Claus Sperling

Claus Sperling (born May 6, 1890 in Berlin , † September 22, 1971 in Demnitz ) was a German painter and pastor .

biography

family

His father was Heinrich Sperling (1844–1924), his mother Bertha Sperling (1862–1943). Claus Sperling had three siblings, Hans, Günther and Rudolf. His wife Sophie lived in Demnitz until her death on January 17, 1986. Both found their final resting place in the Demnitz cemetery.

Life

Claus Sperling attended the Bismarck-Gymnasium in Berlin up to the secondary school leaving certificate. Until 1906 he worked and learned in the studio of his father Prof. Heinrich Sperling. From 1907 to 1909 Claus Sperling studied at the “ Royal Academic University of Fine Arts Berlin ” as a student of Prof. Georg Koch. From 1909 to 1913 he moved to the art academy in Munich and became a student of Prof. Heinrich von Zügel (1850–1941). He also attended his summer courses (Wörther Malerschule) in Wörth am Rhein . During his studies he received the awards "small silver medal" for overall achievement (1911), "honorable mention" for academic award and the "large silver medal" for overall achievement (1912), and in 1913 the "second prize" for an academic award . From 1914 to 1919 Claus Sperling served as a war volunteer and took part in the First World War. On August 10, 1917, he received the Military Service Cross, 2nd Class. After the war he lived in Larrieden / Feuchtwangen as a freelance artist. Numerous works with motifs from Middle Franconia were created here.

On May 23, 1921 Claus Sperling was accepted into the association of visual artists of the Kunsthalle Wilmersdorf (Berlin). On April 14, 1925 he married Sophie Karolina Gertrud Sperling, b. Schweigert from Gailnau near Wettringen . He then moved to Berlin and worked again as a freelance artist in Berlin-Schöneberg. During this time, Claus Sperling lived at Laubacher Str. 6 – III, Berlin-Friedenau. On July 7, 1926, a request was made to become a member of the Association of Berlin Artists (VBK) and almost five months later on November 30, 1926, Claus Sperling received the certificate of admission. Two years later in February 1928 he became a member of the Schöneberg-Friedenauer Künstlerbund. He passed his Abitur in 1929 while studying evening classes. In September 1929 he applied to leave the VBK, which was rejected by the association. Instead, he remained a full member, waiving the payment of contributions. On December 31, 1936, Sperling sent a letter to the VBK with his final declaration of resignation, which was confirmed by the Association of Berlin Artists on January 13, 1937.

theologian

From 1930 to 1937, Claus Sperling studied theology at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin . Here he got in touch with the Confessing Church . On April 6, 1930 he took part in the anniversary exhibition of the Schöneberg-Friedenauer-Künstlerbund in the Schöneberg Town Hall . He was awarded a prize (750.00 RM) at the spring exhibition of the Berlin Artists' Association. Under the influence of Pastor Gerhard Jacobi , Sperling found his way to the Confessing Church and passed the first theological examination in 1935 and the second state theological examination in 1936. As vicar he was initially subordinate to Superintendent Ehrich in Lankwitz. Then he was commissioned to collect a congregation of the Confessing Church within the district of the Magdalenen congregation in Neukölln. The local Brethren Congregation made their parish hall on Richardstrasse available to him as a place of worship. From November 1936 he was preacher on behalf of the BK in Meinsdorf (Dahme) and from March 15, 1937 in Schönwalde in the Spreewald. From April 1, 1937, Claus Sperling was appointed to Demnitz by the management of the BK.

From 1937 to 1971 Claus Sperling was pastor in the Demnitz parish near Fürstenwalde. On September 11, 1937, he was arrested for violating the ban on collecting collections and sent to Fürstenwalder prison as a prisoner on remand. According to his diary notes smuggled out, 115 people were in custody, plus 11 suspensions, 27 bans on speaking and 34 expulsions. Pastor Sperling was released on October 1st. In 1939 he was legalized by the Theological Examination Office of the Consistory in Berlin and in 1940 he was appointed pastor of the BK von Demnitz and worked there until 1965. In 1962 Claus Sperling became an honorary member of the Society of Reins Friends eV Wörth am Rhein. In 1965 he retired and then lived as a pensioner in the Demnitz rectory, where he died on September 22, 1971.

Exhibitions

• 2010 Claus Sperling - "Franconian Homeland" in the Franconian Museum Feuchtwangen
• 2010 Exhibition in Demnitz / Steinhöfel municipality

literature

• Susanne Klemm: Claus Sperling. From Impressionism to New Objectivity (series of publications by the Verein für Volkskunst und Volkskunde Feuchtwangen eV, Volume 2) Feuchtwangen 2011. ISBN 978-3-00-037764-8 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.jagdkultur.eu/hobusch/index.php?kw=feuchtwangen
2. ^ Claus Sperling - Fränkische Heimat exhibition 22.10. - December 5, 2010
3. ↑ http://www.gemeinde-steinhoefel.de/news/index.php?news=113826&typ=1