Heinrich Soeller

Heinrich Söller (born January 14, 1903 in Eltmann ; † 1997 ) was a German sculptor . He mainly worked in the field of church and portrait art . His main sphere of activity and decades of residence was Schweinfurt .

Life

Origin and education

Heinrich Söller was born on January 14, 1903 in Eltmann am Main as the first born of his six siblings who were to follow. Like his father (an architect ) before him, Söller first completed an apprenticeship as a stonemason in his place of birth.

In 1920 he switched to Karl Killer at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich , who in 1922 gave him access to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich . He completed his studies in Bernhard Bleeker's class in 1928 and opened his own master's studio three years later.

Artistic career

He received his first commissions in the area of ​​church art in the vicinity of his hometown. In 1926 his sandstone head "Friedl" found its way into an exhibition at the New Secession in Munich . In 1929 he redesigned parts of the outer facade of the Heinrichskirche in Bamberg with a scene from the life of St. Heinrich .

Together with his college friend Josef Henselmann , he founded a branch of the United Workshops in Munich in 1930 .

In 1941 he had to stop his artistic work temporarily because he was drafted by the Wehrmacht . During his absence, many of his works were destroyed in a bomb attack on his studio . As a soldier he made various pencil drawings of other, often disabled soldiers.

After he was released from French captivity in 1946, he made numerous contacts with French artists. After financially precarious post-war years, he settled in Bamberg at the end of the 1950s. After moving to Schweinfurt, he created the exterior facade for the newly built church in Mainberg . This work of art caught the attention of the Würzburg bishop, who - impressed by Söller's ability - then supplied Söller with commissions. In the following decades he created numerous works, especially in the field of church art and in that of portrait busts of artists, clergy, entrepreneurs and scientists, including some fountains and various animal sculptures .

Among his more well-known works of this time is the "Memorial to those who fell in the wars and victims of National Socialism" in Schweinfurt. Again, until his death, he devoted himself primarily to sacred sculpture and portraiture.

During the course of his life he received numerous art prizes, some of them significant.

Works and exhibitions (selection)

• 1926: Munich Secession
• 1934: Renewal of the Renaissance elements on the facade of the Old Town Hall , Schweinfurt
• 1936: "Great art exhibition" in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich
• 1953: Last Supper tabernacle in St. Anton , Schweinfurt
• 1953: Reliefs in St. Kilian , Schweinfurt
• 1956: High altar in the parish church of Eltmann
• 1956: various liturgical objects in the parish church Maria Hilf , Schweinfurt
• 1960: Bear fountain in Auenstrasse, Schweinfurt
• 1961: Memorial for those who died in the wars and victims of National Socialism, Schweinfurt
• 1964: Portal to the cloister in the Würzburg Cathedral
• 1975: Brunnen, Fulda

Awards (selection)

• 1963: Appointment as a member of the Expert Committee for the Promotion and Maintenance of Art in the Free State of Bavaria
• 1969: Appointment to the Art Committee of the Diocese of Fulda by Bishop Adolf Bolte
• 1973: City Medal Schweinfurt
• 1985: Lower Franconian Culture Prize
• 1986: New Year's Eve order by Pope John Paul II.

literature

• Haak, Peter: The sculptor Heinrich Söller. In: Die Mainleite - Reports from life and culture from 1985. Schweinfurt.
• Kern, Josef: The visual arts away from the centers. In: Peter Kolb, Ernst-Günter Krenig (ed.): Unterfränkische Geschichte Vol. 5/2. Würzburg 2002, pp. 247-316.
• Winterhalter, Katharina: A Boniface as a present for the Pope. In: Main-Post (Schweinfurt edition) of January 13, 2003.
• City collections Schweinfurt (ed.): The sculptor Heinrich Söller with an introduction by Paul Ultsch. Schweinfurt 1985. (Schweinfurter Museumschriften Booklet 7).
• Ultsch, Paul: Franconian contemporary artists: Heinrich Söller. In: Franconia. Magazine for the Franconian people and their friends. No. 10 (1967), pp. 238-241.