Faculty of Design at the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences

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The Faculty of Design is a faculty of the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences .

history

Imperial City Art Academy

Augsburg was impoverished, indebted and depopulated after the end of the Thirty Years War and had lost its former political importance. Significant events only rarely took place here, such as the Diets, coronations of German kings or their wives in the past. The city's debts amounted to 1.5 million guilders , while the income from taxes amounted to about a tenth of this amount. Other, formerly flourishing imperial cities fared similarly, but Augsburg found a way out relatively quickly with the help of art. In the period from 1650 to 1680, 30 painters were newly accepted as masters on the initiative of individual councilors. One of these initiatives was the establishment of an art academy. Joachim von Sandrart , a Protestant patrician from Frankfurt am Main, was a highly educated and well-traveled painter. He completed his training in Nuremberg, Prague and Utrecht and then spent several years in London and various places in Italy. From 1670 to 1674 he lived in Augsburg and wrote most of the first German art history Teutsche Academie here . He finished this important work in Nuremberg, for which he had found models in Italy with Giorgio Vasari and in the Netherlands with Karel van Mander . In Italy he met the Accademia di San Luca in Rome and founded a painting and drawing academy in Augsburg in 1674 together with the painter Sigmund Müller, which initially had a private character. In 1684 it was carried by the Protestant part of the city council with the recognized Protestant painter JU Mayr as director. It was not until 1710 that the entire city council joined them and in 1712 public rooms were made available: the upper floor of the city butcher , centrally located and with a beautiful, representative facade. However, there were always complaints, for example because of the bad smell from the slaughterhouse and the narrow staircase. But for a long time the seat of the Augsburg Academy remained here. This academy did not provide the young artists with basic training; they received this in their apprenticeship and journeyman time with their respective master, rather an opportunity for further training was offered here, z. B. in graphic techniques. Renowned Augsburg painters and engravers were in charge. According to the Augsburg principle, the management was staffed equally, with a Catholic and a Protestant artist at the same time. Although the goldsmiths played a major role in Augsburg, the directors were exclusively painters and engravers. There were a total of nine artists, four of whom were born in Augsburg.

Johann Rieger

(1655 to 1730)

Johann Rieger from Dinkelscherben was in Rome and got the nickname "Sauerkraut" in the Nordic artists' association, the Schilderbent. Of his frescoes I mention those in Kloster Holzen. Director from 1710 to 1730, Catholic.
Georg Philipp Rugendas the Elder Ä.

(1666 to 1742)

Family immigrated from Spain, he himself from Augsburg; in Rome his nickname was “shield”, in Italy he traveled a lot, battle and horse painter, equestrian scenes in painting, mezzotint, etching. Director from 1710 to 1742, Protestant.
Johann Georg Bergmüller

(1688 to 1762)

From Türkheim / Swabia, trip to the Netherlands. Ceiling frescoes in this and in Augsburg: Barefoot Church, cath. HL. Cross (both destroyed), St. Anna, residence. Director from 1730 to 1762, Catholic.
Gottfried Eichler

(1677 to 1759)

From Liebstadt / Saxony, first apprenticeship in Augsburg, then several years travel in Italy, further training in Rome. Subjects are portraits and religious paintings. Director from 1742 to 1759, Protestant.
Matthäus Günther

(1705 to 1788)

From Tritschengreith (Hohenpeißenberg), apprenticeship in Murnau; Apprenticeship as a journeyman with Cosmas Damian Asam in Munich, since 1731 in Augsburg and marriage to the widow of a fresco painter, thereby master's right in Augsburg. Influential rococo painter. Works in and around Augsburg: Kleiner Goldener Saal, Friedberg, Herrgottsruh; Innsbruck, Wilten Abbey. Director from 1762 to 1783, Catholic.
Johann Elias Ridinger

(1698 to 1767)

From Ulm, there he had his first apprenticeship as a painter. He learned the etching technique, which is so important for his entire oeuvre, at the Imperial City Art Academy in Augsburg from G. Ph. Rugendas the Elder. Ä. He mainly created depictions of hunting and animals, only a few paintings. Director from 1759 to 1767, Protestant.
Johann Esaias Nilson

(1721 to 1788)

From Augsburg, student at St. Anna's grammar school, apprenticeship in Augsburg, inherited his father's right to become a master after his father's death in 1751, and court painter in 1761. Director from 1765 to 1786, Protestant.
Johann Joseph Anton Huber

