Felix Cziossek

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Felix Cziossek (born December 10, 1888 in Ludwigsburg , † July 11, 1954 in Stuttgart ) was a German set designer and painter . With 4,000 sets in around 800 productions, he made a significant contribution to the publicity of the Stuttgart State Theater .

Youth and education

From 1895 to 1904 Felix Cziossek attended elementary and secondary school in Ludwigsburg, from which he graduated with a secondary school leaving certificate. In his youth he was very interested in architecture. From 1905 to 1908 he studied at the Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule in Stuttgart with the intention of becoming a painter. In 1908 he was accepted as a pupil by the Stuttgart court theater painter Wilhelm Plappert . In 1912 and 1913 further years of apprenticeship followed with the German landscape painter and set designer Georg Hacker in Düsseldorf. From there he went on study trips to Italy , Holland and Dalmatia . In 1915 and 1916 he was a war participant in Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 246, from which he was released because of a heart condition and obliged to work at the Royal Court Theater.

Work as a set designer

In 1913 Felix Cziossek was appointed by General Manager Joachim Gans zu Puttlitz to succeed Wilhelm Plappert as head set designer at the Royal Court Theater in Stuttgart. In this position, Cziossek was responsible for operas, operettas and theater in both large and small houses as the sole planner and designer and was usually also responsible for the costume design. During his creative period in Stuttgart, Cziossek created 4,000 stage designs for 800 productions, which were performed under his direction.

Despite the immense workload, Cziossek maintained an overview catalog of his work, which is why 339 stage sets by Cziossek can still be found in the Baden-Württemberg State Archives.

In retrospect, Cziossek is credited with making a significant contribution to the fact that the Stuttgart theater rose to be among the most progressive and modern of its time.

Despite attractive offers from Berlin, Munich and Vienna, Cziossek remained active in Stuttgart until the theater was destroyed in World War II.

post war period

When the theater business was resumed after the Second World War in 1945, Cziossek was not allowed to take up his position again. The American military government accused him of having been a member of the NSDAP since 1933 and instructed the Württemberg State Theater to end his employment with immediate effect, which happened on August 13, 1945. A denazification process followed , which revealed that Cziossek was by no means pursuing National Socialist ideas and had always acted humanely. The proceedings ended with a decision of December 18, 1947, with which Cziossek was included in the group of followers and had to pay a fine of 200 Reichsmarks.

A resumption of his activity at the state theater failed because of his health. The old heart condition came back and his blood pressure was too low.

Working as a painter

Cziossek devoted himself to painting throughout his life. His teacher Georg Hacker and the painter Hans Brasch , a representative of Expressionism, were influential in the style. Cziossek and Brasch were neighbors on Engelhornweg in Stuttgart and were friends.

From 1941 to 1944 he taught at the University of Applied Arts in Stuttgart. In addition, he had a teaching position at the State University of Music for the theater class there.

During his creative period he created numerous paintings that are privately owned.

family

Felix Cziossek was born on December 10, 1888 as the son of the head stable master Alexander Cziossek and Pauline Cziossek, née Stockemer, born. On July 7, 1914, Cziossek married Julie Lösch, daughter of the businessman August Lösch, and Emma Lösch, née Huber, from Neckarweihingen. Son Klaus Cziossek was born on February 13, 1924. Klaus attends the Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium in Stuttgart and was obliged to enter the war as a high school graduate. On November 16, 1943, Klaus fell in the east, which hit Julie and Felix Cziossek hard, as he later announced in the denazification process.

Felix Cziossek died on July 11, 1954 of a heart attack in Stuttgart.

Web links

Commons : Felix Cziossek  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Obituary for Felix Cziossek . In: City of Stuttgart (Ed.): Official Journal of Stuttgart . July 22, 1954.
  2. ↑ Photo folders for stage sets Felix Cziossek, Baden-Württemberg State Archives, Ludwigsburg State Archives E 18 III.
  3. ↑ Herbert Maisch: helmet off, curtain up . Lechte, S. 168 .
  4. ↑ a b File on the denazification procedure Felix Cziossek, Baden-Württemberg State Archives, State Archives Department Ludwigsburg, EL 902/20 Bü 48568
personal data
SURNAME Cziossek, Felix
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and moderator
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigsburg
DATE OF DEATH July 11, 1954
Place of death Stuttgart