Philipp Rupprecht

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Philipp Rupprecht (4 September 1900 – 4 April 1975) was a German cartoonist/caricatures best known for his antisemitic caricatures in the Nazi publication Der Stürmer, under the pen-name Fips.

Born in Nuremberg, Rupprecht emigrated to Argentina after World War I, working there as a cowboy on a cattle ranch. He returned to Germany during the mid-1920s.

His early career as a cartoonist saw him working 1925 for the Fränkische Tagespost, a newspaper with links to the German Social Democrats. When dispatched to produce a caricature of Julius Streicher at a court appearance, he instead produced a caricature of Nuremberg’s Mayor, Hermann Luppe (Streicher’s opponent). This led to him being hired by Der Stürmer, where he went on to produce innumerable antisemitic caricatures.

Rupprecht created the stereotype of the Nazi-Jew: unshaved, with a big and buckled nose and with mean looking eyes. He worked there until the last issue of the Stürmer, which was published on February 22 1945. He also made the caricatures for the antisemitic children's book "Der Giftpilz" ("The Poisonous Mushroom"), which was published 1938 in the Stürmer publishing house.

During a short period in 1939 he was a member of the Navy^{[citation needed]}. Presumably because of his value to Nazi propaganda efforts he was released from the Navy.

Rupprecht’s career came to an end with the defeat of the Nazis in World War II. He was put on trial in 1945 and sentenced to six years hard labour. On 23 October 1950 he was released from the prison in Eichstätt. Until his death he lived and worked in Munich and Starnberg as a painter and decorator. He died on 4 April 1975 in Munich, aged 74.

Rupprecht was married twice: from 1921 on to Erna Blom (one son and two daughters) and from 1930 to Berta Stöcklein (one son).