Josef Wirth (sculptor)

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Josef Wirth (born February 5, 1884 in Schwabach , † April 6, 1941 in Munich ) was a German academic sculptor .

Life

Josef Wirth grew up with his parents in Schwabach, who earned their living as foremen in Konrad Ribot's court soap factory. Probably at the suggestion of the art-loving factory director, Josef learned the craft of sculpting from Bernhard Kittler, who was also from Schwabach. The 19-year-old deepened his skills from October 22, 1903 by studying sculpture at the Royal Art Academy in Munich with Professor Wilhelm von Rümann .

Soon afterwards he was working in Nuremberg for the brother of his former teacher, Philipp Kittler . Eventually he settled down as a freelance sculptor. Most recently he lived and worked in Munich.

Josef Wirth was a member of the Munich Association for Christian Art . He was 57 years old.

His final resting place and that of his parents in the Schwabach cemetery on Limbacher Straße is surmounted by a tomb with an impressive figure of Christ .

Works

In Nuremberg he worked on the group of figures in front of the entrance to the zoo . In Schwabach, various works are by his hand. For example the war memorial in the courtyard of the old German grammar school, the former teacher training institute. Furthermore, in the Catholic parish church of St. Sebald, the Elisabeth group and at the city park playground the deer monument. A little fountain that showed a girl knitting and that stood in the garden of the Wenglein villa has been missing since the Second World War .

Numerous grave monuments in the 1914 new cemetery on Limbacher Straße come from his workshop. Among other things, there were orders from the Fensterer, Hering, Hoefler, Kohler, Meister and Schaffner families. The gravesite of the bronze manufacturers Weigand and Ibach has not only elements of Art Nouveau but also features of Art Deco . The local writer Heinrich Krauss described the cemetery complex in 1930 and mentioned the monuments belonging to the Engelhardt and Wolter families, which no longer exist today.

For the Schnaittach market in 1928 the artist made a war memorial for the victims of the First World War .

Another memorial for those who fell in World War I was unveiled on November 9, 1930 in the Church of St. Maria Magdalena in Tennenlohe .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matriculation books of the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Vol .: 3, Munich, 1884–1920. P. 266: 2635 Wirth Josef (Fig.)
  2. ^ Association for Christian Art in Munich (ed.): Festgabe in memory of the 50th year. Anniversary. Lentner'sche Hofbuchhandlung, Munich 1910, p. 125f.
  3. ↑ a b c Josef Wirth in memory , Nürnberger Zeitung of October 29, 2009
  4. ↑ Heinrich Krauß, Ed .: Schwabach, city and district. A home handbook. Vol. 1, Our home in the past and present. Schwabach: H. Millizer, 1930.
  5. ↑ 1000 years of Schnaittach history
  6. ^ Dieter Guillery: Erlanger streets and squares.  ( 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; 6.4 MB) In: Herbstzeitlose. Erlanger senior newspaper, 3/2007. P. 27.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.herbst-zeitlose.de  
personal data
SURNAME Wirth, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Schwabach
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 1941
Place of death Munich