Ernst Zimmer (painter)

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Ernst Zimmer (born May 10, 1864 in Lorenzberg , Strehlen district , Silesia , † July 16, 1924 in Bamberg ) was a German painter and illustrator .

Life

The Lauenburg Hunter Battalion No. 9 at Gravelotte by Ernst Zimmer (1910)
Illustration of the fire of the full ship Egmond from Amsterdam by Ernst Zimmer in 1910

Ernst Zimmer was born in the Silesian town of Lorenzberg as the son of poor villagers, where he worked as a cowherd at a young age. After his talent for drawing was recognized, he was allowed to take lessons in porcelain painting at the art school in Danzig . In 1887 his first work, which was widely distributed throughout Germany, was published, the illustration of the book Serious and cheerful memories of an orderly officer by writer Karl Tanera . He met his future master teacher, the military painter and art professor Louis Braun who was popular at the time of Emperor Franz Joseph , at a military celebration in 1895 and followed him to Munich .

In 1903 Zimmer came to Bamberg , where he created not only battle paintings but also landscape and city views as well as illustrations for a historical book. Three years later he asked the Bavarian War Ministry to be allowed to accompany the war company in the next war. This happened in September 1914, when he was assigned as the official battle painter of the army corps , but it came to an early termination. In a letter published a year later, Ernst Zimmer's disappointment at the termination emerges by complaining that it had:

“No opportunity given […] to study in the field. Who knows if I'll ever get out of there again. But if the man is needy, I still take up arms myself and the like. come out as a defender of the fatherland ... "

- Serious room

After Ernst Zimmer's death, his wife Henriette was in financial need. So she sold her husband's collection of weapons and uniforms to a pastor from Szczecin . She handed over the artistic estate to the city of Bamberg. The approximately 600 artistic works, consisting of watercolors and drawings , were not sorted or processed even 90 years after his death.

Activity as a battle painter

The Emperor presents the Heroes of Novo-Georgiewsk with the Iron Cross by Ernst Zimmer (1915)

Battle painting has been characterized by the depiction of a large number of people interacting with one another since ancient times . Differences could be clearly seen in the actions, appearance and equipment of the people depicted. Further features of the early battle painting were the pronounced anatomy of the people and their clearly recognizable facial expressions .

Since the 18th century, the importance of the battle room was replaced by technological changes.

“In literature and battle painting, the battlefield began to be monumentalized into a space for the war of ideas (nation, freedom, etc.). The European history of ideas and images separated the battle from 'life' by a metaphysical exaggeration and transformed the field into an aesthetic realm. "

- Bernd Hüppauf: The battlefield as a space in the head

Ernst Zimmer impressed Prince Regent Luitpold with his first dioramas . The Prince Regent commissioned Ernst Zimmer to paint General von Schmitt with his 1st Jäger Battalion in the battle near Beaumont on August 30, 1870 . Zimmer was considered a perfectionist because he accurately reproduced locations, times of day and weather conditions in his pictures - so he called in soldiers from the Bamberg barracks as models and had them pose for his pictures. King Ludwig III. visited him in his studio in 1912, where he was awarded the gold medal for art and science. In its obituary from 1924, the Bamberger Tagblatt wrote : "His studio is like a small museum in which a wide variety of uniforms, weapons and flag replicas are neatly housed."

Works

Paintings (selection)

  • The Lauenburg Jäger Battalion No. 9 near Gravelotte (Ratzeburg District Museum), 1910
  • The Emperor presents the hero of Novo-Georgiewsk with the Iron Cross , 1915, 52 × 70 cm, gouache on paper
  • Scouting troop battle , 1916, 77 × 57 cm, gouache on paper
  • Storming French , 1916, 58 × 38 cm, Indian ink, cover slip on paper
  • Storming Infantry , 1917, 59 × 90 cm, guache on paper
  • Forest battle , 1917, 50 × 33 cm, Indian ink, opaque white on paper
  • View of Altenburg in winter , 1919, 65 × 47 cm, oil on canvas
  • View of Bamberg. From the Altenburg, the viewer's gaze wanders through the summer valley to the city , 1920, 48 × 72 cm, watercolor
  • Horn player of the Kgl. Bavarian 1st Uhlan Regiment , 1922, 40 × 34 cm, watercolor on cardboard
  • Battle in the Bois Brûle , 1923, 80 × 150 cm, oil on canvas

