Hans Helmbrecht

Hans Sylvester Helmbrecht (born October 3, 1922 in Jernau ( Silesia ), † April 14, 1998 in Schönebeck (Elbe) ) was a German sculptor.

Life

Helmbrecht was born the son of the distiller Emil Helmbrecht . Attending elementary school was followed by labor service and, from 1939, military service. He was wounded in 1944 during World War II . After the end of the war he worked as a farm laborer and then trained as a financial economist . Activities at the council of the Schönebeck district and the council of the Magdeburg district followed. In 1959 he was dismissed on charges of opportunism .

He took a job in the production of the Magdeburg district Salbke based VEB heavy machinery "Karl Liebknecht" on. After a while he took over the management of the advertising department of the large industrial company.

Helmbrecht had good contacts with the artistic circles around Katharina Heise and Hans Oldenburger and began to work as an autodidact in a Schönebecker circle for painting and graphics in 1957. In 1961 he turned to sculptural metal design. He made his work, especially small reliefs and figures, in metal casting. Preferred materials were bronze and white metal . Later he used wood as a working material. He took part in many national and international exhibitions. His work has been shown in museums in the GDR as well as in the Soviet Union , Mexico and Poland . The subject of his work were small sculptures up to 65 cm high, which deal with people and their relationships. From the 1980s onwards, his works, especially torsos , approached life size. He has received several awards. He received the prize for artistic folk creation 1st class, in 1962 the art prize of the FDGB and in 1978 the art prize of the city of Schönebeck.

Politically, he was critical of the GDR regime. He was watched by State Security and narrowly escaped arrest.

In 1992 the museum of the district of Schönebeck showed an exhibition of his works on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Works

• Seated Combers , 1960;
• Kneeling Mourners , 1966;
• Waiting Girl , 1972;
• Tilly - Otto von Guericke (chess pieces made in bronze), 1973;
• Encounter on Horseback , 1976,
• Young maid , 1977.

His estate is in the Salzland Museum Schönebeck.

literature

• Wilfried Kiel: Helmbrecht, Hans Sylvester. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 , p. 286.
• G. Zenker, Hans Oldenburger, Hans Helmbrecht, Plastik, October 2, 1992 - November 8, 1992 , publisher: Museum des Landkreis Schönebeck, 1992.