(1737 to 1815)

From Augsburg, apprenticeship in Augsburg with Johann Georg Bergmüller, with 19 years master craftsman law and marriage in Augsburg. In 1783 he painted the hall of the art academy in the Stadtmetzg at his own expense and then succeeded Matthäus Günther as the Catholic director of the Imperial City Art Academy. Works: Ceiling fresco in Oberschönenfeld and in St. Margareth, Augsburg. Director from 1784 to 1815, Catholic.
Johann Elias Haid

(1739 to 1809)

Augsburg, an apprenticeship with his father, took over his publishing house. Engraver and mezzotint artist with the main subject portrait. Director from 1786 to 1809, Protestant.

The patrician Paul von Stetten d. J. (1731–1808), lawyer, since 1770 member of the city council, 1792 to 1808 city caretaker (i.e. mayor), initiated the founding of a society of art lovers in 1778 to support the Imperial City Art Academy. In the following year, 1779, it was possible to win additional rooms for the city academy on the upper floor of the city butcher, which had previously been prepared for a society of music lovers; Now they were used as study rooms for drawing for the art academy. The Stadtmetzg housed the Reichsstädtische Kunstakademie (left), many students still know the long corridors of the old main hospital, where the design department was housed before the last move. (Middle) Since 2006 the faculty has been located in its new building at the Red Gate. 4 appropriately set up. The first solemn award ceremony with a medal from Johann Martin Bückle, combined with an exhibition, was on Easter Tuesday 1780 and was so successful that a continuation was desired. In the Stadtmetzg hall, casts of important antiquities - such as B. the torso still in the possession of the faculty, which is also depicted on one of the award medals - set up for drawing and a library. Other smaller rooms were prepared for study purposes, and heating material and candles for lighting were provided. The new teachers were Franz Xaver Habermann and Gottlieb Friedrich Riedel. All this brought a new upswing. But the loss of imperial freedom led to the end of the Imperial City Art Academy in 1813.

Royal Higher Art School Augsburg - Provincial Art School Augsburg (1814) 1820 to 1835

The Royal Higher Art School in Augsburg was dependent on the instructions and regulations from Munich. The seat of the art school was still the upper floor of the Stadtmetzg and remained so, with the exception of 1835 to 1864, until 1906. In the years immediately after the loss of independence, several artists from old artist families became involved as teachers: Johann Lorenz Rugendas d . J. , Matthäus Gottfried Eichler , Johann Paul Thelott and Christoph Andreas Nilson . A new artistic printing technique, lithography , was brought home from the art school in Augsburg by the Munich painter Zimmermann and his pupil, Franz Michael Veith from Augsburg. But the hope for a new beginning was not fulfilled for the art school.

Polytechnic school 1835 to 1864

In 1835 Munich ordered the dissolution of the art and drawing school. It was incorporated into the Polytechnic School with all its inventory and property. The negative attitude of the city of Augsburg could do nothing. The remaining inventory - books, drawings, the graphic collection, plaster models and skeletons, objects to draw on - were distributed throughout the city. The art school also lost its independent location in the Stadtmetzg as part of the polytechnic school, which was now housed in the former Dominican convent of St. Katharina , today's Holbein-Gymnasium . The art school was practically wiped out. However, free-hand drawing and technical drawing subjects continued to be taught. The reputation of the old drawing school remained. In 1852 Franz Lenbach came from Schrobenhausen to take drawing lessons in Augsburg. In 1864 the Polytechnic School was closed and in its place came the Mechanical Engineering School and the Industrial School. Lessons at the drawing school continued without their own school rules. The city council rejected the attempt to set up an additional arts and crafts school in Augsburg in 1873.

Municipal high art school

It was not until 1877 that art classes were promoted again. The municipal higher art school was opened and lasted until 1881 with the portrait and history painter Christian Glocker as director, in whose person continuity was achieved for the first time for the next 40 years. The foundation of the banker Lorenz von Schaezler made this possible. Again the upper floor of the city butcher was the seat of the art school. The framework for this school was now extremely modest. It now offered basic training in drawing based on ancient templates and living models. The aim for most of the students was to be accepted at the Munich Art Academy. The Augsburg School was able to fulfill this function as a feeder school and was increasingly gaining students for it. In 1906 it became possible for the top floor of the newly built large school building on Maximilianstrasse / corner of Hallstrasse to be expanded as a studio floor with large windows according to the needs of the art school. This left the basically unpleasant situation in the Stadtmetzg. Looking back at the 19th century, the real achievement shows that the former Imperial City Art Academy based on the teaching program from the 18th century has survived.