Illustrations (selection)

Front cover of the book War and Peace. Serious and cheerful
  • Karl Tanera : From the North Cape to the Sahara. 16th edition, Union, Stuttgart / Berlin / Leipzig 1922.
  • Karl Tanera: From the Prima to Tientsin. 10th edition, Hirt, Leipzig 1917.
  • Karl Tanera: War and Peace. Serious and cheerful. Oestergaard, Berlin 1900.
  • Walter Heichen : In the battle for the Dardanelles: story from the world wars. Mars, Berlin 1916.
  • Victor Blüthgen : The way to happiness. Union, Stuttgart / Berlin / Leipzig 1912.
  • Adam Josef Cüppers : The Gotenfürst: Story from Germania prehistory. 3rd edition, Bachem, Cologne 1913.
  • Heinrich von Steinaecker : Under the flags of the Hohenzollern Fusilier Reg. Number 40 in the war of 1870/71. Bachern, Cologne 1911.
  • Wilhelm Jensen : A spring afternoon. Hillger, Berlin / Leipzig 1908.
  • Amélie Linz : Christmas greetings. 4th edition. Union Dt. Verlagsges., Stuttgart 1905.
  • Otto Elster : Under St. Juergens protection. R. Eckstein, Berlin 1898.
  • Hans Hopfen : given in your sleep. 4th edition, E. Eckstein Nachf., Berlin 1896 ?.
  • Valeska Countess Bethusy-Huc : The widow's suitors. R. Eckstein Nachf., Berlin 1895.

Web links

Commons : Ernst Zimmer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Michael Schubert: "Canvas heroes" in the trenches. On inFranken.de . May 10, 2014, accessed October 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ Quoted from: Autograph Auction April 1, 2006 . Axel Schmolt Autographs Auctions, p. 33, accessed on October 21, 2016 (PDF).
  3. ↑ Thomas Kirchner: Paradigm of the Present. Battle painting as a genre without genre conventions . In: Stefan German, Michael F. Zimmermann (Ed.): Images of power. Power of pictures. Contemporary history in representations of the 19th century . Klinkhardt & Biermann, Munich / Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-7814-0394-7 , p. 108.
  4. ↑ Bernd Hüppauf : The battlefield as a space in the head . In: Steffen Martus, Marina Münkler, Werner Röcke (eds.): Schlachtfelder. Coding of violence in media change . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-05-003587-0 , p. 210.
  5. ↑ Lot 5641: Ernst Zimmer (1864–1924) - The emperor presents the hero of Novo-Georgiewsk with the Iron Cross . Invaluable, April 28, 2009, accessed October 21, 2016.
  6. ↑ 6334 Ernst Zimmer (1864-1924) - Scout battle . LiveAuctioneers, April 15, 2008, accessed October 21, 2016.
  7. ↑ 6887 Ernst Zimmer (1864-1924) - Storming French . LiveAuctioneers, May 9, 2007, accessed October 21, 2016.
  8. ↑ 6886: Ernst Zimmer (1864-1924) - Storming Infantry . LiveAuctioneers, May 9, 2007, accessed October 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ 6888: Ernst Zimmer (1864-1924) - Forest battle . LiveAuctioneers, May 9, 2007, accessed October 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Lot 1710: Zimmer, Ernst (1864–1924) View of the wintry Altenburg . Invaluable, May 28, 2010, accessed October 21, 2016.
  11. ↑ Lot 1418: Zimmer, Ernst (1864-1924). Invaluable, May 10, 2008, accessed October 21, 2016.
  12. ↑ Lot 5078: Zimmer, Ernst (1864–1924). Invaluable, November 8, 2014, accessed October 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Lot 6272: Zimmer, Ernst (1864–1924) - Battle on Bois Brûle . Invaluable, April 14, 2010, accessed October 21, 2016.
  14. ^ Zimmer, Ernst, 1864-1924, Lorenzberg, Kr. Strehlen in Schlesien. Berlin State Library. Prussian Cultural Heritage, accessed on October 21, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Zimmer, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Lorenzberg , Strehlen district , Silesia
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1924
Place of death Bamberg