Hermann Kuhmichel

Rubens Fountain by Hermann Kuhmichel at the Upper Castle in Siegen

Sculpture of the Rubens Fountain, symbolizing the three cities of Antwerp, Cologne and Siegen

Hermann Kuhmichel (born March 4, 1898 in Eiserfeld , † September 21, 1965 ) was a German artist .

life and work

Kuhmichel, the son of a scrap dealer, served as a soldier at the front in World War I in 1917 and 1918. After the end of the war, he did a forestry apprenticeship and worked as an estate manager in Meißen . From 1927 he attended the arts and crafts school in Aachen , where he learned sculpture .

After 1933 he received numerous government commissions, including a cassette for the honorary citizenship of the city of Siegen for Adolf Hitler or for the propaganda sculptures "Infantryman", "Officer", "Wehrmacht soldier", "Stukas!" Other works from these years are the tuff statue of Count Johann der Mittlere von Nassau-Siegen (1561–1623) in the park of the Upper Castle, which until it was dismantled after being divided into three on October 17, 2000 on the barracks on the Siegener Heidenberg had their place, and the Kuhmichel soldier at the Gosenbach memorial. Kuhmichel put, it was said in 1942 in the Siegener Zeitung , his "creativity emphasizes in the service of time". Moved in from 1939, he lost his studio and many of his works in the course of the war in the air.

After the end of National Socialism, he was again artistically active and created a lot of new things, including sgraffiti, cast iron and wire sculptures as well as embroidery pictures. One of these more recent works is the relief Ausschauende, which was housed in the entrance hall until the Krupp high-rise in Siegen 's Geisweid district was demolished . The new location of this plant is now the Geisweid town hall. He also created the sgraffito of the Wenschtkirche in Geisweid, the sculpture Die Rufenden and the sculpture Der Exclusive . The latter is located in the Geisweider residential area Wenscht above the old swan pond. In addition comes the 1935 built, in the park of Siegen Upper Castle located Rubens fountain of Kuhmichel.

In Kreuztal , the Hermann-Kuhmichel-Weg is a street named after him.

Web links

• Regional dictionary of persons on National Socialism in the old districts of Siegen and Wittgenstein, article Hermann Kuhmichel
• Short biography of Kuhmichel on kulturgang.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In some cases, September 4, 1898 is also given as the date of birth, according to the Siegen newspaper from September 11, 2010
2. ↑ Monuments in Siegen ( Memento of the original from January 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 481 kB). 
3. ↑ Siegerland Chronicle from September 1, 2000 to August 31, 2001 - Siegerländer Heimatkalender 2002, p. 180 f, 77th edition, publisher: Siegerländer Heimat- und Geschichtsverein eV, Verlag für Heimatliteratur
4. ^ Image of the Kuhmichel soldier .
5. ^ Siegener Zeitung, June 13, 1942.
6. ↑ Kuhmichel reliefs in the Geisweider town hall . Westfalenpost October 21, 2014.
7. ↑ Three and a half tons of steel and bronze on derwesten.de from February 24, 2009 .
8. ↑ Image of the sculpture Der Exclusive on kulturgang.de
9. ↑ The Rubens Fountain - In the competition for the famous son on www.siegen.de .