Günther T. Schulz

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Günther T. Schulz (1958)

Günther T. Schulz (GTS) (actually Günther Ferdinand Paul , born March 22, 1909 in Berlin-Karlshorst ; † September 12, 1978 in Gordon's Bay , South Africa) was a German commercial artist, illustrator and painter.

His work includes the design of the original logo of the Bildzeitung .

Professional background

Günther T. Schulz left Karlshorst grammar school prematurely. He had known since childhood that he wanted to make drawing his profession, but on October 1, 1925, he first began training as a lithographer with the printer, repro photographer and lithographer E. U. Schwerdtfeger. According to the apprenticeship contract, he was instructed not only in the lithography department, but also in the drawing studio. Although the training was planned to last four years, Schulz completed it after three years on October 1, 1928. The journeyman's examination was rated “good” by the examination board for graphic arts and crafts in Berlin.

Through his activity and his zeal for work, he quickly attracted attention and won supporters. A scholarship from Ullstein Verlag enabled him to study with the most famous German illustrators Theo Matejko and Fritz Koch-Gotha during his training as a lithographer . The signature of Koch-Gotha, of which he was the only pupil, can be clearly seen in some of Schulz's early works.

Charcoal drawing of the Elbe
Illustration of a Berber

The catalog of an exhibition by Schulz in 1979 in the Levy Gallery describes this period as follows: "The strong influence of these men and the constant sketching developed his innate visual memory."

At the beginning of 1929 he started working as a layouter for the publishing house Annoncen-Expedition Rudolf Mosse. After a year and a half he switched to the Lintas advertising agency in Berlin, where he worked as a studio manager from June 15, 1930 to May 31, 1933 and from October 1, 1933 to December 31, 1935. There he also met his first wife Susanne. His diploma not only praised his artistic talent and organizational skills, it was also confirmed that he was "a quick grasp and a quick worker."

For the first time in 1934 Schulz put a "T." between first and last name and from then on called himself Günther T. Schulz. How Schulz came up with a "T." of all things is not known. It is wrong, however, that, as can be found on the Internet, the letter T was an abbreviation for the name Thordsen. In future, he signed his works, both free and commissioned, exclusively with GTS . an abbreviation that would soon serve him as a nickname in society and as a trademark in his profession:

  • “His Signum GTS has become ... a token that is well known beyond the borders”, reported the Hamburger Abendblatt on September 21, 1959 on the occasion of his 50th birthday.
  • "... the abbreviation GTS has become an internationally recognized trademark," wrote Die Welt on November 13, 1979.

At the beginning of 1936 Günther T. Schulz moved to Hamburg. He was poached by the Reemtsma cigarette factories , for which he worked from January 6, 1936 to June 28, 1948, with two brief interruptions during the war, as a studio manager. In this function he worked closely with Philipp F. Reemtsma and Hans Domizlaff , the well-known advertising consultant and founder of brand technology, with whom he soon became friends. However, Schulz's organizational work alone was not enough, which is why he himself illustrated a large part of the advertising campaigns for Reemtsma's cigarette brands, including campaigns for Harvest 23, R6, Fox and Astor. He became known in 1939 with the Macedonian sketches he made for Harvest 23. These motifs show the local culture and way of life, as well as the way of working in the harvest and processing of oriental tobacco, which GTS had captured on various trips sent by Reemtsma to the tobacco-growing regions of the Balkans and the Middle East.

Since Günther T. Schulz was married to a Jew and was also not a member of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, he was temporarily banned from the profession on April 11, 1939 by the President of the Reich Chamber, Adolf Ziegler. However, due to a decision by the Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda on July 1, 1939, this was repealed. From then on, Schulz was entitled “to work part-time as a commercial artist after being exempted from membership of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts.” The fact that Schulz was able to evade being drafted into the Wehrmacht for more than a year was due to his friendship with Philipp F. Reemtsma , who repeatedly wrote requests to the Wehrmacht office, in which he presented Schulz as an irreplaceable expert in the development of the preservation of food, a task that the company took on during the war. It is more than questionable whether Schulz actually knew his way around this area. It is documented that Reemtsma was able to warn GTS again and again through his relationships with the authorities when the Gestapo carried out house searches in Hamburg-Othmarschen. When the draft notices were processed by another authority, Schulz finally had to join the armed forces on May 9, 1941. He was stationed as a radio operator in Lübeck, where he only stayed until October 10, 1941, presumably again due to the influence of Reemtsma, in order to be able to continue his work at Reemtsma. On December 8, 1942, he was retired from the Hamburg military district command.

After the Second World War, GTS moved from the Reemtsma company on Luruper Chaussee to the Laeiszhof on the Trostbrücke in Hamburg, where he set up his own studio. In addition to drafting his campaigns for Reemtsma, from then on he also worked as an advertising illustrator on behalf of other large customers and publishers. His customers included Daimler-Benz , VW and Shell.

Before the war, Schulz had met the publisher's son Axel C. Springer , with whom he was to become a lifelong friend. During the war he began to illustrate books for the Springer Verlag Hammerich und Lesser. His contract with Reemtsma stipulated that he could also do other work. Book illustrations for Dulk Verlag, Toth Verlag, Rowohlt Verlag and many more followed.

