Erich Gürtzig

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Erich Gürtzig (born September 26, 1912 in Hamburg ; † June 26, 1993 in Berlin ) was a German graphic artist , illustrator , draftsman , comic artist , caricaturist and children's book author .

Life

Born in Hamburg, Gürtzig came to Berlin as a child , where, after graduating from high school, from 1933 to 1936 he initially studied graphics at the Berlin University of Fine Arts . After dropping out of his studies for financial reasons, he initially earned his living as a press illustrator . During the Second World War , not sent to the front for health reasons , Gürtzig was made a draftsman .

After the war, he worked as a graphic designer for the women's magazine “ Die Frau von heute ”, which until November 1947 was the organ of the communal women's committees in the Soviet occupation zone . From 1949 he worked as a freelance artist in Berlin. He was mainly active as a book illustrator and author. The children's book publisher in Berlin, founded in 1949, discovered him in the year it was founded, and so Gürtzig was considered "one of the first illustrators". However, he also created illustrations for the press, such as the youth magazine Die Schulpost and the children's magazines ABC-Zeitung , Bummi and drum .

From the early 1980s there were annual summer stays in the Baltic Sea resort of Ahrenshoop on Fischland-Darß-Zingst of the Gürtzigs, where, among other things, free drawings and prints ("Ahrenshooper sketches") were created. The book “Darßwandern. From the diary of an Ahrenshoop hiking guide. ”By Ursula Brandt was illustrated by Erich Gürtzig and his wife.

The catalog of the German National Library now lists almost 300 publications in which Gürtzig was involved as an illustrator and author, including more than 100 books. Numerous reprints and foreign licensed editions of his works are still available today. According to the “Handbook on Children's and Youth Literature: SBZ / GDR” published by Springer-Verlag . From 1945 to 1990 ”he was one of the most influential illustrators of the 1960s in the field of children's and youth literature in the GDR. Erich Gürtzig has received numerous awards for his artistic work, including first and second prizes from the Ministry of Culture of the GDR . In 1975 he received the Hans-Baltzer-Preis , a sponsorship award for illustrators, which was first awarded that year by the children's book publisher .

He was married to the illustrator Inge Gürtzig , who also designed numerous books herself and with whom he worked on some publications or attended kindergartens, schools and libraries for events. Erich Gürtzig died in Berlin in 1993.

Work (selection)

Web links

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ↑ a b Website of the Berlin State Library , accessed on January 17, 2020
  2. ↑ a b c Gerhard Holtz-Baumert: “It's good to have this artist at your side. Erich Gürtzig is turning seventy. ”In: Neues Deutschland , September 25, 1982, p. 4
  3. ↑ a b c d e Volker Frank: Entry by Erich Gürtzig In: General Artists Dictionary - International Artists Database - Online . De Gruyter. (accessed via De Gruyter Online, January 19, 2020).
  4. ↑ Erich Gürtzig in the catalog of the German National Library , accessed on January 18, 2020
  5. ↑ a b Ilse Bongardt: “Joy in colors, imagination and humor. Erich Gürtzig received the prize for illustrators. ”In: Neue Zeit , May 31, 1975, p. 8
  6. ^ "Days of Children's Literature Opened in Magdeburg" In: Neues Deutschland , April 2, 1975, p. 4
  7. ↑ Rüdiger Steinlein, Heidi Strobel, Thomas Kramer (eds.): “Handbook on Children's and Young People's Literature: SBZ / GDR. From 1945 to 1990 ” . Springer-Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-476-00216-7 , pp. 863/864 .
personal data
SURNAME Nice, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graphic artist, draftsman, comic artist, caricaturist and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1993
Place of death Berlin