Municipal art school at the beginning of the 20th century

The urgent task was to develop a new concept. After eventful fortunes in the course of the 19th century, the Augsburg Art School became part of the technical colleges in 1921 and offered technical training that was shaped by the idea of ​​creative craft. The architect Karl Horn was the director until 1931 . For the reform of the art school he had won over Karl Rupflin from Lindau, who described the result of his work as follows:

Instead of a pseudo-academy, there was a solid arts and crafts school with a focus on practical life

Three full-time lecturers taught: Fritz Döllgast headed the graphics class, Karl Rupflin the class for applied painting, Josy Eck the class “women's arts and crafts ”, and as her successor from 1928 Gertrud Fink taught textile pattern drawing. In addition, a number of other craft subjects were taught. As a prerequisite for admission to this art school, a previously completed journeyman's examination was desired, but not absolutely necessary. There was no final examination, but the visit to the Augsburg art school meant a recommendation when applying to the academy in Munich. H. the art school was seen as good preparation, as a feeder school without independence. When Augsburg was badly destroyed by bombing in February 1944 , the art school's domicile, the school and studio rooms in the attic of the Hallschule on Maximilianstrasse, were also badly damaged. As a result, the art school was closed in the same year 1944.

Art school of the city of Augsburg from 1946

On June 1, 1946, at the request of three artists, it was re-established under license from the American Military Government, and on July 1, 1946, teaching resumed. The art school had lost the old location on the studio floor of the Hall School because the city administration had assigned these rooms to the city building department. Separated from the association with the technical colleges, it was now an independent institute called the Art School of the City of Augsburg and directly subordinate to the City Education Office . The practical-technical orientation of the school, for which Karl Rupflin had been committed, was not completely abandoned, which had a positive effect in the course of the further development of the school concept. Initially, the teaching program provided for training in the elementary disciplines of painting, drawing with image structure, as well as graphics and writing. In 1946 the teaching staff consisted of the painters and draftsmen Hermann Rothballer (1885 to 1960) and Georg Meyer (1898 to 1960). The latter had already taught at the art school and in the master class for decorative painters from 1935 to 1944. Eugen Nerdinger (1910 to 1991) was the youngest member of the staff and was extremely politically motivated and gifted. He came from Augsburg and became a member of the Socialist Workers' Youth (SA J) in 1923. At Pentecost 1934, near the border with Bavaria in Czechoslovakia, he met Waldemar von Knöringen, the main integrating figure in the SPD resistance, for an intensive conversation. When the art school was able to resume lessons, Nerdinger was 35 years old and had enough experience as a font designer and graphic artist to be able to work successfully as a co-initiator and lecturer in the re-establishment of the art school. How long his friendship relationships from the years before 1945 proved to be lasting becomes clear in the words of his friends in the introduction to the N-Werkliste 1970. Nerdinger was able to rely on these friendships when it came to expanding and developing the art school. For this art school in Augsburg , which was re-established in 1946 , the entrance examination was the only performance assessment. Neither the duration of the course nor the curriculum were clearly defined. However, there were general provisions on admission and study:

The art school offers its best according to the circumstances, but demands full commitment from the student ...

Sometimes there were improvised lessons beyond the scope provided. Unexpected subjects were offered and lectures were held for the students. In 1946, the 60 students initially had two rooms on the upper floor of an inn at Hochablass. The way there through the Siebentischwald was long and arduous for most of them. An improvement, albeit a temporary solution, resulted in a move in the spring of 1949, when the graphics class and the painting class were initially able to use some of the rooms in the Antonskasino and the following year in the Wittelsbach school . The textile class, which was re-established in autumn 1949, was given a room in the Hall School.

In the first few years after the new beginning, the art school was threatened with closure. A number of factors unjustifiably made them appear merely costly. As a guest, the art school was shared in different houses. As a feeder school, it provided the preparation for visiting the academy in Munich and finally came from the study. Manual work is a prerequisite for media-friendly material understanding and clear visualization, even in the age of digital tools. Brushes and pencils are part of the basic equipment of every student. 7 Many don't come from Augsburg itself, but from the surrounding area. The city of Augsburg was not prepared to bear the costs of this art school, whose “educational mission” was a matter for the state, not the city.

