Only the syntax-free structures from the studios of visual and concrete poetry, such as the ones by Timm Ulrich, are truly remarkable. They limit themselves to palindromes of single words or word-groups. Manual techniques assume special significance in the construction of palindromes. One turns of course to aids for systematic permutation. Ordinarily the hinge is built with the central letter or, more seldom, a blank.
First names are useful in many ways.
They are hardly ever inflected and need no articles. Examples like Amme Emma , der fette Fred or the common Tim populate German palindromes. One further word about the compositions in this book. This eccentric piece of artistic prose is, by far, the longest palindrome in the German literature. I can say out of my own experience that excessive letter-transposition can lead to overnervousness.