Johannes Kreutzmann

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Aron Klaudius Sivert Sommer John Johannes "Ujuãnât" Kreutzmann (born July 13, 1862 in Kangaamiut ; † February 16, 1940 ) was a Greenland hunter and artist .

Life

family

Johannes Kreutzmann was the son of the painter Jens Kreutzmann (1828–1899) and his second wife Charlotte Amalia Sommer (1837–1898). His brother was the artist Kristoffer Kreutzmann (1867–1942).

On June 14, 1886, he married in Kangaamiut Helge Rosine Henriethe Møller (1868–1898), daughter of the teacher Hans Lars Møller and his second wife Elisabeth Stine. The marriage remained childless and after the death of his wife he married the widow Bolette Ane Anthonette Martinsen born on May 24, 1900 in Nuuk . Petrussen (1875–1931), daughter of the catechist Jonathan Ole Klemens Søren Petrussen and his wife Ane Gundil Alhed Kleist. The following children were born from this marriage:

  • Jens Isak John Kreutzmann (born February 11, 1901 in Kangaamiut)
  • Amalia Helga Karoline Kreutzmann (born July 20, 1902 in Kangaamiut)
  • Mads Iver Hans Kreutzmann (born April 21, 1904 in Kangaamiut)
  • Cicilie Rode Kesia Rosine Kreutzmann (born June 11, 1906 in Kangaamiut)
  • Marie Bolette Anna Kreutzmann (born May 3, 1908 in Kangaamiut)
  • Charlothe Flavia Marie Juliane Kreutzmann (born April 4, 1911 in Ilivilik)
  • Ane Bolethe Gundil Kreutzmann (born June 19, 1913 in Ilivilik)
  • Helene Karoline Benedigte Bebiane Kreutzmann (born July 26, 1916 in Kangerluarsunnguaq)
  • Ludvig Ole Hans Isak Kreutzmann (born January 3, 1919 in Kangaamiut)

His son Jens is considered to be the best student ever to study at Grønland's seminary , but in Denmark he fell ill with tuberculosis and died young.

Life as a hunter

Johannes got his first kayak at the age of eight , but when his older half-brother Gerd was killed in a kayak accident, his father worried about his son's well-being and no longer let him go unsupervised. When Johannes and a friend went into danger in a kayak out of silliness, his father destroyed the kayak. However, he recognized the potential that was in his son, and so Johannes was soon allowed to hunt in a kayak.

At the age of 13 he captured his first seal and by the age of 15 he already had enough sealskin to build an umiak , which was absolutely extraordinary at that age. Now he could take care of himself and others and went on long hunting trips to catch reindeer. With his growing family, he lived in abundance thanks to his skills and good fishing conditions before the hunting grounds deteriorated.

He then moved north to the hunting site of Ilivilik, where he spent every autumn until around 1910. On his hunting trips, which took him to Itilleq , he also had to teach his children, who could not attend school on the way, whereby Johannes Kreutzmann found it incomprehensible and funny at the same time to be paid to teach his children. He was so successful as a hunter that the residents of Kangaamiut soon blamed him for the deterioration of the hunting grounds.

After hunting in Kangaamiut for a while without success, he began to fish for salmon in the Kangerluarsunnguaq fjord . As a fisherman he was even more successful than he had ever been as a hunter. In 1904 he taught Knud Rasmussen to kayak. When a storm raged in Kangaamiut on February 24, 1908, killing six hunters, Johannes Kreutzmann saved two others from death at risk of death.

Life as an artist

Johannes Kreutzmann was skilled in his craft. In his spare time he carved figures from driftwood he found on the coast and painted them in bright colors. His figures represented the people Johannes valued and usually measured about 70 cm. They were extremely realistic and rich in details. Only one biblical scene consists of primitive figures only about 10 cm high. His works can be found in various museums in Greenland and Denmark.

Johannes Kreutzmann outlived his wife, who was thirteen years his junior, by nine years and died in 1940 at the age of 77 as a much valued and admired resident of Kangaamiut.

Individual evidence

  1. a b Church records Maniitsoq 1857–1864 (Born boys p. 12)
  2. a b c d Hans Lynge : Storfangeren og træskæreren Ujuãnât (1862-1940) in the 1976 yearbook of the Kronborg Trade and Maritime Museum
  3. Church records Maniitsoq 1883-1891 (married p. 113)
  4. Church records Maniitsoq 1891-1901 (married p. 124)
  5. Church records Maniitsoq 1901–1913 (Born boys p. 1)
  6. Church records Maniitsoq 1901–1913 (Born girls p. 41)
  7. Church records Maniitsoq 1901–1913 (Born boys p. 8)
  8. Church records Maniitsoq 1901–1913 (Born girls p. 52)
  9. Church records Maniitsoq 1901–1913 (Born girls p. 57)
  10. Church records Maniitsoq 1901–1913 (Born girls p. 67)
  11. Church records Maniitsoq 1901–1913 (Born girls p. 74)
  12. Church records Maniitsoq 1914–1922 (Born girls p. 50)
  13. Church records Maniitsoq 1914–1922 (Born boys p. 22)
  14. Biography in Weilbach's artist dictionary