The permanent provisional housing was an expression of the low esteem of the art school by the city government. For a long time, as mentioned above, she shared rooms that were only partially suitable for specialist teaching. In the autumn of 1948 the end seemed imminent. As spokespersons for the students at the art school, Lisa Beck and Gottfried Moosdorf wrote - with the full support of the lecturers - to the mayor and all parliamentary group leaders in the city council, describing the difficult situation of the students and their families in the event that they did not continue their training as planned could. It was not until 1958 that the studios in the attic of the Hall School on Maximilianstrasse, which had been built in 1906 for the then art school, could be moved into again. So you were back at the traditional location in the center of the city. It was Eugen Nerdinger who worked tirelessly to improve working conditions and to strengthen the reputation of the art school in the city of Augsburg. This also applied to the new concept he initiated in 1949 for training in the art school, which aimed at clearly defined professions (commercial graphic designer, textile designer) and was thus immediately popular with the students (see the student list of the art school of the city of Augsburg) . Three subject classes were set up for 20 students each: the graphics class under the direction of Eugen Nerdinger, the painting class with Hermann Rothballer and the textile class under Gertrud Fink. As head of the school, Georg Meyer gave drawing to all classes. There was also the successful participation of art school students in public poster competitions, from which z. B. Posters for the open-air theater were purchased.

Another sign of the increasing acceptance of the art school was a major order from the Augsburg textile industry to the students to design fabric samples. And in December 1950 the art school went to the Augsburg public with an exhibition, something completely new for Augsburg (almost 25 years earlier, in 1927, the Augsburg art school presented itself for the first time with works that were exhibited in Munich at the trade show at the time) . The posters displayed in December 1950 conveyed messages for various cultural events: art exhibitions for the open-air stage, a campaign for the Penny Parade and some written applications. Interesting is a poster for the exhibition at the art school by Ottmar Uhlig , then 23 years old and in the 6th semester. It shows the situation of leading and being led in a very attractive way, the executing hand with black lines in woodcut, the leading hand in bright light yellow in lithography. Lisa Beck created a decidedly stricter poster for the 1955 commemorative year . It shows the holy bishop Ulrich immersed in meditation. The city at his feet stands on the bishop's mantle and the origin as an art academy is alive in the high value of artistic work in the subjects of drawing and free design, but also in the methodology of all other subjects. The artistic tradition is particularly evident on the ground floor of the new L-wing of the campus at the Red Gate. 8 is there well protected from the arrows of the Hungarians. Font and lineament play an important role on this poster. These and other examples showed the quality of what was being taught and learned at the art school and gradually silenced the voices that had called for the school to close.

So in 1950 it was not only about the recognition of the students' achievements in the Augsburg public, but also the concept of the study path offered by the Augsburg art school. Should it be run according to the principle of a technical college, a master school, which is successful in Bavaria? In the twenties, Karl Rupflin organized the art school according to this principle. Or should a craft art school be set up, i.e. a school whose subjects were specifically geared towards the real requirements of certain design professions. Each of these concepts required extensive restructuring and an increase in financial resources. There was controversy on this issue not only among Augsburg's local politicians, but also in the Ministry of Culture and even among the lecturers at the art school. Eugen Nerdinger campaigned with the greatest emphasis on the further development of the art school to become a craft school and in doing so finally prevailed against all opposition. Due to the professional competence of the appointed lecturers, it was clear from the beginning that the two-dimensional display methods would be taught in Augsburg. Since 1953 the number of lecturers and the subjects taught increased. It began with part-time lecturers (in today's diction: lecturers), some of whom were later appointed full-time. This affected Hilde Spengler , Hans Weidner and Georg Wirnharter , among others . Some of them had studied at the art school, with Eugen Nerdinger himself, according to Gottfried Moosdorf, before going to study at the academy in Munich, such as Georg Bernhard or Heinz Butz .

