Josef Schnitzer senior

Josef Schnitzer senior (* 7. April 1877 in Elmen in the Lechtal / Tirol, † 1951 in Buching in feet ) was a native of Austria, later mostly in Ostallgäu active plasterer and sculptor .

biography

Charlottenburg Palace at the World Exhibition in St. Louis , 1904, in which Schnitzer Sen was involved as a plasterer.

Josef's father Ferdinand Schnitzer came from a penniless family of woodcarvers and worked as a village tailor in Elmen. Josef was the third son of a family with 17 children. In the family chronicle of the carvers it is reported that “the poor, troubled mother” died at the age of 47. Joseph was the third son; like two of his brothers, he learned the plastering trade.

In 1902 he took part in the restoration of the parish church of St. Michael in Bayerniederhofen . In 1904 he was involved in the construction of the German pavilion for the World Exhibition in St. Louis (USA). The German Empire was represented there with a replica of the Charlottenburg Palace . In the same year, Schnitzer married the sexton's daughter Xaveria Vilgis in Bayerniederhofen and settled there as a self-employed plasterer. As part of the renovation of the Peterskapelle in Berghof from 1906 to 1908, he took over the stucco work. In 1913 he completed his master's degree as a plasterer and sculptor in Augsburg and founded the popular plastering company in Buching. In the years that followed, he was involved in several church restoration work, including the model for the side altar in the St. Martin Church in Obergünzburg (1923) and the stucco work as part of the renovation of the St. Anna chapel in Birkland in 1934/35 . In 1936 he took over the stucco work on the extension of the St. Justina parish church in Bad Wörishofen and created a memorial plaque that was described as a masterpiece, as well as the stucco architecture on the high altar there in 1938. The stucco marble font in St. Magnus in Rammingen from 1948 can also be assigned to him.

After the Second World War , the US occupation forces made him mayor in Buching. His son Josef took over the plastering business in Buching after his death.

From June 26th to August 17th, 2008, the historical cultural association Alt Füssen organized a special exhibition in the museum of the city of Füssen under the title “Recreating in the spirit of the original models by the plasterers Josef Schnitzer, father and son”. In addition, the head of the museum will give a lecture on November 10, 2008 on the subject of "Josef Schnitzer-Plasterers in Buching".

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peterskapelle in Berghof , excerpt from a brochure, St. Peter Gelder Foundation eV
2. ↑ Cultural history in the Museum of the City of Füssen (PDF; 770 kB), exhibition information.
3. ↑ Parish Church of St. Anna in Birkland ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2005 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. 
4. ↑ Stadtpfarrkirche St. Justina Bad Wörishofen  ( 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. (PDF; 59 kB)  
5. ↑ St. Magnus ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2014 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.