous collections of anti-German caricatures, including the famous "Professor Knatschke".

The developments of his satire earned him several convictions in German courts.

In 1914, Hansi joined the French army during the war.

After the war, Hansi produced numerous illustrations of Alsace which were published in the form of postcards and illustrated books, although they were no longer as successful as they had been during the German era.

Hansi also produced menus and advertisements during this period.

When his father died in 1923, Hansi succeeded him as curator of the Unterlinden Museum.

In 1939, Hansi, who was known to be strongly anti-German, was forced into exile in France and then in Switzerland.

During the war he produced posters for the French army.

After the war, he returned to Colmar for the rest of his life. He died on 10 June 1951, leaving behind many works.

Discover the Collection of Postcards, Posters and Calendars of the Hansi Museum Collection.