Helmut Maletzke

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Helmut Maletzke, May 2016

Helmut Maletzke (born October 8, 1920 in Neustettin ; † October 15, 2017 in Greifswald ) was a German painter , graphic artist and writer .

Life

Three years after Helmut Maletzke's birth, his family moved from Neustettin to Kolberg , where his father, a primary school teacher, died in 1926. In 1939 Helmut Maletzke passed his Abitur and was then drafted into the Reich Labor Service . In the same year he was called up and was a soldier until 1945. Wounded several times, he studied law at the University of Greifswald for three semesters during his hospital stays .

After the end of the war he worked as a freelance graphic artist in Greifswald, where he and his wife Ursula founded a graphics workshop for advertising work. In 1946 he founded the artist group "Die Buhne". From 1947 to 1957 he worked at the surgical clinic of the University of Greifswald as a scientific draftsman. Around this time he made friends with the former Greifswald city commander Rudolf Petershagen and met the Usedom painter Otto Niemeyer-Holstein .

In 1950 he became a member of the Association of Visual Artists (VBK). From 1951 to 1953 he attended seminars in Greifswald with Professors Herbert Wegehaupt and Schmidt-Walther. He then studied art history at the "Caspar David Friedrich Institute" at Greifswald University until 1957.

In 1953, Helmut Maletzke worked for the first time in the field of building-related art in the Greifswald town hall , where he designed a large mural in the conference room with the theme “The medieval Greifswald”. In 1959 he organized his first exhibitions in Greifswald, Schwerin and Magdeburg . In 1960 he undertook a four-month journey on the cargo ship Magdeburg that took him to Africa and East Asia. In the following years he almost exclusively carried out building-related work, including the design of new ships at the Mathias Thesen shipyard in Wismar . Serious conflicts arose after repeated clashes with cultural officials in the GDR . He was not allowed to carry out a mural for the shipbuilding faculty of the University of Rostock , with which he had won a competition. Furthermore, the state professional association initiated a professional ban proceedings against him. On April 6, 1961, an officer from the Ministry for State Security [MfS] visited him. Helmut Maletzke declared that he was ready in writing to share his critical ideas and facts, limited to his cultural-political concerns. As a result of the continued cultural-political and artistic contradictions, the central board of the VBK forbade him to continue working on February 7, 1972 because of "educating people's awareness". Due to the reputation of his art abroad, a total exclusion was waived in 1973, but Maletzke was no longer allowed to work for public spaces. Membership in the VBK remained. This materially serious limitation led to a turning point in his work. The painter now began to paint large-format oil paintings privately and on his own behalf, which now dealt specifically with ideological problems. Of course, he was hardly able to present this work at the state exhibitions - where he dared to be denigrated and denigrated - but from then on the Evangelical Church offered him the opportunity to exhibit in its rooms in a variety of ways. This happened among others in the Katharinenkirche, the Jenaer Stadtkirche, the Stralsund Marienkirche and in the Magdeburg cathedral . At the same time - to a certain extent to compensate for the harsh, critical oil paintings - Maletzke concentrated on the field of landscape painting. According to general opinion, he was particularly successful here in the watercolor technique.

When Helmut Maletzke realized that the Ministry for State Security could not or did not want to help him in solving cultural-political problems, but was using him for his own purposes, he terminated the relationship on October 13, 1977. However, the Ministry for State Security gave up contact afterwards not completely up. He was visited several times.

In 1977 he received permission to host a graphic exhibition at the Hüning Gallery in Münster , Westphalia , but was forbidden to travel to the opening. In 1985 he redesigned the memorial plaque in Greifswald's Marienkirche for those who died in World War II as a memorial against the war.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall , Helmut Maletzke received invitations to numerous exhibitions abroad, including in New York , Los Angeles , Paris and St. Petersburg . From 1994 to 2002 he taught courses at the Greifswald Adult Education Center. In 1997 he was able to publish his autobiographical novel "Signum BT", which was completed in 1987. In the same year a volume of short stories was published and he founded the Greifswald art gallery “Pommernhus”, as its honorary director he organized national and international exhibitions.

