Heinz Lilienthal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heinz Lilienthal (born April 25, 1927 in Neidenburg in East Prussia ; † June 6, 2006 in Javea , Spain ) was one of the pioneering German glass painters for church building in the post-war years. In addition, he designed wall decorations in metal , wood and concrete , furnished ships for the Greek shipowners Aristoteles Onassis and Stavros Niarchos and eventually became a successful designer of table furniture.

Life

Lilienthal's first career aspiration was a naval officer, so he entered the navy and subsequently attended the Mürwik naval school . During the Second World War he experienced, among other things, the bombing raids on Kiel and Wilhelmshaven . He belonged to the generation of young men who were sent by the Wehrmacht to the hopeless defensive battles in Pomerania and the Battle of Berlin . Eventually he was taken prisoner by the British . After the war, the Lilienthals family, who had fled East Prussia, gathered in Bremen , where the oldest brother offered a place to go. He had found a job in the Hanseatic city during peacetime . Lilienthal started drawing here. His drawings and watercolors soon found lovers in bartering a sketch of the postwar River Weser acquired against kilograms of potatoes or a dozen eggs.

education

After an internship in construction, Lilienthal became a student at the State Art School founded in 1946 - master school for the creative handicraft . Before the semester could begin, lecturers and students cleared the rubble of the building that had been damaged in the war. Lilienthal's teachers were Walter Ohlsen and August Welp, who taught drawing, painting and “decorative painting”. Lilienthal was the only student who decided to study glass painting .

Entry into the profession

Lilienthal applied for his first job in 1949 while still a student. It was about the repair of the window of the Protestant parish in his hometown Bremen-Blumenthal, which was destroyed in the war . A meeting with the consistorial master builder of the Evangelical Church in Hanover , the architect Ernst Witt (1898–1971), turned out to be groundbreaking for Lilienthal for the future. Witt was looking for young artists who could satisfy the parishes' desire for modern and yet spiritual church windows. Lilienthal then declared his studies over. He set up his first office in the Bremer Händelstraße, in the house of the parents of a fellow student and later wife.

plant

Glass roof by Heinz Lilienthal in the Düsseldorf Kö-Galerie
Glass window by Heinz Lilienthal in a residential building ( Bassum )
Church window by Heinz Lilienthal in the Ev. Paul Gerhardt Church in Unna-Königsborn

Lilienthal went into business for himself and founded the atelier for church art in Bremen-Lesum in 1952 . For the production of the church windows he used both the classic lead glazing and the concrete glazing technology that was only developed in the first half of the 20th century . The latter was to acquire greater significance for his work. Stylistically, representational as well as completely abstract representations are present in his work, even in a single building in harmonious coexistence.

In addition to the stained glass, Lilienthal developed other creative fields of activity. He created mosaics, designed table furniture and, since the 1960s, has been experimenting with the materials metal, concrete, natural stone and wood for large-scale wall designs, both indoors and outdoors. He found an artistic expression that thrives on the contrast between circular and linear forms as well as light and dark materials. His innovative metal smelting work earned him recognition at home and abroad.

Stained glass

His first work was created in Bremen in collaboration with the architect Eberhard Gildemeister . These were the windows of the Methodist Church of the Redeemer in Bremen- Schwachhausen and the Rembertikirche . In 1952 he created windows for St. New Year's Eve in Quakenbrück , in Bremerhaven for the Pauluskirche in Lehe and the Christ Church in Bremerhaven-Geestemünde . In 1956 in Kiel he designed the windows of the Nikolaikirche, rebuilt by the architect Gerhard Langmaack, with the stained glass "The sinking Peter ".

Other works:

mosaic

In addition to glass painting, Lilienthal worked on mosaics , for example for the Christ Church in Spradow near Bielefeld and the church of Leybuchtpolder , North District (East Frisia) .

Wood inlays

  • Sparkasse in Bremen-Lesum
  • Motorway service station Oldenburg- Wardenburg

Metal walls

The Greek shipping companies Onassis and Niarchos were looking for fireproof solutions for the interior fittings of ships. Lilienthal designed design elements for the interior for its luxury liners made of steel and metal-coated materials. He subsequently used metal as an artistic material for design on land.

Natural stone

Sculptures

Reliefs in concrete

Table design

Lilienthal also made a name for himself as a designer / constructor of table furniture for companies.

estate

The artistic legacy of Lilienthal was donated to the “Forum for Legacies of Artists e. V., Hamburg ”.

Exhibitions

Since 1950 Lilienthal has participated in numerous exhibitions, around 1964 in the international special show “The best glass picture”.

Honors

  • 1965 Bavarian State Prize and Gold Medal
  • 1970 Sparkasse Bremen Prize

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinz Lilienthal  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ trinitatis-kirche.de Detailed report on the design of the church window in Marburg-Wehrda
  2. ↑ Christian Wiechel-Kramüller: churches, monasteries and chapels in the district of Uelzen . WIEKRA Edition, Bahn-Media Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Suhlendorf 2015, ISBN 978-3-940189-14-1 , p. 142-144 .
personal data
SURNAME Lilienthal, Heinz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German glass painter and designer
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Neidenburg , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 2006
Place of death Javea , Spain