Among the founding members of the group, which first had no name, were:
The name Neue Frankfurter Schule was chosen in memory of the philosophical Frankfurter Schule (Frankfurt School) around Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, among others, which had pursued a critical theory of society in the 1930s. The name Neue Frankfurter Schule alludes firstly to Frankfurt as a centre for many members and the publication of Titanic. Secondly, the name is a satiric allusion to the Franfurter Schule Thirdly, serious similarities connect the NFS to the critical theory of the former group. Oliver Maria Schmitt [de] regards cultural critic as the focus of the NFS,[1] Michael Rutschky noted that the satirical conscience ("satirisches Bewußtsein") of the NFS is the focus of the Frankfurter Schule.[2]
The name was chosen years after the forming of the group, in 1981, when a good name was needed for an exhibition of works by Gernhardt, Traxlera and Waechter.[3]
A second generation of NFS members has included Max Goldt, Gerhard Henschel [de], Simon Borowiak [de], Thomas Gsella [de], Ernst Kahl [de], Duo Rattelschneck [de] and, after the Peaceful Revolution, Michael Rudolf [de].[4]
In 2006, the city of Frankfurt acquired c. 7,000 original drawings by Bernstein, Gernhardt, Traxler and Poth for a new museum of comic art, the Caricatura Museum Frankfurt, which was opened on 1 October 2008 as an independent department of the Historical Museum.
