Willy Jaeckel was not among the artists who set off for World War I full of enthusiasm. His portfolio of ten lithographs was made long before he was called up himself. He had not yet experienced in person the abominations of war that he depicted here. The force of an exploding grenade, tattered bodies, man-to-man combat, raped women, corpses hanging in barbed wire – these are nevertheless more than second-hand illustrations to war reports. The artist was guided by his Christian charity in raising these indictments.

He had a famous point of reference in art history: “Los desastres de la guerra”, that cycle of etchings with which Francisco de Goya had recorded the atrocities of war in Spain some hundred years earlier. Jaeckel’s drastic visualisation challenged the official glorification of hostilities in Germany. The portfolio was banned as soon as it was published.