For more than five decades, her art has graced books, cassettes, and fan merchandise, yet to this day, few people know who she is. Aiga Rasch’s (1941–2009) illustrations give the cult series “Die drei ???” its unmistakable look. What began as an American youth mystery series shaped an entire generation of “cassette kids” in Germany through Aiga Rasch’s visual style and is now a multimedia pop-cultural phenomenon. Other series of her work, such as her covers for “Sherlock Holmes” and “Alfred Hitchcock’s Chamber of Horrors,” have, by contrast, been largely forgotten today.
The exhibition at the Altonaer Museum will explore the life and cover art of Aiga Rasch from various perspectives. First, visitors will see how Rasch’s distinctive style developed. As early as the mid-1960s, Aiga Rasch was creating illustrations for the Nancy Drew detective stories. With her designs for “The Three Investigators,” starting in 1969, she broke new ground—a direction that, due to its remarkable success, went on to shape other detective series as well, such as those based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about Sherlock Holmes or “Alfred Hitchcock’s Chamber of Horrors.” These works reveal the creative process—from source material in magazines through numerous preliminary sketches to the iconic covers.
Another aspect will be Aiga Rasch’s connection to Hamburg and Altona. Since 1979, director Heikedine Körting has been producing the radio dramas for the detective series on the Alster under the Europa label—Aiga Rasch’s cover art adorns the recordings, which have sold in the millions. The exhibition will offer insights into the history of radio drama production. Here, visitors can discover how the familiar soundscapes of the detective stories are created from unassuming props.
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