Dorothea Steigerwald

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Dorothea Steigerwald (born January 3, 1918 in Duisburg-Rheinhausen ; † February 6, 2014 in Marburg ) was a German Protestant deaconess , educator and Christian artist who became known for her clay sculptures .

Live and act

Dorothea Steigerwald was born in Duisburg as the fifth of six children. In 1937 she joined the sisterhood of the deaconess mother house “Hebron” in Wehrda (Marburg) with her younger sister Adelheid . Between 1940 and 1941 she trained as a kindergarten teacher in Marburg and from 1941 to 1943 she trained as a nurse in Koblenz . From 1943 she worked in the “Bethesda Children's and Youth Home” in Marburg and in the Braubach and Styrum kindergartens (Mülheim an der Ruhr) . From 1961 to 1967 she headed the “Emilienruhe” children's home in Bad Bergzabern and then until 1980 the Protestant kindergarten in Steinbach (Taunus) . There she designed the nativity figurines of both the Steinbach evangelical and the Catholic Church.

In 1980 Steigerwald was released from her work in kindergarten and initially moved into an apartment and studio in Wehrda and, from 1985, in the former Bethesda children's home in Marburg. Here she had the opportunity, in addition to designing sculptures , to lead groups and to go to communities on request. When her eyesight deteriorated more and more and thus made the creation of clay sculptures difficult, she decided in 2007 to move to the mother company in Hebron. There is a permanent exhibition of their works there.

Works

In 1945 Steigerwald recognized, actually more by chance, her artistic talent and occupied herself with sculpture in her free time. In 1950 she took two semesters in a community college course with a sculptor in Mülheim / Ruhr. In 1963 a fellow sister asked her for a sculpture for the birthday of the matron of the hospital in Frankfurt. The result was the clay sculpture Bleib seine Kind , which depicts a child cuddled in a hand and is one of her most famous works. According to the parent company, over a million replicas were sold. The security in God's hands was her main theme: "I just want to tell people that there is someone who loves them". In many sculptures, the hands, which offer protection and security, also play a major role. In 1965 he created the sculpture Refuge , which shows a child who knows that he is safe in two hands. In the same year she published for the first time in Brendow Verlag Moers and from 1967 onwards, in addition to running her kindergarten, a large part of her increasingly well-known work was created in systematic leisure work. In 1993 the permanent exhibition "Dorothea Steigerwald" was opened at Brendow Verlag.

Authors such as Gertrud Begas-Siemon, Marie Hüsing and Ruth Meineke were inspired by their characters and wrote word thoughts on Dorothea Steigerwald sculptures .

In 1989 Steigerwald was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon for her selfless work and dedication to children . She was buried in the sister cemetery "Waldesruh" in Marburg-Wehrda.

Publications

Sculptures (selection)

published by Brendow Verlag from 1965:

  • Have no fear
  • Stay his child
  • Motherly love
  • Comforted
  • refuge
  • Always secure
  • Dreamer
  • My bright spot
  • Little sleepyhead
  • Lauser
  • I play for you
  • Book lovers
  • Marburg Nativity Scene - Nativity Stable with Figures

literature

  • Alfred Salomon: Stay His Child. Dorothea Steigerwald and her work , Brendow Verlag, Moers 1990, ISBN 978-3-87067-191-4 .
  • Ursula Koch: Sister, sister ...: I'll stay his child - Dorothea Steigerwald , Brendow Verlag, Moers 2007, ISBN 978-3-86506-190-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dorothea Steigerwald: Kurzvita , arsmundi.de, accessed on June 30, 2018.
  2. ↑ Stefanie Heil: Mourning Dorothea Steigerwald , taunus-zeitung.de, news from February 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ Further education program 2015: Diakonisse Dorothea Steigerwald: Life and Work - Mission from Clay ( Memento from June 30, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), diakonissen.de
  4. ↑ Dorothea Steigerwald: Your Life ( Memento from September 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ died Töpfernde deaconess Dorothea Steigerwald ( Memento of 10 March 2014 Web archive archive.today ) epd.de
  6. ↑ Dorothea Steigerwald: Kurzvita , brendow-verlag.de, accessed on June 30, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Mission in Ton": artist Dorothea Steigerwald died , idea , message from February 12, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Steigerwald, Dorothea
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant deaconess, educator and artist
DATE OF BIRTH January 3, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Duisburg-Rheinhausen
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 2014
Place of death Marburg