Helmut Maletzke played a decisive role in the re-establishment of the “Pommerschen Künstlerbund e. V. ”in East Germany, of which he was chairman for the all-German association from 1997 to 2002. In 2000 he became the first spokesman for the local group of freelance visual artists in Greifswald. In 2002 he was one of the co-founders of the German-Polish artist association "Ars Pomerania". In 2004 he founded the art house “Neues Pommernhus” in Greifswald, which he ran on a voluntary basis. In the same year he set up the “Helmut Maletzke Foundation”. On the occasion of his 85th birthday, the largest exhibition of his works took place in Pommernhus with 120 works. Helmut Maletzke had his own exhibitions and participations in 22 countries. He received prizes in 11 artistic competitions.

Mural in Lappstrasse

In 2008 he and a German-Polish artist collective created a 30-meter-large mural on the subject of "Greifswald and its past" based on his design in Greifswald's Lappstrasse. In 2010, on his initiative and under his direction, the first sculptural memorial for Caspar David Friedrich was created . It was created by the sculptor Claus Görtz . The memorial was inaugurated on the occasion of the 170th anniversary of Caspar David Friedrich's death on May 8, 2010.

In March 2011, Helmut Maletzke suggested the re-establishment of the formerly disbanded artist group “Die Buhne”.

Helmut Maletzke and the North German Radio

On the occasion of Helmut Maletzke's 90th birthday, on October 8, 2010, the Norddeutscher Rundfunk reported that Helmut Maletzke was an unofficial employee of the Ministry for State Security. According to an approx. 800-page IM file , he had already declared himself ready to cooperate with the State Security on April 6, 1961. Maletzke's reports on the Association of Visual Artists in the Greifswald area, other artists, his trips abroad and his own development were collected under the code name "Erwin Schreiber". At the request of the NDR, Maletzke, who, according to the file, last met with his commanding officer on September 19, 1989, admitted active contacts with the State Security. According to his own statements, he assumed that this would allow him to change grievances in the cultural field by reporting on the award of building-related commissions. However, he was not aware that he had been used as an IM under an alias. He also terminated the relationship on October 13, 1977, but was only partially exempted from it. To date, none of these are known to have any specific consequences, apart from refusals by the Stasi when approving business trips to the FRG in 1977 and similar disadvantages on the part of the authorities. The whole report only told part of the story. Helmut Maletzke's point of view was not taken into account.

Because of this report, the Lord Mayor of the Hanseatic City of Greifswald, Arthur König , canceled an exhibition of Maletzke's pictures planned for his 90th birthday in Greifswald's town hall . A second birthday exhibition took place in Greifswald's Marienkirche. In 2011 the Pomeranian Artists Association, which had already distanced itself from Maletzke in 2010, separated from the Pommernhus and the Maletzke Foundation. Since the relationship with the Pomeranian Artists Association was already problematic before October 2010 and led to numerous discrepancies, Helmut Maletzke terminated his membership since 1996 in November 2010.

The NDR report created a tense relationship with the station, which was previously good.

Memberships and honors

  • 1951–1989: Member of the VBK
  • 1952: Honorary member of the Medical Illustrators Association / USA
  • 1989: Member of the BBK (Association of Visual Artists)
  • 1994: Elected member of the ArtAssociation Harrisburg / USA
  • 1995: Plaque of Honor from the City of Los Angeles
  • 1996–2011: Member of the Pomeranian Artists Association V. (Membership ended on December 31, 2011 after Helmut Maletzke's resignation on November 3, 2010)
  • 1996: Honored with the Pomeranian Culture Prize
  • 1998: Voted one of the 10 best German draftsmen by the Bernd Rosenheim Foundation
  • 2003: Entry in the Golden Book of the City of Greifswald
  • 2005: Honorary member of the Association of German Writers (VS)
  • 2014: Award for voluntary work in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district
  • Winner of 11 artistic competitions

Literary publications

  • 1997: The autobiographical novel "Signum BT", completed in 1987, and the volume of short stories "Styx"
  • 1998: illustrated book "Schmierskizzen"
  • 2001: Illustrated volume of poetry "From the Dark"
  • 2003: Illustrated volume of poetry "sometimes"
  • 2004: Collection of stories "View of Greifswald"
  • 2005: Volume of stories "My way of traveling"
  • 2006: Autobiography "Paths of a Painter"
  • 2007: "Painter's Guide"
  • 2009: Illustrated volume of poetry "Im Licht"
  • 2010: Illustrated book of poetry "Lied der Gäa"
  • 2012: Biographical report "Interviewed Past"
  • 2013: Illustrated book of stories "Crisscross and middle"
  • 2013: Illustrated volume of poetry "I am"
  • 2013: Illustrated volume of poetry "Albernheiten"
  • 2013: Participation in several anthologies
  • 2014: Illustrated book "Drawings"
  • 2015: Illustrated book of stories "Congress with Lucifer"
  • 2016: for us to be happy
  • 2016: Memoirs "In the Protection of Your Wings"
  • 2016: Helmut's bedtime journeys
  • 2016: Drawings for the Bible
  • 2017: Images and texts on the Reformation
  • 2017: 97 years old - so what !?
  • 2017: Volume of stories "The captain orders a ballerina"
  • 2017: Illustrated poems "Old and new follies"
  • 2017: Photo book "Old Greifswald"

