Emil Salm

Emil Salm , with his full name Maximilian Karl Josef Salm (* March 7, 1878 in Hanau ; † February 14, 1938 in Pforzheim ), was a German sculptor who worked mainly in Pforzheim.

life and work

Salm was born in Hanau as the son of the lithographer and stone cutter Maximilian Salm . He came from the noble family Salm-Salm , but had given up his second "Salm" and the title of nobility and led a bourgeois life for reasons that had not yet been determined. For professional reasons, the Salm family moved to the industrial city of Pforzheim, where Maximilian Karl Josef, known as Emil Salm, spent his childhood. Possibly it was his father's work with the material stone that awakened his love for artistic creation and shaping. His visit to the arts and crafts school laid the foundation for his artistic career. This was followed by years of study in Munich and Berlin . After a successful career in Düsseldorf , he settled back in Pforzheim.

There he received numerous orders for building sculptures on public buildings, which were later destroyed in large numbers in the bombing war in 1945. However, some cultural monuments remained almost intact.

Three-river fountain by Emil Salm

In the 1930s he created busts of personalities and private individuals, as well as grave monuments and fountains, the most famous of which, the Dreitälerbrunnen (now known as the Dreiflüssebrunnen ), is still preserved today. For the three young girls who symbolize the rivers Enz , Würm and Nagold , he also used nude studies by his daughter Fränzl Salm. The starting point for this work of art was Art Nouveau . In his subsequent development his characters - on the one hand more powerful, on the other hand more delicate - almost lyrical. Through simplification, this leads to idealized forms that fit in with modern architecture in keeping with the style. His Pietà was way ahead of its time in the way it was presented. For the production of this sculpture, the city of Pforzheim had the roof of his house covered so that the blank could be transported to the top floor, his studio, using a crane. The roof was re-covered at city expense. The procedure was repeated when the work was finished.

His Madonnas sprang from a deep piety. According to his daughter Fränzl Salm, her father was a thinker who was searching for ideology and was very inclined to anthroposophy , but he also had the Bible Students as guests from time to time.

Schneckenreiter by Emil Salm

Many of his sculptures show the characteristics of a poetic spirit person. His outward appearance was serious and sublime. Numerous small sculptures testify to his quiet humor. Some of these model sculptures, e.g. B. Der Schneckenreiter , are in the possession of his grandson Peter Kutzer-Salm, as well as various photographic negative glass plates from sculptures that were destroyed in the bombing towards the end of the war.

Still existing plants in Pforzheim include:

• the three-river fountain (1935) in the flower courtyard
• Large seated woman (1926) in the park of the municipal hospital
• The snail rider (around 1928) in the city garden, at the bleach weir.

Web links

• The three-river fountain on stadt-pforzheim.de
• Emil Salm in the Stadtwiki Pforzheim-Enz