Herbert Rösler (artist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herbert Rösler in 2004

Herbert Rösler (born June 15, 1924 in Stuttgart ; † November 11, 2006 in Tübingen ) was a German artist , writer and designer for fashion, furniture, jewelry and unusual everyday objects, as well as the founder of the Christian working and living community Group 91 ( G91 ), of which he was the center until his death. The group 91 leaned against the then coming from the US concept of Jesus People at. In the artistic field, Rösler worked as a painter and graphic artist, as well as a sculptor. In addition, he designed futuristic architectural models. Works by Herbert Rösler can be seen in a permanent exhibition in the G91 Bau exhibition hall in Tübingen. In addition to cultural work, Rösler and his group are also committed to social projects.

life and work

Youth, war and first job (1924–1967)

Herbert Rösler around 1968

Herbert Rösler was the youngest of three children. His father came from Neutrebbin and was a trained forester and estate manager, his mother came from Franconia . For his first job, Rösler began training as a technical businessman around 1938 . At the age of 18 he volunteered in the military and was stationed in Africa as part of an armored force . As a prisoner of war he was taken to the United States , where he had to work in the forest and in the fields, where his first drawings were made in his spare time. Together with other prisoners, he was dropped off in France , where he and his group were immediately captured again. In 1948 he finally escaped captivity and fled back to Germany on foot. Rösler was changed by the war and from then on referred to himself as a pacifist .

After the war, Rösler first worked as a decorator for Polydor , painted posters for large-area cinema advertising and founded his own advertising agency . In 1948 he met his future wife Ischabell Nadler (born March 5, 1930 - March 13, 2015), they married in 1951 and had two children. In 1960 Rösler moved from Stuttgart to Cologne , where he was head of the decoration department of the music label Electrola . He organized u. a. the decoration for the Callas tour at that time, the Bach Weeks in Ansbach , the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth , and the Schlager Festival in Baden-Baden . At this time he met the Cologne artist Wolf Vostell , who was still designing record covers for Electrola and who fascinated Rösler with his happenings . After a few years at Electrola, around 1964, Herbert Rösler and a friend invested in an old candy factory, which they converted into an open- plan studio for advertising photography . In 1966 Rösler suffered a stroke and the studio was sold to Westag (West German advertising agency). After his recovery he continued to work as a freelance graphic artist , caricaturist , exhibition architect and was responsible for the mettage of the Deutsche Ärzte Zeitung .

Beginnings of Group 91 (1968–1972)

In addition to his work, Rösler continued to paint and deal extensively with meditation . On the night of September 18-19, 1968, Rösler experienced a vision that led to a spiritual and spiritual upheaval in his life. He gave up his job and opened his house to young people from all over Germany. This is how group 91 came into being , which he named after the number of the Cologne-Ostheim district in which the group initially lived. On February 14, 1972, the documentary “ Pop und Weihrauch ” by the Swiss director Roman Brodmann about the German “Jesus People” and other religious revival movements was broadcast on ARD , in which group 91 was also shown.

Time at Lake Constance (1973–1983)

In 1973 the group moved to southern Germany , first to the Black Forest and from there to Lake Constance . In the Black Forest, Rösler painted the first large-format pictures, which he was then able to exhibit on a large scale on the property on Lake Constance, which the group later lived in. Under the motto "... for a new world ...", Rösler's works were accessible to a larger audience for the first time on an area of ​​5000 m² at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Center . Several larger exhibitions followed in Friedrichshafen , e.g. B. at the international Bodensee fair . On the property on Lake Constance, Rösler painted hundreds of pictures between 1977 and 1983, created sculptures and sculptures as well as many design drafts. Herbert Rösler was the inspiring and driving force for his following. He often created templates and drafts, which were then implemented by the group.

  • Gallery at Lake Constance (1976)

  • Gallery on the estate on Lake Constance (1977)

  • Hand sculpture made of various metals (1994)

  • Group 91, around 2003

Time in Tübingen (1983-2006)

On the way back from Munich on June 18, 1983, Herbert Rösler was involved in a serious car accident in which he lost 90% of his eyesight. He was treated in a special eye clinic in Tübingen for several months. During his recovery, he dictated the book For a New World to his wife Ischabella . It includes prose , poetry , drawings and photos of the group and was self- published in 1985 . At the end of 1983 the whole group around Rösler moved to Tübingen. Between 1984 and 2006, Rösler created most of his work. His work was exhibited in the Galerie an der Steinlach between 1991 and 2000 . Then the gallery moved to the G91 building in Tübingen, a former tank hall that was converted according to Rösler's plans. The building has an area of ​​approx. 20 x 60 m. Under the title Now we can say Chadasch , an article about Herbert Rösler and his group appeared in the Tübingen daily newspaper in 2002. This is how the self-chosen name for Rösler's art style, Chadasch , the Hebrew word for new, was born . Even after Rösler's death, his art continued to be exhibited, for example in April 2008 in the Tübinger Kreissparkasse.

  • G91 Construction Tübingen

  • tray

  • Fashion

  • shelf

Web links

Commons : Herbert Rösler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Group 91 on TÜpedia.
  2. ^ G91 building on TÜpedia.
  3. ^ Herbert Rösler's Neues Leben ( German ) Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  4. ↑ Telephone books 1962 to 1970
  5. ↑ Demos for a new world of love (zba). In: "Schwäbisches Tagblatt" from May 7, 2008. (Accessed December 8, 2008.)
  6. ^ Herbert Rösler's car accident. Retrieved January 13, 2017 . . In: TÜpedia
  7. ↑ Pictures from Herbert Rösler's "Liebeswerk für eine neue Welt". Archived from the original on December 9, 2014 ; Retrieved December 8, 2008 . . In: "Schwäbisches Tagblatt" from April 21, 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Rösler, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German artist and designer
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 2006
Place of death Tübingen