{{short description|German tattoo artist}} {{Infobox person | name = Horst Streckenbach<ref>The first name was often published as ''Horst Heinrich'', which is definitely wrong. The full Name is ''Helmut Horst Streckenbach'' Source: Registry office Häslicht, district Schweidnitz No. 4/1926 (deu); source p. 162/163 No. 20. Kostrza (województwo dolnośląskie Kostrza (pol)</ref> | other_names = Tattoo Samy | image = Horst_Streckenbach_Manfred_Kohrs.jpg | image_size = 250 px | caption = Streckenbach in San Antonio, 1979 | birth_name = Helmut Horst Streckenbach | birth_date = 1925 | birth_place = Weißwasser, Germany | death_date = 2001 | spouse = | death_cause = | known = | occupation = Tattoo artist, piercer }}

'''Horst Streckenbach''' "Tattoo Samy" (August 5, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was a well-known German tattoo artist and historian of the medium, who had been tattooing since 1946. Streckenbach is considered important in the development of tattooing in Germany.<ref>Marcel Feige: ''Das Tattoo-und Piercing Lexikon'', {{ISBN|3-89602-209-1}}, S. 282</ref> With Manfred Kohrs from Hanover in Germany from 1974 to 1978 he developed a rotary tattoo machine<ref>[https://archive.today/20120722054012/http://www.chinatattooneedles.com/blog/?p=50 ''Streckenbach / Kohrs tattoo machine 1976''], chinatattooneedles.com, October 18, 2010.</ref> and in 1975 the barbell.

==Biographical and career information== Helmut Horst Streckenbach was born in 1925 and grew up in Weißwasser, Schlesien, Germany.<ref>Registry office Häslicht, district Schweidnitz No. 4/1926 (deu); source p. 162/163 No. 20. Kostrza (województwo dolnośląskie Kostrza (pol).</ref> He got his first tattoo at the age of ten. In 1946, he began tattooing professionally. In 1959 he opened his own studio in Aschaffenburg and in 1964 he moved to Frankfurt, this studio was open for nearly 40 years.<ref>Manfred Kohrs: ''Horst H. Streckenbach der vergessene Pionier.'' In: ''Tattoo Kulture Magazine''. Issue [https://tattoo-kulture.de/?p=128 No.32] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024172810/https://tattoo-kulture.de/?p=128 |date=2020-10-24 }} April 12, 2019, p. 28–40.</ref> Samy tattooed several notable musicians, artists and celebrities of the time.<ref>Marcel Feige: ''Das Tattoo-und Piercing Lexikon'', {{ISBN|3-89602-209-1}}, S. 283</ref><ref>[http://www.marcel-feige.de/marcelfeige/index.php?type=books&id=22 Marcel Feige] Marcel Feige, german</ref> Over the years Samy went to the United States a number of times and frequently to Los Angeles to visit Jim Ward. On one of his first visits, he showed Ward the barbell studs that he used in some piercings. They were internally threaded, a feature that made so much sense that Ward immediately set out to recreate them for his own customers. On the first National Convention at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Denver, Colorado from 23–25 March 1979<ref>Mississippi Gulf Coast´s Observer, September 2012, Volume 13, Issue 3, p. 36</ref> Tattoo Samy made a slide presentation of tattooed people.<ref>[http://www.nationaltattooassociation.com/fullhistory.html National Tattoo Association, N.T.A.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125144623/http://nationaltattooassociation.com/fullhistory.html |date=2010-11-25 }}</ref> The speakers on the convention were: Terry Wrigley, Peter Tat 2 Poulos, Diane Poulos, Don Ed Hardy, Bob Shaw (who even back then spoke about the importance of using Autoclaves and keeping you and your place clean), Big Walt Kilkucki, Painless Jeff Baker, Dave Yurkew, and Arnold Rubin & Jan Stussy.<ref>[http://www.nationaltattooassociation.com/fullhistory.html National Tattoo Association, N.T.A.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125144623/http://nationaltattooassociation.com/fullhistory.html |date=2010-11-25 }}</ref> Streckenbach, Kohrs and Terry Wrigley (1932–1999) -President of E.T.A.A-,<ref>[http://www.tattooarchive.com/history/wrigley_terry.htm tattoo archiv terry wrigley] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904164515/http://www.tattooarchive.com/history/wrigley_terry.htm |date=2010-09-04 }}</ref> present 17–19 October 1980 at Frankfurt the first "Tattoo Convention" in Germany. Samy appeared in ''PFIQ'' (the first publication about body piercing) in issues #18 (1983) and #19 as the magazine’s first documented tongue piercing.