In 1953 his most famous book was published. “Under sails around Cape Horn”, which shows filigree pen drawings on 253 pages from on board the Flying P-Liner Padua of the shipping company F. Laeisz . GTS illustrates partly dramatic, partly humorous scenes. However, it is not known whether he actually started the journey himself. Before the book was published, the Hamburger Abendblatt showed a series of illustrations from the book "and conjured up experiences and visions that are highly memorable for the old driver."

"Dedicated to the last great sailing ship owner, Erich F. Laeisz, in Hamburg, the book, which smells of all the world's oceans, begins with a chapter by the great sea writer Joseph Conrad."

GTS was a charismatic, open-minded man who could inspire people and moved through numerous friends and acquaintances in high society. Alongside Axel Springer and Philipp F. Reemtsma , his companions also included Henri Nannen , Max Schmeling and, later, Helmut Schmidt , Reinhart Wolf and Herbert v. Karajan .

A friend of Axel Springer's, Traute Sington, describes the time as follows: “The many, many evenings and Sundays that we spent in the beautiful apartment (by Axel Springer, author's note) on Elbchaussee are unforgettable. Kathrin was the perfect host, and the most interesting evenings had resulted in long debates in the company of people like Axel Eggebrecht , Peter von Zahn , Felix Jud and Günther T. Schulz. The mood was optimistic and the bad memories were like a nightmare from which one was finally awakened. "

GTS initially designed front pages and illustrated various reports for Springer's journals Hörzu und Kristall, before having a decisive influence on the design of the logo of the first daily newspaper approved by German authorities, the Hamburger Abendblatt , which was published on October 14, 1948. The book Aus Sorge um Deutschland, written by Axel Springer himself, says: “From the bunker it was only a short jump to the 'Museum of Hamburg History', where Günther T. Schulz got the signature for the planned and prepared Hamburg daily newspaper the idea behind our motto: 'Embrace the world with home in your heart'. "

In April 1950, the international trade magazine Nutzgraphik / International Advertising Art GTS devoted an extensive article: “If GT Schulz, the trained lithographer and layout man, is today such an excellent illustrator, understanding employee of well-known publishing and industrial companies, then it is because of his insight in each case special, in his intention to demonstrate precisely this with the most appropriate means. His work is never uninteresting, because as the author he is always "interested", thinking and empathizing. "

On June 24, 1952, the first edition of the national tabloid " Bild-Zeitung " appeared, for whose logo GTS was also responsible. Tobias Lobe, the author of the book Bild ist Marke, wrote: “Springer had the bright red logo designed by the illustrator Günther T. Schulz, who also designed cigarette packs at Reemtsma. The name of this invention was also the concept: “ BILD ” was supposed to be a kind of daily magazine. ”In addition, Henno Lehmeier in his Springer biography:“ He (Schulz, author's note) reappeared in time to (the entrepreneur , Author's note)… to revere another trademark after the logo for the “ Hamburger Abendblatt ”. A simple sign: four white unadorned letters in a rectangular, fiery red block, above the price 10 pfennigs, and the word newspaper below. If Schulz had cleverly negotiated a profit-sharing scheme instead of the one-off fee of 250 marks, for example tenth part of a penny for every newspaper sold with his draft cover, then he would have earned around fifty million marks to this day. "

In 1955, GTS traveled to New York on behalf of the Reemtsma company, where he stayed for 12 weeks in the world-famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. His task was to artistically capture both the spirit of the hotel and the high society that frequented it and to illustrate it for the next campaign for the Astor cigarette brand. These illustrations garnered industry wide attention and became another milestone in Schulz's career. Schulz actually always had a pen, a brush or a piece of chalk or charcoal in his hand, as his children tell us. He drew and painted wherever he was. In various techniques. The most varied of motifs. Landscapes, still lifes, ships, technical, abstract, portraits, nudes, people of all stripes in all imaginable situations. Time of his life. His pictures were taken in Hamburg, on the Elbe, in the harbor, on Sylt and on countless trips that he undertook privately but also for Reemtsma. These took the inquisitive Schulz to some corners of the world to which one did not travel often at that time, such as B. to Madeira or even Madagascar. He spent the little free time he had left at concerts, played the piano and guitar, but most of all he loved sailing. This love had crossed his professional life again and again. On the occasion of his first exhibition with advertising illustrations for Reemtsma, but also watercolors and portraits in oil in the Hamburg artist club “Die Insel” on December 5, 1956, the following day appeared in Hamburg under the title “His subject is today - GTS: a high-quality draftsman Rank "an article in which the Waldorf-Astoria series was dealt with indirectly:" An artist can see the society in which he lives from a critical distance, or he can identify with it. Then, like Günther T. Schulz, he will be able to illustrate her feelings, her ideal, her longing. ”The Bild Zeitung wrote on the same day:“ Even 'over there' (in the USA, author's note) is his Can asked: He works for several American magazines. But he doesn't forget home. None of the largest German press products without the modern and memorable illustrations by GTS "

