Hermann Grosser

Hermann Grosser in his homeland

Hermann Grosser (Senior) (born December 11, 1892 in Breslau ; † January 28, 1953 in Minden ) was a Silesian teacher, art teacher, painter and graphic artist.

Life

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Hermann Grosser was born in 1892 in Breslau , Poland (then Lower Silesia ). Here he completed his school days from 1899 to 1910. From 1910 to 1913 he studied at the teachers' college in Breslau and graduated in 1913 with the first teacher examination. In the same year he got a job at the elementary school in Thanndorf (Habelschwerdt district). In 1916, during the turmoil of the First World War , in which he participated from 1915 to 1918 as a soldier in the intelligence service, he passed his second teacher examination. From 1919 to 1925 he was employed in the elementary school in Brand (Habelschwerdt district). From 1925 until the outbreak of World War II he was employed as a drawing teacher in the elementary school in Neurode (Glatz district). Hermann Grosser married Hedwig Reinsch (born June 24, 1895 - May 20, 1969) in Wartha on October 28, 1919, whom he met in Thanndorf. He had four children with his wife. Gottfried (February 18, 1921 - February 24, 2007) and Barbara (April 4, 1923 - August 1, 1996) were born in Brand. Dorothea (born November 18, 1928; † June 25, 2015) and Hermann jun. (* June 22, 1931; † December 17, 2014) see the light of day in Neurode. Hermann Grosser served as a soldier in the intelligence service in World War II from 1939 to 1945 , most recently with the rank of captain d. R., until he was taken prisoner by the Americans in 1945 , from which he was released that same year. Before his captivity, Grosser survived the bombing of the city of Dresden on 13/14 February 1945. At first he fled alone to the west to his friend Fritz Meier in Schötmar in the Lippe district. His wife and children were driven from their homeland. After the war, the family was able to start over in East Westphalia / Lippe. Hermann Grosser worked as a freelance painter and graphic artist in Schötmar until 1949. From June 1, 1949, he found a job as a teacher at the cathedral school in Minden, before he suddenly and unexpectedly died on January 28, 1953 at the age of 60.

Creation and works

Even the young Hermann Grosser was interested in and occupied with the fine arts. During his student days, a fortune brought the young artist into the Neisser house. Professor Neisser, the Silesian doctor, researcher and patron of the arts quickly recognized Grosser's talents and became his patron and patron. In 1913 in Thanndorf, at the foot of the Glatzer Schneeberg, he met the ideal conditions to continue his artistic studies. New patrons and admirers quickly found themselves here, too, who supported and inspired the artist. Grosser also continued his artistic career in Neurode in a variety of ways. In addition to his painting , Hermann Grosser developed into a stage designer and graphic artist. He became a respected citizen and a recognized artist Neurodes. Various publications, reports and photo reviews have appeared about his work. After the Second World War, many of his most important works were created in his new home in Lippe. At this time of greatest privation, art served him mainly to secure a livelihood. However, Grosser was confident and determined to take his life into his own hands again and to do everything possible not to have to rely on the mercy of others. After his death, his work was given special status in numerous exhibitions and publications. The picture cycle “Die Not”, which was created in Schötmar in 1947, and in which Hermann Grosser processes his war experiences in 22 works, was created in 1998 by his son Hermann Grosser jun. handed over to the city of Bad Salzuflen in a ceremony.

Grosser produced a total of 1,042 large and small works of art between 1945 and 1948, most of which are now privately owned.

Relationship with Joseph Wittig

Joseph Wittig is considered to be one of the world's most distinguished church scholars in what was then Silesia. Hermann Grosser lived as a committed and practicing Catholic, but at the same time was all his life in search of truth and confirmation of his faith. In the years of correspondence between Wittig and Grosser, the torments of two related souls are reflected in the search for their God. As a great admirer of Professor Wittig, Hermann Grosser created a number of smaller works for him. Wittig judged Grosser in the chronicle of the city of Neurode in 1937: “Hermann Grosser is a painter full of unrestrained strength, with a strong social disposition, self-made, tirelessly campaigning for truth and beauty and for reawakening the people's sense of art. We know from him the relief on the house of Dr. Schoenwiese. Grafschafter books and magazines show him as an outstanding type artist. ”Numerous letters and cards prove a great friendship as well as the mutual respect and affection of two men for one another, whose lives were shaped by many similarities and parallels.

literature

• Paetzold, Karl Heinz (1998): A man and his time in Lippe Hermann Grosser Life and Work of a Silesian Artist, MPS GmbH, Bad Salzuflen, 234 pp.
• Grosser, Hermann jun. (1998): Thoughts of an artist The soul speaks, Rhode Druck GmbH, Gütersloh, 136 pp.
• Bernatzky, Aloys (1994): Glatzer Heimatbücher Volume 8 Lexikon der Grafschaft Glatz, 2nd edition, Marx Verlag, Leimen / Heidelberg, 319 pp.