to travel

Since 1960 Helmut Maletzke has been traveling for several weeks or months to many different countries ( USA , Belgium , Egypt , Sudan , China , Holland , Russia , Bulgaria , Romania , Czechoslovakia , Yugoslavia , Hungary , Mongolia , Cuba , Vietnam , Cyprus , North Korea , Indonesia , Poland , Italy , France , Spain , Morocco , India , Nepal , Malta , Tunisia , Israel , Sweden , Denmark , South Africa , Thailand , Iceland , Kenya , Mexico , Austria , Peru , Chile , Argentina , Brazil , United Arab Emirates , Belarus , Turkey , Uzbekistan ).

literature

  • Lutz Mohr : The artist portrait: Sea trip influenced the creative process of the painter Helmut Maletzke . In: Full ahead. Organ of the political department of the merchant fleet of the GDR Rostock, vol. 21, no. 19 of September 24, 1979.
  • Lutz Mohr, Martin Prinz and others: Helmut Maletzke - A contemporary painter . For the artist's 60th birthday. New Greifswald Museum Books (NGM) No. 9, Greifswald 1980.
  • Lutz Mohr: Captains in a new guise. To some of the ship pictures by the Greifswald painter Helmut Maletzke . In: Full ahead. Organ of the political department of the GDR merchant fleet Rostock, vol. 23, no. 18 of September 7, 1989.
  • Lutz Mohr: Greifswald ships as "captain pictures". A special maritime art genre has almost disappeared today . In: Die Pommersche Zeitung , volume 64, episode 9 of March 1, 2014, p. 2.
  • Eckhard Oberdörfer : Helmut Maletzke is dead. The Greifswald painter died at the age of 97 in his home town of Greifswald . In: Ostsee-Zeitung , Greifswalder Zeitung, 65th vol., No. 242 of October 17, 2017, p. 13
  • Hans Jürgen Schumacher : Only zeros have no rough edges. Obituary for the Greifswald painter, graphic artist and writer Helmut Maletzke . In: "Vorpommern Magazin", November 2017, p. 30, 2 fig.
  • N / A : Pomeranian Culture Prize Winner Helmut Maletzke has passed away . In: Die Pommersche Zeitung, vol. 67, episode 43 of October 28, 2017, p. 2, 1 portrait

Web links

Commons : Helmut Maletzke  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Matthes Klemme: Greifswald painter Helmut Maletzke is dead. October 16, 2017, accessed on July 4, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Painted through four epochs - the Greifswald painter Helmut Maletzke is 90 and is still planning many pictures ; by Ralph Sommer, dapd news agency, portrait from October 6, 2010
  3. ↑ The panel in the tower of St. Mary's Church ( Memento from June 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Greifswald painter Maletzke confirms Stasi contacts. In: Märkische Oderzeitung . October 8, 2010 ( online ( memento of November 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).)
  5. ^ Artist Maletzke was a Stasi-IM. NDR.de, October 8, 2010, archived from the original on October 26, 2010 ; Retrieved October 10, 2010 .
  6. ↑ AZ BStU 000318-20
  7. ^ Pommerscher Künstlerbund: The Pommerscher Künstlerbund and Maletzke. Press release, October 25, 2010
  8. ^ Annual general meeting of our association on May 28, 2011. In: Pommerscher Künstlerbund: Vereinsblatt. November 2011, p. 7.
  9. ^ Reply from the Pomeranian Artists Association ( PDF ), January 16, 2011
  10. ^ Medical Illustrators Association / USA. Retrieved May 20, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Maletzke, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, graphic artist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Neustettin
DATE OF DEATH 15th October 2017
Place of death Greifswald