Meanwhile, the Hamburger Anzeiger describes Schulz's free work: “... the watercolors and pastels show ... scenic dreams of color and line. Everything here comes first from experiencing the color - the motifs give you the opportunity to set tone values ​​against each other while always observing the basic key - in other words, a convincing oeuvre in terms of color and composition. ”“ GTS, who outwardly always appears modest as a “commercial artist “Is not only a graphic artist but a painter; that one recognizes him as such is the benefit of this exhibition. The atmospheric, quiet landscaper is a master of real watercolor technique, as one learns particularly from the picture of a castle in the county of Sussex that stands out from nuanced gray tones. "

At parties, it is said, he was often the center of attention with the stories of his travels. Schulz loved the sophisticated. He loved made-to-measure suits and shirts and had a selectively good taste in the things with which he surrounded himself.

In 1956, GTS moved to the McCann-Erickson advertising agency in Hamburg, where he stayed for 4 years as creative director. In 1960 he was poached by the Heumann advertising company, which was taken over in 1964 by the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather. His last professional position in Germany led Günther T. Schulz to the cigarette factory Martin Brinkmann AG in Bremen for three years . There he worked as a creative consultant, but did not want to be missed from designing advertising motifs himself, as he once did at Reemtsma. So he designed z. B. Campaigns for Peer Export. At this time he also got to know the South African entrepreneur Anton Rupert , whose Rembrandt Group took over a minority stake in Martin Brinkmann AG in 1966. At the invitation of Rupert, who wanted to poach Günther T. Schulz for his company, GTS visited South Africa for the first time in March 1967. It would be two more years before he finally emigrated on August 20, 1969 with his second wife Karin to Gordons Bay, west of Cape Town in South Africa, to take up work for Rupert. Schulz remained active there too and also illustrated books for Tafelberg-Uitgewers Verlag South Africa, and worked as creative director at the advertising agency Kluth & Odes Advertising Ltd. and became a lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch , where he taught drawing. He remained true to his close relationships in the Reemtsma and Springer houses until the end of his life. He and his wife Karin were visited several times by Gertrud Reemtsma, the widow of Philipp F. Reemtsma.

Günther T. Schulz died at the age of 69 on September 12, 1978 and was buried in the Garden of Remembrance in Cape Town. He was considered one of the most important German commercial graphic artists. A year later, in 1979, his pictures were exhibited in the Levy Gallery in Hamburg.

Private life

Günther T. Schulz married Susanne Hanna Josky on May 13, 1933 in Hamburg. The children Gabriele, Irene and Andreas emerged from this marriage. The couple separated in 1951, but did not divorce until March 31, 1958. Since 1951 GTS was in a relationship with the divorced second wife of Axel Springer, Erna Frieda Berta, called Kathrin. The relationship lasted 17 years. On July 25, 1969, shortly before the migration to South Africa, GTS married his second wife Karin Meil.

Illustrated books

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt June 23, 1956, author: Günther T. Schulz, Axel Springer Syndication
  2. ^ Catalog for the exhibition id Galerie Levy, Hamburg 1979, Hamburg State Library
  3. ^ Hamburger Abendblatt, March 1, 1959, Axel Springer Syndication
  4. ^ Die Welt, November 13, 1979, Axel Springer Syndication
  5. ↑ The New Rump - Lexicon d. Visual artist of Hamburg, Maike Bruhns, Wachholtz Verlag
  6. ↑ a b c Archive d. Institute for Social Research, Hamburg
  7. ↑ http://www.germandesigner.net  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.germandesigner.net  
  8. ^ Hamburger Abendblatt September 29, 1953, Axel Springer Syndication
  9. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt 2./3. November 1957, Axel Springer Syndication
  10. ↑ Axel Springer - The friends of the friend, page 46, Traute Sington / Various, Ullstein Verlag
  11. ^ Out of concern for Germany, page 379, Axel Springer, Busse-Seewald Verlag
  12. ↑ commercial art / International Advertising Art 04/1950, Werner Suhr, State Library Hamburg
  13. ↑ Image is a trademark, pages 23–24, Tobias Lobe, Axel Springer Verlag
  14. ^ Springer, page 148, Henno Lohmeier, Quintessenz Verlag
  15. ^ Hamburger Abendblatt, December 6, 1956, Hamburg State Archives
  16. ^ Picture, December 6, 1956, Axel Springer Syndication
  17. ↑ Hamburger Anzeiger, December 6, 1956, Axel Springer Syndication
  18. ↑ world on Sunday, 09/12/56, Axel Springer Syndication
  19. ↑ Reemtsma Archive i. Museum of Labor, Hamburg
  20. ↑ The Reemtsmas, page 547, Erik Lindner, Hoffmann and Campe
  21. ↑ The New Rump - Lexicon d. Visual artist of Hamburg, Maike Bruhns, Wachholtz Verlag
personal data
SURNAME Schulz, Günther T.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schulz, Günther Ferdinand Paul (real name); Schulz, Günther Thordsen (wrong name form); GTS (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German commercial artist, illustrator and painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin-Karlshorst
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 1978
Place of death Gordon's Bay , South Africa