Ernst Günther Grimme

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Ernst Günther Grimme (born January 14, 1926 in Aachen ; † December 11, 2003 there ) was a German art historian , Aachen museum director and honorary professor .

Live and act

The son of the art historian, classical philologist , Germanist and local researcher Gustav Grimme and grandson of the writer and local poet Friedrich Wilhelm Grimme was called up after his school days for military service in the Second World War , which ended for him in a POW camp of the Americans.

He then completed his studies of art history , archeology and German studies in Bonn and Cologne from 1947 to 1954 . He completed his doctorate in philosophy with a dissertation on Hans von Reutlingen with Hermann Schnitzler .

Grimme taught art history at the Werkkunstschule Aachen from 1951 until 1958 . A year later, the Suermondt Ludwig Museum hired him as a research assistant and promoted him to director in 1966. Later he was appointed director of the city museums of Aachen from 1979 to 1990. In the meantime, in 1983 the Institute for Art History at RWTH Aachen University gave him a teaching position, and on July 29, 1988 Grimme was appointed honorary professor for museum studies.

Grimme dedicated himself to medieval art and its connection with contemporary art . As museum director he was responsible for the exhibitions and the expansion of the Aachen museums and the scientific research of their collections. The donations from the collector couple Peter and Irene Ludwig meant that Grimme initiated an extension of the name of the Suermondt Museum in the 1970s, which was then given the name Suermondt-Ludwig Museum since 1977 . However, he was unable to plan a new museum building around 1978/79 on Monheimsallee. Instead, he was entrusted with the execution of the extension of the Suermondt Ludwig Museum from 1985 onwards. The opening took place under his successor Ulrich Schneider.

The connection between old and modern architecture reflects one of the basic ideas of Grimmes activity as museum director. He has also been interested in classical music since his youth . There was a grand piano in his library, but a war wound in his hand had prevented his profession as a pianist.

Ernst Günther Grimme died on December 11, 2003 and found his final resting place on Westfriedhof II in Aachen.

Honors

For Adam C. Oellers , who worked as curator with Grimme for 20 years , Grimme is considered one of the most important teachers in relation to a comprehensive aesthetic view of realistic art objects. The Aachen Suermondt-Ludwig Museum owes its reputation to Grimme as the most important sculpture collection of medieval works in the German art landscape. It was also Grimm's intention to illustrate the Lower, Middle and Upper Rhine, Bavarian, Swabian, East and North German style of carving.

In 1986 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon for his various services . The German National Library has 59 of his publications .

Publications (selection)

Organized exhibitions (selection)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gustav Grimme wrote the treatise on the shooting scene for the Aachen Millennium Exhibition . He headed this exhibition department and helped museum director Felix Kuetgens with the Aachen goldsmithing department . Official guide through the historic millennium exhibition in Aachen May to August 1925. La Ruelle , Aachen, 1925, p. 67 ff.
  2. ↑ RWTH teaching staff .
personal data
SURNAME Grimme, Ernst Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian, museum director, honorary professor
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 2003
Place of death Aachen