Friedrich Holbein

Friedrich Holbein (born March 19, 1856 in Waltershausen , † 1940 ) was a German painter and graphic artist .

Life

Friedrich Holbein was born the son of a linen weaver. He attended elementary school and showed talent for drawing at an early age.

Up to the age of 30 he worked as a homeworker for a Waltershausen doll factory and painted doll heads. As an autodidact , he acquired drawing and painting. He took his motifs from nature.

In 1889 he met the writer August Trinius . He asked him to illustrate his hiking books. For this purpose, Holbein made a test drawing of the Prussian court on the Inselsberg and on this occasion wrote himself in the inn's book for the first time . From then on he hiked to Inselsberg every Sunday and public holiday.

In the first year of the collaboration between Trinius and Holbein, the book “Der Rennstieg- a hike from the Werra to the Saale” with 12 woodcuts by Holbein was published. Through Trinius' mediation, Holbein succeeded in placing his drawings in family sheets that were widely read at the time, including in the "Gazebo" . From 1892 to 1912 Holbein created around 300 drawings for Trinius and 400 drawings for other works.

Holbein's motifs came from closer homeland such as Tenneberg Castle , the Lauchagrund and the Inselsberg. In every season he painted Reinhardsbrunn Castle , with which he had a very special relationship. Here his grandfather worked as an art gardener.

In 1913 Holbein had managed the 900th ascent of the Inselsberg. He had a permanent exhibition in the “Gothscher Hof” restaurant on the Inselsberg. In 1916 he received an order for the ducal court chamber and the chamber of agriculture. Orders for pictures and orders came from Naples , Jutland and Rotterdam .

From 1928 on, Holbein published his own hiking stories in the local press. Shortly before his death in 1940 , he signed the 2244th time in the summit book of the island mountain.

The primary school at Schulplatz in Waltershausen is committed to the tradition of the painter; it has had his name since 2002.