Hugo Knittel

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Hugo Franz Knittel (born October 17, 1888 in Freiburg im Breisgau ; † May 5, 1958 there ) was a German sculptor . He was the son of the sculptor Gustav Adolf Knittel (1852–1909), the nephew of Berthold Knittel and the father of Bruno Knittel (1918–1977).

Life

Gustav Adolf Knittel's second son attended secondary school in Metz and then began an apprenticeship as a book and art dealer. This was followed by an internship with H. Thiel, an architect from Le Sablon near Metz. When his father fell ill, he was brought into the studio, trained there and worked with him from then on. He was already involved in the decoration of the memorial hall in Gravelotte , which was built on behalf of the emperor for those who fell in the war of 1870/71 . Gustav Adolf Knittel and his son carried out other such assignments before the family moved back to Freiburg in 1907, which they had left in 1896. The poor economic situation forced Hugo Knittel to work as a graphic designer in an art establishment and later in a printing company. From the military service , for which he had volunteered in 1908, he was released early - because of a heart condition.

After the death of his father, he went to the galvanoplastic institution and bronze foundry Wolf in Frankfurt am Main as a graphic artist . As part of this activity, he made trips to Austria-Hungary , Switzerland and other European countries in order to obtain further training. In addition to the occupation of past art epochs, he was also interested in the sculptors of his time. For example, he visited Reinhold Begas , Fritz Klimsch , Heinrich Pohlmann , Ludwig Manzel , Adolf Brütt , Georg Grasegger , Hugo Lederer , Hubert Netzer , Adolf von Hildebrand , Hermann Hahn , Georg Wrba , Anton Hanak , Max Klinger and Hans Dammann . The latter put him in contact with many other personalities. Knittel also advised the Bernese topographer and engineer Simon Simon (1857–1925) on the bronze version of his Alpine relief from a technical point of view. In Switzerland he met Johanna Eichenberger, who was born in Switzerland, and married her in 1912.

The institute was closed due to the lack of raw materials during the First World War . Knittel was called up but again discharged because of the heart condition. After a time with the Red Cross, he volunteered in Karlsruhe in 1915 for service in the 1st Badisches Leib-Dragoons Regiment No. 20 . Although accepted, he was later released for health reasons. From then on, Knittel worked in the auxiliary service until the end of the war, where he received an award.

War memorial in Murg (school yard, old location)
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As a result, Knittel created many war memorials. Due to the economic situation between the two world wars, Knittel did not make a profit on some of his memorials or even subsidized them. In particular, these memorials for the First World War from the time of the Third Reich are partly controversial today. This includes, for example, the war memorial for the fallen and missing persons of the First World War in the city garden of Furtwangen, which was inaugurated on August 1, 1937. The demolition of the now massively damaged monument was requested by three parishes in 1960 and decided by the local council in 1967. Although the “replacement memorial” required in the resolution for both world wars has meanwhile been erected in the cemetery, Knittel's memorial is still standing today. The war memorial in Murg is also controversial because it is located in a schoolyard. Nevertheless, in 2000 it was decided to renovate it for 45,000 euros. Despite violent protests from the VdK local group, it was decided in 2013 to relocate and renovate it as part of the redesign of the school grounds. On October 23, 2014, the time had come: The war memorial was moved 50 meters - from the southwest side of the school to the northwest side.

At the beginning of the Second World War , between 1939 and 1940, Knittel produced models for the fortifications of the Oberrhein Group Construction Management . From 1941 to 1944 he was commissioned to redesign or renovate the monuments from the Franco-German War and the First World War in Upper and Lower Alsace. Government contracts followed, including the high relief Aufbruch on the memorial in Munster as well as two figures of young men and an imperial eagle with a wingspan of 10 meters. After he had presented his works to Wilhelm Kreis , the general building officer for the German war cemeteries, he received further commissions. In the late summer of 1943 he was in charge of fortifications. Meanwhile, he was operated on twice for a hand injury that threatened to amputate him. Knittel was still in use until the end of the war in 1945. Knittel's half-act at the state pioneer monument in honor of the Baden Pioneer Battalion No. 14 in Kehl was placed under the protection of the occupying power because of its artistic value.

In 1946, Knittel created a figure of Christ for Gundelsheim . Another was intended for a church near Heilbronn, but could no longer be built as a result of the currency reform in 1948 . In the early 1950s, Knittel offered to recreate the figure free of charge on Freiburg's Bertoldsbrunnen , which had been destroyed in World War II. Despite several revisions, his design failed to convince the critics. He was based u. a. on pre-war photographs of the entrepreneur's wife and photographer Annemarie Brenzinger . Finally, the design was implemented by Nikolaus Röslmeir .

