Conrad Keller (sculptor)

Conrad Keller (born May 3, 1879 in Krauchenwies ; † April 16, 1948 ) was a German sculptor. The two monumental figures on the portal of the Heidelberg University Library , created around 1903, are considered to be his main work . He then took part in the expansion of the city of Wiesloch and in the construction of the Wiesloch sanatorium and nursing home ; later he made sacred works such as tombstones and crosses.

Life

He was the son of a master rope maker and completed an apprenticeship as a stonemason in Meßkirch . The subsequent wandering took him to Italy, where he trained in marble working at Carrara . Back in Germany, he studied art history for a semester or two in Strasbourg . Around 1902 he worked on the facade design of the town hall in Koblenz , where he met his wife Therese Brink (1880–1941), whom he married on March 15, 1902 in Frankfurt.

Basement residential building in Wiesloch (today a youth center)

Around 1903, Keller was used to carry out the facade sculpture on the newly built Heidelberg University Library . The architect was the Karlsruhe building director Josef Durm , the sculptor in charge was Hermann Volz , who had also awarded parts of the contract to his pupil Binz. Volz and Binz essentially only took care of the drafts and had a large part of the sculpture done by other sculptors. Since the tendering for the work had been reserved to "proven businesses", certain relationships were required in order to get a chance at the award. It is no longer possible to say with certainty what relationships Keller had in this regard. It is assumed, however, that he may have worked with Durm or Volz in the renovation of the Friedrichsbau of Heidelberg Castle in 1900. For the facade of the university library he created at least the two monumental figures on the portal and the two heads of the muses on the south facade. Since there are no more documents about the production of the facade decorations, one can only speculate about a further participation of Keller.

Tomb of the five Keller children who died in 1921

Conrad Keller's tomb

From 1904, Keller lived in Wiesloch , not far from Heidelberg. There he worked under city architect Franz Fischer in the expansion of the city in Gerbersruhstrasse and in the construction of the Wiesloch sanatorium . After Keller and his family had initially rented a building, he bought a building site on Wiesloch Hauptstrasse in 1908, where a residential house built according to plans by Fischer was built by 1909, the gable of which was decorated with Art Nouveau elements. A workshop was attached to the building, in which Keller would work in the future. The house was lived in by Keller and his descendants until 1958 and then sold. In 1982 it came into the possession of the city, which set up today's youth center in Wiesloch .

When the old Wiesloch cemetery (today: Schillerpark ) was closed in 1909 and a new cemetery was built on the outskirts, Keller made most of the gravestones for it in the first two decades. He also created gravestones for the Wiesloch Jewish cemetery , and he also received supraregional commissions for grave monuments, wayside crosses, wayside shrines and facade decorations. In order to be able to pursue more distant assignments, he bought a car as one of the first citizens of Wiesloch. To handle the orders, he hired two permanent employees and, depending on the order situation, several seasonal workers.

With his wife Therese, Keller had a total of 12 children who were born between 1906 and 1924. The eldest son Joseph was infected with dysentery in 1921 , from which five of the Keller children died within a month. In 1921, Conrad Keller created a splendid grave monument for the children with a relief representation of the deceased. In 1922 he also created the war memorial for the cemetery in Malschenberg and the Joseph altar in the Marien's pilgrimage church in Waghäusel . His later work, which has largely remained unexplored, can also be found in the sacred area (tombstones, crosses, picture decorations for churches).

When the city of Wiesloch wanted to buy the Jewish cemetery, which had already been confiscated by the state, from the regional tax office in Karlsruhe at the time of National Socialism and after the last Jewish inhabitants had been expelled, Keller was asked to estimate the value of the gravestones that remained there. Keller himself expressed interest in 24 younger, reusable tombstones made of marble and granite and paid the sum of RM 1,000 for them in August 1944. When the American military government ordered the restoration of the cemetery and the return of the stones at the end of the war, Keller had already processed three of the stones and was only able to return 21 stones. Until 1947 there was still a dispute over repayment of the purchase price. Keller died in April 1948 at the age of 69 and was buried in Wiesloch.

plant

Portal of the Heidelberg University Library with the two monumental figures by Conrad Keller

The complete works of Conrad Keller is essentially unexplored. His estate is only fragmentary and has been distributed among a large number of heirs. The heyday of Keller's artistic development was certainly Art Nouveau , where Keller's facade designs show their own original features in ornament and figure. His late work is in the sacred area and consists mainly of commissioned work that emulates the stylistic features of the baroque and medieval art.

The following list is a selection of saved works:

• The beautiful Alsatian (marble portrait bust around 1900, presumably a masterpiece at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Strasbourg)
• Portal of Heidelberg University Library (two monumental figures Prometheus and Jungfrau , around 1903)
• Decoration of the facade of the basement house in Wiesloch, Hauptstrasse 146 (gable reliefs, window frames, 1908/09)
• Mary's Grotto in St. Leon (1911)
• Children's grave stone of the cellar children, Wiesloch city cemetery (1921)
• War memorial in Malschenberg (1922)
• Joseph's altar in the Marian pilgrimage church in Waghäusel (1922)

literature

• Karin Hirn: “Let the body's form be the mirror of its being” - the work and life of the Wiesloch sculptor Conrad Keller , in: Kurpfälzer Winzerfestanzeiger 1998, pp. 34–52.