==Innovations== thumb|right|upright=1.0| Streckenbach Tattoo-Studio 1979 Streckenbach and Kohrs pioneered many jewelry designs including the fixed bead ring and internally threaded barbells.<ref>Marcel Feige: ''Das Tattoo-und Piercing Lexikon'', {{ISBN|3-89602-209-1}}, S. 282</ref> Samy introduced Jim Ward to barbell style jewelry.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://gauntletenterprises.com/BME/jimward/20040123.html | title=In the beginning there was Gauntlet | first=Jim | last=Ward | date=23 January 2004 | publisher=BMEZINE.COM | location=Toronto | accessdate=2010-11-22 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120713171712/http://gauntletenterprises.com/BME/jimward/20040123.html | archivedate=13 July 2012 }}</ref> "The first barbells I recall came from Germany. Doug had made contact with Tattoo Samy, a tattooist and piercer from Frankfurt. Over the years Samy came to the States a number of times and frequently showed up in LA to visit Doug. On one of his first visits he showed us the barbell studs that he used in some piercings. They were internally threaded, a feature that made so much sense that I immediately set out to recreate them for my own customers."<small>Jim Ward</small><ref>{{cite web | url=http://gauntletenterprises.com/BME/jimward/20040123.html | title=In the beginning there was Gauntlet | first=Jim | last=Ward | date=23 January 2004 | publisher=BMEZINE.COM | location=Toronto | accessdate=2010-11-09 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120713171712/http://gauntletenterprises.com/BME/jimward/20040123.html | archivedate=13 July 2012 }}</ref> Phil Andros: "A German tattoist named Horst Streckenbach invented a radically different tattoo pen, with each instrument containing its own small motor was attached an irregular camwheel that furnished the up and down movement."<ref>Samuel M. Steward: ''Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos'', Routledge London & New York, S. 190. {{ISBN|0-918393-76-0}}</ref>

==Art== In 1981, the German conceptual artist Timm Ulrichs had THE END tattooed on his right eyelid by Streckenbach. The tattoo, which can only be read when the eye is closed, recalls the final credits of a film, the last performance and the final moment. This tattoo event was also documented on film, created in the context of the video of the same name which juxtaposes 60 final images.<ref>[https://howtattoo.co.kr/tshop 문신] (Korean)</ref>

===Selected bibliography=== * Samuel M. Steward: ''Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos.'' Routledge London & New York 1990, {{ISBN|0-918393-76-0}}. * Margot Mifflin: ''Bodies of Subversion.'' powerHouse Books 2013, {{ISBN|1-576-87692-6}}. * Caroline Rosenthal, Dirk Vanderbeke: ''Probing the Skin: Cultural Representations of Our Contact Zone.'' Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2015, {{ISBN|1-443-87518-X}}. * Marcel Feige: ''Das Tattoo-und Piercing Lexikon.'' Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf 2000, {{ISBN|3-89602-209-1}}. ** Tattoo Sammy appeared in PFIQ #18 (1983) and #19 as the magazine’s first documented tongue piercing.

==References== <references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Streckenbach, Horst}} Category:1925 births Category:German tattoo artists Category:Body piercers Category:2001 deaths Category:Male tattoo artists