Knittel made a double life-size equestrian statue from 1950 to 1957 as a preliminary design and model.

The Freiburg Hindenburg girls' high school , today's Goethe-Gymnasium , received a bust of Paul von Hindenburg from Hugo Knittel . He also created a bust of Albert Schweitzer .

Hugo Knittel's sons were also artistically active: Wolfgang Knittel became a painter and graphic artist, while Bruno Knittel also became a sculptor.

Works (selection)

Memorial for Baden Pioneer Battalion No. 14 in Kehl
War memorial in Kirchzarten

literature

War memorial on the Brandfelsen in Todtnau
  • Knittel, Hugo . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 6 , supplements H-Z . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1962, p. 150 .
  • Heinz Spath: sculptor Hugo Knittel , 1957.
  • Michael Klant: The Knittel family of artists. In: Sculpture in Freiburg. 19th century art in public spaces , Freiburg 2000, ISBN 3-922675-77-8 , p. 180.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Landesverein Badische Heimat (Ed.): Ekkhart , 1973, p. 24 .
  2. ↑ kulturgutstiftung.ch: Relief ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2009 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. , Accessed March 13, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / kulturgutstiftung.ch
  3. ↑ a b Helga and Hans Kaiser: The long history of a hero commemoration - the war memorial in the Furtwanger city garden for those killed and missing in World War I 1914–1918 . In: FORUM school foundation . tape 57 , December 2012, p. 78–99 ( schulstiftung-freiburg.de [PDF; 409 kB ]).
  4. ↑ a b c Ulrich Niemann: Emmendingen: What works of art can cause , Badische Zeitung, January 4, 2014, accessed on February 23, 2014
  5. ↑ a b Murg (Baden-Württemberg): War memorial is now to be renovated  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.denkmale.de   , Badische Zeitung of May 10, 2000, accessed February 16, 2010
  6. ↑ Michael Gottstein and Winfried Dietsche: Murg: Lauber approves decision "for the sake of peace" , Badische Zeitung, February 6, 2013, accessed on March 3, 2013
  7. ↑ Michael Gottstein: Murg: The middle takes shape , Badische Zeitung, June 5, 2013, accessed on July 14, 2013
  8. ↑ The Murger war memorial is at the new place , Badische Zeitung, October 23, 2014, accessed on October 25, 2014
  9. ↑ Ute Scherb: We get the monuments we deserve. Freiburg Monuments in the 19th and 20th Centuries , Freiburg 2005, ISBN 3-923272-31-6 , p. 208.
  10. ^ Karl Schmid; Hans Schadek (Ed.): The Zähringer . Vol. 2 Impulse and Effect . Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1986, ISBN 3-7995-7041-1 , p. 372.
  11. ↑ Ute Scherb: We get the monuments we deserve. Freiburg Monuments in the 19th and 20th Centuries , Freiburg 2005, ISBN 3-923272-31-6 , p. 131.
  12. ↑ denkmalprojekt.org: Todtnau (First World War), Lörrach district, Baden-Württemberg , accessed on February 16, 2010
  13. ↑ Alfons Schäfer: History of the village Todtnauberg - from the medieval mining settlement to the modern health resort, self-published by the community Todtnauberg 1966, p. 107 and 113
  14. ↑ The city preserved the figure originally intended by Knittel for a hill above Schönau from being melted down in World War II, like this: Ute Scherb: We get the monuments we deserve. Freiburg Monuments in the 19th and 20th Centuries , Freiburg 2005, ISBN 3-923272-31-6 , p. 144, note 49 and p. 166–196 for details on the memorial; Hugo Knittel's Schlageter monument . In: Mannheim City Archives: Architecture in Mannheim 1918–1939. Edition Quadrat, Mannheim 1994, ISBN 3-923003-59-5 .
  15. ↑ Information from the Haslach City Administration, Culture and Marketing
  16. ^ Heinrich Ludwig Georg Spath (August 21, 1898 in Freiburg im Breisgau; † May 1, 1980 ibid), presumably editor of the Breisgauer Zeitung.

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Knittel, Hugo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knittel, Hugo Franz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Breisgau
DATE OF DEATH May 5th 1958
Place of death Freiburg in Breisgau