The cartoonist died last week in his home near the central German city of Hanover, Katja Seifert, head of the Uli Stein Foundation for Animals in Need said on Friday.

Stein was buried according to his wishes at a ceremony attended by his closest friends in Hanover, she said. He leaves no family behind.

The cartoonist had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease, but his death was nevertheless considered sudden, the foundation said.

Stein published his first postcards in 1982, followed by his first books in 1984. His style, featuring bulgy-eyed and bulbous-nosed characters, was known well beyond Germany’s borders.

Throughout his 40-year career, Stein’s trademark drawings of mice, cats, dogs and penguins have graced millions of postcards, books and magazines across Europe.

“I want to give people some fun, entertain them and give them nice moments in bad times or in good times,” Stein said in an interview in 2009.

Stein, who was also a passionate photographer, was born in Hanover on December 26, 1946. While studying in Berlin, Stein began working as a freelance photographer and copywriter for newspapers.

Shortly before his exams, he dropped out of education to become a full-time journalist and concentrated entirely on his drawing from the 1970s onwards.