Werkkunstschule Augsburg (1962 to 1972)

On June 1, 1962, a celebratory event and exhibition took place in the Schaezler Palais, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Reichsstädtische Kunstakademie and at the same time the new status as a craft art school. This status had been in place internally since 1959, but official confirmation by the ministry and the city had been a long time coming. As the keynote speaker, Eugen Nerdinger spoke as the newly appointed director of the Werkkunstschule. His theme was tradition, principle, obligation. To an exhibition about a school, teaching and job profile that has been used in design education in Augsburg for a quarter of a millennium . Then the President of the Association of German Commercial Graphics, Dr. E. Hoelscher, and Dr. Dr. W. Keim from the Bavarian Ministry of Culture . A carefully designed commemorative publication was published with contributions by Norbert Lieb, director of the municipal art collections, Wilhelm Effenberger, head of the Augsburg graphic collection and by Eugen Nerdinger with two essays: Principle, Tradition, Obligation and "Today's Werkkunstschule" . In addition, there were presentations of the teaching programs and numerous images of work samples from the five specialist departments: From advanced and design studies, commercial graphics, working in teams is not only typical for media courses. Conceptual work and methodological considerations are becoming increasingly important in the course. This corresponds to the change of the designer from graphic artist to communication expert. 9 Exhibition and outdoor advertising design, (textile) pattern design, applied painting and the master's preparation course for building painters and graphic arts. Each of these specialist departments is explained in a short text. This presentation was published in the anniversary issue of the journal Archiv für Druck und Papier, 100th year 1963 on pp. 24–71 and documented in detail. This magazine had an extraordinary circulation and the response was corresponding.

Pfeiffer-Belli wrote in the SZ:

"A certain conservative trait cannot be overlooked, but it has freshness and clarity, it fits in with Augsburg, which, with its mixture of modern industrial metropolis and rural rural metropolis with ancient cultural tradition, is a convincing, growing urban structure. Augsburg needs this school just as it is presented in the exhibition and the school needs the city as a stimulating, instructive, spacious background. "

On Nerdinger's 60th birthday, the N-list of works appeared in 1970 with the words of the friends as the opening credits. There Norbert Lieb (head of the municipal art collections from 1932 to 1963) wrote:

"In addition to the reverent handling of the font, there were the 'Nerdinger tones' in the color - those nuances of brown, blue, gray, olive and copper that were muted to the point of cloudiness, a spiritual sadness and hope, which could deeply touch you as an expression of time.

In 1962, the Werkkunstschule Augsburg had not long been part of the existing Werkkunstschule in the Federal Republic of Germany. In Bavaria and even in all of southern Germany, however, she was a pioneer and role model. The Würzburg art school called itself the Werkkunstschule, but without meeting the required criteria.

The municipal sponsorship remained a problem for the Augsburger Werkkunstschule because the financial framework was limited. Nevertheless, the “Augsburg Model” was recognized as such. The teaching concept, the prescribed duration of study and study regulations with a fixed canon of subjects, clearly defined training goals and verifiable performance certificates were recognized. Nerdinger was aware of the importance of a successful public appearance for the school, its director and the students. As a craft art school, the Augsburg School now belonged to a certain type of school; The course lasted eight semesters, four of which were basic studies, followed by design studies with practical tasks. The goal of this course was a professional qualification. Craftsmanship with the self-assessment of the designer as a practitioner should be the result, of the designer as a craftsman. The demands on the school authorities regarding the rooms and the teaching staff were better represented than before by the art school. Certainly the Augsburg School had only "risen" to the circle of Werkkunstschulen, a type of school that has long been accepted outside of Bavaria. What was new in Augsburg was that certificates now accompanied the course and completion of the training. As long as the Werkkunstschule existed, every student in the period from 1960 to 1972 had to provide a self-produced document of the work that had been created in the course of their studies as part of the thesis, the workpiece . Depending on the subject, this was usually called the 30-page booklet RING (for commercial graphics), PRISMA (for exhibition design), ORNARE (for sample design), SPEKTRUM (for painting). The individual booklet is a colorful collection of examples of different design tasks in different techniques. When the former municipal art school was integrated into the State University of Applied Sciences Augsburg, the workpiece in this form became obsolete.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eugen Nerdinger, Lisa Beck: 300 years of the school for design in Augsburg . Hieronymus Mühlberger, 1987, ISBN 3-921133-44-0 , p. 85 .
  2. ^ Eugen Nerdinger, Lisa Beck: 300 years of the school for design in Augsburg . Hieronymus Mühlberger, 1987, ISBN 3-921133-44-0 , p. 91 .
  3. ^ Eugen Nerdinger, Lisa Beck: 300 years of the school for design in Augsburg . Hieronymus Mühlberger, 1987, ISBN 3-921133-44-0 , p. 97 .