Fritz Bürgin

Fritz Bürgin. Photography by Theodor Strübin

Fritz Bürgin (born August 16, 1917 in Läufelfingen ; † October 25, 2003 in Walkringen ) was a Swiss sculptor and draftsman . In addition to sculptures and reliefs, his works also include woodcuts , embossed metal sheets and drawings.

life and work

Fritz Bürgin grew up in Buckten . In the 1930s he learned the woodcut and printing technique as well as the sgraffito technique and the production of plaster sculptures from Walter Eglin . In return, Bürgin helped with the preparatory work for Eglin's mosaic broadcast by looking for the colored stones required for this in nature and splitting them up on the mallet . Eglin captured Bürgin in this mosaic in the youth group. Both had a lifelong friendship. Eglin and the drawing teacher Albert Häubi (1891–1963) from Olten encouraged Bürgin in his artistic career.

Bürgin first drew attention to himself with his woodcuts. In 1941 he was able to present his woodcuts at the third Basel landscape art exhibition. However, Bürgin saw himself as a sculptor early on. In 1945 he received a prize from the federal grant committee for the female bust that he exhibited at the Christmas exhibition and which impressed Georg Schmidt , the curator of the public art collection of the Basel Art Museum.

Coq, 1959

Bürgin also worked with Jakob Probst on a temporary basis , and he was also in contact with August Suter . In 1951 Bürgin received a federal grant that enabled him to study with Germaine Richier in Paris for a year . There he saw the works of Alberto Giacometti and was inspired by them to create his own works. In 1952 he returned to Switzerland. His first work in public space was the Uli Schad fountain in Oberdorf, created in 1953 . The figure shows the peasant leader († 1653) as a young man in chains.

In 1956 Bürgin exhibited an imaginary portrait of the poet Charles Baudelaire and the sculpture Wüstenvogel at the Swiss Art Exhibition. In 1959 he won first prize in the Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt competition with the Plastik Coq ("Hahn") . The sculpture has been in the courtyard of the college building of the University of Basel ever since .

His sculptures and reliefs can often be seen as art in buildings in schools or other places in public space. Bürgin was also active in the art of driven sheet metal.

In addition to woodcuts, sculptures and reliefs, Bürgin's work also includes drawings. There are many depictions of animals among the sculptures. Most of these works were created in the 1960s. Bürgin dealt thematically with the relationship between the individual and the community, with consumer society and nature.  

In 2001 Bürgin gave part of his artistic estate to the Läufelfingen cultural and museum association. On the occasion of Bürgin's 100 birthday, the association exhibited its works in 2017.

Fritz Bürgin lived with his family in Bubendorf and spent the last years of his life in the Rüttihubelbad retirement home in Walkringen. He found his final resting place in the Burgdorf cemetery .

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  The desert bird , Liestal swimming pool

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  Relief, Burg secondary school, Liestal

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  Copper sculpture, Sissach fire department magazine

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  Mosaic broadcast by Walter Eglin

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  Metal sculpture, united in the game. Sternenfeld school building Birsfelden

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  Saint Christophorus , Läufelfingen cemetery

Web links

Commons : Fritz Bürgin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bürgin, Fritz In: Sikart
• Fritz Bürgin In: Personal Lexicon of the Canton of Basel-Country
• Fritz Bürgin In: Catalog of cultural goods of the Canton of Basel-Country
• Martin Stohler: In memory of the sculptor Fritz Bürgin (PDF) From: Volksstimme Sissach , November 21, 2003
• Kurt Ineichen: Video of Fritz Bürgin's works in public space (1946–1975) on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anniversary exhibition: Fritz Bürgin. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .