Josef Wittmann

This article deals with the German painter. For other people see Josef Wittmann (disambiguation) .

Josef Wittmann (born May 22, 1880 in Windischeschenbach in the Upper Palatinate, † March 13, 1968 in Munich ) was a German church painter.

Josef Wittmann around 1940

Life

His father Anton Wittmann (* 1834) was a shoemaker, his mother Theresia, b. Wildgans was born in Dietersdorf in 1842 . Wittmann came from a poor family. At school he stood out for his talent for drawing. Around 1900 Josef Wittmann went to Nuremberg to study painting at the Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule (today's Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg ) .

He continued his studies on October 30, 1902 in Munich at the Academy of Fine Arts there with Professors Johann Caspar Herterich , Hugo von Habermann and Martin von Feuerstein . First church commissions followed as a freelance art and church painter. From his church commissions in 1911 he was able to buy a villa in the noble residential area of Solln near Munich, which has still been preserved.

In 1914 Josef Wittmann was called up for military service and was deployed in France during the war , but repeatedly released for church assignments. In 1918, after his release, he became a freelance church painter and continued his work.

Josef Wittmann was with Johanna, geb. Nägler (* 1884 in Leipzig, † 1962 in Munich) married. He had three children with her: Paul (1911–1993), wood sculptor and married to the painter Karoline Wittmann , Margarete (1912–2003), photographer and married to the sculptor Ludwig Buchmiller, and Karl (* 1914).

In 1943, at the age of 63, Josef Wittmann was drafted as an emergency helper for the Munich city council and deployed for two years for ambulance transport at the Schwabing hospital. Despite the war effort and the destruction of his studio, he was able to complete the orders for Irgertsheim and Itzing . From 1945 he was able to fully devote himself to his work as a freelance church painter. In the winter months, sketches and drafts were created that were implemented in the summer months. He carried out his last church commission at the age of 82. Then the oil paintings Four Seasons - Spring - Summer - Autumn and Winter and the design of his grave cross, which his son Paul carved , were created in the studio . Wittmann died in 1968, his grave is in Munich's north cemetery .

personality

Josef Wittmann was strongly influenced by the poor conditions in his childhood and was therefore probably active with a high degree of diligence and hard work. He was considered to be very frugal and tended to make an introverted impression on his surroundings, which was evident through a pronounced lack of words and a certain shyness. To do this, he quickly formed a firm opinion about people and things. In his active time he had no vacation or vacation. He had neither a radio nor a television; he didn't even get a subscription to a daily newspaper.

plant

The list of works was drawn up by the art historian Hans Christian Ries with the participation of Michael Andreas Schmid and the dioceses of Regensburg, Eichstätt, Munich Freising and Augsburg for the book "Josef Wittmann (1880-1968) Painter of the New Baroque" which was published in 2017. During his 60-year creative period from 1903 to 1962, he painted ceiling, wall and altar pictures in over 80 Bavarian churches, predominantly in the neo-baroque style and in accordance with the existing spatial architecture, most recently in 1962 a large-format ceiling fresco Admission of Mary to Heaven, parish church of St. Wenceslas in Miesbrunn. The following works are known:

Ceiling painting "Immaculata in Himmelsglorie über Heiligen" by Josef Wittmann in the parish church of M. Immaculata, Elsendorf 1908.

Ceiling painting “The Whitsun” by Josef Wittmannin in the parish church of the Assumption of Mary in Bad Kötzting from 1930.

year	place	church	Work
?	Etsdorf	St. Barbara	Frescoes: Baptism, Torture and Glory of Barbara.
?	Landerzhofen	St. Thomas	Frescoes: Resurrection of Christ / 4 Evangelists. Probably made in 1912.
?	Wolfring	St. Michael	Fresco: Fall of the Angel.
1903	Stammham	St. Stefan	Frescoes: ordination, condemnation and stoning of St. Stephen. Notburga, Isidore. Choir arch: Christ Salvator.
1904	Church Village	Assumption Day	Frescoes: Choir: Holy Communion , Evangelists. Nave: Annunciation to Mary, death of Joseph, St. Cecilia.
1905	Au in the Hallertau	St. Vitus	Side altar paintings. Left: Enthroned Mary with child and St. Franz Xaver and King Sigismund (Sacra conversazione) / Aloisius. Right: Franz v. Sales, Margareta M. Alacoque and Bernhard v. Clairvaux venerate the Heart of Jesus / Francis. (Drafts in the rectory).
1906	Gebrontshausen	Immaculate conception	Side altar paintings: Left: Our Lady with 14 helpers in need. Right: Joseph enthroned with saints.
1908	Elsendorf	Maria Immaculate	Nave ceiling fresco: Immaculata in heavenly glory over saints / Mary's life. Walls apostles as well as 2 stations of the cross.
1908	Lindkirchen	Candlemas	Frescoes: Assumption of Mary, presentation in the temple, symbols of Mary.
1910	Reinhausen	St. Joseph	Transept side altar paintings. Left: Apparition of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in front of Marg. Maria Alacoque. Right: Mary as protector of the working people.
1910	Wolferstadt	St. Martin	Frescoes: Martin brings a dead man to life, mantle division, death of Martin, church fathers.
1910	Altenthann	St. Nicholas	High altar picture of the church patron. Frescoes from 1911, mostly no longer original.
1910/1912	Weihmichl	St. Willibald	Ceiling frescoes (1910) and former side altar paintings Nativity and Marriage of the Virgin (1912).
1912	Konnersreuth	St. Laurence	Ceiling frescoes about the life of the church patron and Roman deacon Laurentius. St. Laurence is ordained as a deacon. Pope Sixtus II is beheaded three days before he is martyred. Laurentius before the Christian persecutor, Emperor Valerian, who claims the property of the church from him; the saint then brings the poor to the Church.
1912	Pittersberg	St. Nicholas	Frescoes. Choir: Adoration of the Lamb by angels. Longhouse: Nicholas, George and other saints adore Mary, donation of rosaries / symbols of the 4 main virtues.
1912	Wolferstadt	St. Martin	Side altar paintings. Left: Nativity (Adoration of the Shepherds). Right: The Marriage of Mary.
1913	Muenster	St. Peter	Frescoes. Choir: Christ as a child friend. Longhouse: Liberation of Petri.
1913	Rudertshausen	St. John Baptist	Side altar paintings. Left: Joseph with baby Jesus. Right: Anna teaches Maria. The frescoes have not been preserved.
1913	Wolnzach	St. Laurence	Frescoes. Painted over by Michael Paul Weingartner in 1953/1955.
1915	Haselbach	St. James	Ceiling paintings: James as a pilgrim and in the battle against the Moors / angels as 4 cardinal virtues. Painting of St. Family in the longhouse.
1915/1919	Obertraubling	St. George	High altar picture (1915, lost): "Admission of the church patron in heaven". George is kneeling on his shield and lifted into heaven by angels. There he is already expected by two angels, who hold out the victory wreath. Frescoes in the choir and nave (legend of St. George, cardinal virtues, symbols); Oil paintings of the pulpit (four evangelists) and confessionals (man of sorrows and penitent Mary Magdalene); all 1915. 14 stations of the cross; 1919.
1915	Tiefenbach	St. Vitus	Dome fresco: adoration of the altar sacrament as a circulating procession with saints.
1917	Eutenhofen	Assumption Day	Nave ceiling frescoes: Michael's victory with apocalypt. Woman / fall of man, Immaculata; Assumption of Mary / David, Madonna and Child; Triumph of Judith / Ruth (?), Presentation in the temple. (before 1917!)
1919	Fischbach	St. Jacob	Frescoes: calling, sermon and beheading of James, medallions of the apostles. Created after 1919, exact date unclear.
1920	Penting	St. Nicholas	Ceiling frescoes
1921	Sparrow House	St. Afra	Frescoes: Torture of Afra / 4 scenes from her life.
1921	Haberskirchen	St. Margareth	Frescoes. Choir: Beheading of Margareth. Longhouse: Leonhardiritt before Haberskirchen.
1922	Mintraching	St. Mauritius	Fresco cycle: Peter receives the keys in a heavenly setting in the presence of many saints, corner medallions with St. Petrus Canisius, St. Franz Xavier, St. Elisabeth of Thuringia, St. Vincent from Paul. The feeding of the five thousand, the healing of the paralyzed and the crucifixion. In the presbytery the Last Supper and on the side walls the Nativity and the New Testament scene "Jesus the Child Friend".
1923	Uffing at the Staffelsee	St. Agatha	Renewal of the fresco above the gallery: St. Cäcilia (originally by Sebastian Troger).
1924	Ground corn	Assumption Day	Nave ceiling fresco: It shows the transfer of the miraculous image on June 16, 1705. In the middle the church of Maisried, from which the image was collected. Miners, devout people in the traditional costumes of the Bavarian Forest, officials in festive robes escort the picture, which is carried by four decorated girls. Former choir fresco, Assumption of Mary in Heaven, destroyed by the new building.
1924/1928	Viechtach	St. Augustine	2 side altar paintings. Left: Stigmatization of Francis. Right: Joseph with baby Jesus at the workbench.
1925	Arnbruck	St. Bartholomew	Ceiling frescoes: Jesus walks on the lake, Visitation of Mary, Transfiguration of Christ.
1925	Siegenburg	St. Nicholas	Ceiling and wall frescoes in the nave: Glory and sermon of Nicholas. In the large picture in front the intercession and protection of the church patron St. Nikolaus for Siegenburg, backwards Bishop Nikolaus preaches at the Council of Nicaea as one of the most influential representatives against the teaching of Arius, who denied the equality of Jesus with God. In the groove between gold-ocher-brocade stripes, 20 clearly legible symbols from the Lauretanian litany, in the round gussets round pictures of the church teachers.
1927	Heinrichskirchen	St. Nicholas	High altar picture (St. Nicholas) and ceiling frescoes: in the choir Trinity, 4 evangelists; in the nave sermon and glory of Nicholas.
1928	Denkendorf	St. Laurence	Frescoes: Martyrdom of Laurentius / medallions with Laurentius vita.
1928	Erlingshofen	Visitation of the Virgin Mary	Frescoes: Mary's protective mantle over the place / Annunciation, Visitation, Christmas, Presentation in the Temple, 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple, Christ appears to Mary.
1928	Waldershof	St. Sebastian	High altar picture with the church patron St. Sebastian.
1929	Kallmünz	St. Michael	Side altarpiece with St. Sebastian.
1930	Bad Kötzting	Assumption Day	5 ceiling frescoes, 2 of which were recently destroyed due to exposure of the Baroque frescoes underneath. The remaining 3 frescoes of Pentecost and frescoes on historical scenes are preserved.
1931	Kirchberg in the forest	St. Gotthard	Exposure of the frescoes by KA Perlinger from 1790 as well as eight new ceiling frescos: the Fall, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, expulsion from Paradise, God Yahweh rejects the burnt offering of Cain, God Yahweh gives Moses the Ten Commandments and the Holy. Albertus Magnus and Petrus Canisius.
1933	Haidenaab	St. Ursula	Frescoes: Choir: Pentecost. Lhs .: Resurrection (1960 new by A. Veigl), God the Father with angels over the place.
1933	Kaising	Immaculate conception	Ceiling fresco: Visitation of the Virgin.
1934	Windischeschenbach	St. Emmeram	Wall frescoes on the high walls of the nave and on the choir arch. Whitewashed during purification in 1955. Presumably the painting on the high altar also came from him.
1936	Eichenhofen	St. Nicholas	Frescoes. Choir: Wedding at Cana. Nave: Christ in glory, framed by 2 Nicholas scenes, putti with the Sacred Heart. Transept on the left: Christ as a child friend; right: raising Lazarus from the dead.
1937	Kirchenthumbach	Pilgrimage church Maria-Zell	Frescoes: story of the pilgrimage and small medallions with symbols.
1937	Riedenburg	St. John Baptist	Frescoes. Choir: Visitation, in the nave: Sermon of the Baptist, baptism of Jesus / Grisaille: Johannesvita.
1938	Irsching	St. Ottilia	Nave ceiling fresco: Nativity.
1938	Schwarzenfeld	Miesberg Church	Frescoes. Choir: Christ and Saints of the Passionist Order. Longhouse: Mount of Olives, flagellation, crowning of thorns, carrying the cross.
1939/1941	Kirchberg	Assumption Day	Fresco: Coronation of Mary, including Francis. Side altarpiece left 1941, death of Franz Xaver.
1940	Bruckdorf	Holy Cross	Ceiling fresco: Consecration of the church in 1052 by Leo IX.
1940	Pfraunfeld	St. Nicholas	Nave ceiling fresco: Glory of Nicholas with Mary, Joseph, the apostles and the Trinity. Gallery parapet: Francis, Cäcilia, Elisabeth of Thuringia.
1941	Zenching	St. Aegidius	Frescoes. Choir: Lamb of God. Longhouse: Aegidius scene / 4 peasant saints. Main altarpiece: St. Aegidius. Stations of the Cross.
1942	mountain	St. Wendelin Chapel	Gallery frescoes: Wendelin praying in the hermitage, as patron of the country folk and Wendelin's death.
1942	Westerskirchen	St. Michael	Frescoes. Choir: symbols of Mary. Longhouse: Visitation, Assumption of Mary.
1943	Irgertsheim	St. Laurence	Nave ceiling fresco: Ascension Day.
1944	Itzing	St. Michael	Nave ceiling fresco: Christ the King with Walburga, Willibald, Michael and angels, venerated by the villagers.
1946	Berching	Pilgrimage church Mariahilf	Frescoes. Choir: Annunciation. Longhouse: Coronation of Mary.
1946	Erasbach	Visitation of the Virgin Mary	Frescoes: Assumption of Mary, Evangelists.
1947-49	Schwabach	St. Sebald	Frescoes. Choir: Pentecost. Longhouse: bipolar mass offering before crucifixion scene, Last Supper, God the Father with angels above the church. Walls: Apostles and Evangelists, formerly also Way of the Cross, now whitewashed. Left side altar excerpt: St. Michael.
1947	Pattendorf	St. Joseph	Choir frescoes of the 4 evangelists.
1948	Biesenhard	St. John Baptist	Ceiling frescoes: beheading of the Baptist, naming, sermon of John. Choir: Trinity.
1948	Marriage field	St. Michael	Frescoes and altarpieces. Choir: Allegory of Love. Longhouse: Immaculata with Michael (fall of Lucifer) and Georg, angel concert / 6 virtues. Main altar: Michael as soul guide, Trinity. Side altars: left beheading Barbara, right St. George.
1948	Wiesenthau	St. Matthew	Frescoes: Assumption of Mary, Evangelists.
1950	Neukirchen near Sulzbach-Rosenberg	St. Peter and Paul	Ceiling frescoes. Choir: Last Supper. Longhouse: Trinity and angels over saints.
1951/1954	Aying	St. Andrew	Frescoes. In the choir: Lamb of God. Longhouse: Vita of Andreas. 1954 Side chapel: wall fresco Eselswunder, ceiling fresco fish sermon by Antonius.
1953	Großkonreuth	St. John Baptist	Nave ceiling fresco: naming, sermon, beheading of John, baptism of Jesus.
1953	Mähring	St. Catherine	Ceiling frescoes. Chorus: Transfer of Katharina's body to the Sinai. Longhouse: Pentecost miracle, resurrection, birth of Christ. Apostle medallions.
1953	Westerholzhausen	St. Korbinian	Nave ceiling fresco: Assumption of Mary. Here Josef Wittmann overpainted a fresco by Adalbert Kromer, Freising, painted in 1883, “Transfer of the episcopal pallium as a sign of the highest ecclesiastical honor to St. Korbinian ".
1956	Church Village	St. Elisabeth	Frescoes: Elisabeth's rose miracle with divine. Virtues, Elizabeth received in heaven by Mary and the Trinity, including women religious of mercy.
1956	Sulzbach-Rosenberg	Pilgrimage Church of St. Anna	Nave ceiling frescoes: Mary crowned by angels over saints and King David; Groups of singing angels; Anna Selbdritt with angels playing music above town view.
1956	Wutschdorf	St. Martin	Frescoes: Christ the King with evangelical symbols, apostles and saints, King David and others representatives of the Old Covenant with Johannes Baptist, Joseph and Maria. Stations of the Cross 1957.
1957	Eschenbach in the Upper Palatinate	Mariahilf mountain church	Frescoes. Longhouse: Assumption of the Virgin. In the choir: Maria Himmelskönigin with music. Angels.
1959	Vohenstrauss	Maria Immaculate	Wall frescoes in the choir. Left: Group scene with Christ (Sermon on the Mount). Right: Good Shepherd.
1959	Ursulapoppenricht	St. Ursula	Longhouse ceiling fresco: Explanation of the bodily Assumption of Mary to the dogma. In the choir: Annunciation.
1962	Miesbrunn	St. Wenceslas	Nave ceiling fresco: Assumption of Mary into heaven. Last church commission at the age of 82.

Attributions of frescoes and altarpieces

The frescoes and altarpieces listed below are critically attributed to Josef Wittmann, the authorship of some is still questionable. Many works have not been signed by the artist. Due to the turmoil of two world wars, there are no longer any church documents (invoices, etc.).

year	place	church	Work
?	Hirnstetten	St. Leonhard	Nave ceiling fresco Coronation of the Virgin Mary.
1906	Steinbach	St. Martin	Choir fresco: Holy Communion (for Böckl company; in the Lhs. Probably by another hand).
1908	Aufhausen	St. Stefan	Nave ceiling frescos: Last Supper (Holy Communion) / Church Fathers.
circa 1920	Schwabelweis	St. George	Warrior memory picture: Pietà with mourners
1920	Penting	St. Nicholas	Frescoes: Nicholas donates the blessing. Longhouse: Nicholas as intercessor of all estates, 4 more scenes of St. Nicholas.
1926	Drachselsried	St. Aegidius	High altar picture: St. Egidius, upper picture Trinity.
1930	Niederumelsdorf	Ortisei	Nave fresco: holy walk, Cecilia.

Lost works

• In 1943, numerous drafts and oil paintings in the Munich studio apartment at Gundelindenstrasse 2/3 were destroyed or are considered lost in a bomb attack.
• In 1944 the altarpiece of Christ as King or Heart of Jesus from 1927 was relocated before the destruction of the St. Joseph Church in Hamburg-Altona and is still considered lost today.
• In 1946, in the turmoil of the times, the high altar painting of the church patron St. Georg, painted in 1913, disappeared from the Catholic parish church of St. Georg in Obertraubling . Despite an intensive search by the parish as far as Munich at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation , the high altar painting has been lost to this day.
• In 1988 the oil painting “Standing female nude from behind” was stolen when the sculptor's workshop of Paul Wittmann (1911–1993) was closed. The oil painting was painted on canvas, was 80 cm × 40 cm and was painted around 1912. His young wife Johanna was the model for the act.

Sphere of activity

The list of the churches in which Josef Wittmann painted frescos is not complete because there is no catalog raisonné. Most of his work in the Catholic parish churches is very well preserved. The frescoes in the parish church of Windischeschenbach were whitewashed in the 1950s at the instigation of the pastor at the time.

His sphere of activity was mainly in the Upper Palatinate , Lower Bavaria and Upper Bavaria or in the dioceses of Regensburg, Eichstätt and Munich-Freising. Over 70 sketches and drafts as well as extensive photographic material of his work have been preserved. In 1943, the atelier on Gundelindenstrasse in Munich was destroyed by a US bomb attack. Almost all of the pictures and designs from Josef Wittmann's early work were burned.

Exhibitions

• October 2 - October 30, 2011: “Josef Wittmann - church painter of the neo-baroque, drafts for church painting” from the estate. Aying, Galerie Die Schmiede
• April 9 - October 28, 2012: “Josef Wittmann - church painter of the neo-baroque, drafts for church painting” from the estate. Windischeschenbach, Neuhaus Castle, Oberpfälzer Waldverein in the Waldnaab Valley Museum
• March 7th - April 28th 2013: “Josef Wittmann - Church painter of the neo-baroque, drafts for church painting” from the estate. Bodenmais, cultural center of the old town hall
• June 27 - November 4, 2018: "Josef Wittmann (1880–1968) and the sacred painting of the 20th century in the diocese of Eichstätt", exhibition in the Diocesan Museum Eichstätt

museum

Josef Wittmann's artistic estate - 100 designs for church paintings and some oil paintings - were donated to the Regensburg Diocesan Museum by the estate administrator Paul Maria Wittmann in October 2014 .

literature

• Hans Christian Ries: Josef Wittmann (1880–1968) neo-baroque painter. Kunstverlag Fink, Lindenberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-95976-021-8 .
• Book presentation by Josef Wittmann (1880–1968) neo-baroque painter. with Lower Bavaria's District Assembly President Dr. Olaf Heinrich. In: Bayernspiegel - magazine of the Bay. Unification and Bavarian People's Foundation. No. 5, Munich 2017.
• Judith Frankhäuser-Kandler: On applied religious emblems in churches in Lower Bavaria. Dissertation. Faculty of Linguistics and Literature at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, 2013, DNB 103609930X , pp. 213, 353.
• The Upper Palatinate. Oberpfalz-Verlag Laßleben, Kallmünz.
• Xaver Luderböck: The church builder Heinrich Hauberrisser - From half to whole - the architect Heinrich Hauberrisser and his church decorator

Page 101 Josef Wittmann (1880–1968). Symposium in Schloss Friedrichsburg, Vohenstrauß, October 11th and 12th, 2013. Oberpfälzer Kulturbund (Ed.), Dr. Peter Morsbach Verlag Regensburg 2014. ISBN 978-3-937527-73-4 .

• Paul Maria Wittmann: The Upper Palatinate Church Painter (1880-1968) -Life and Work. In: Monthly for history, literature, folklore and local history. No. 4, 2012, ISSN  0342-9873 , pp. 223–228 with a picture of the altarpiece of St. Sebastian in the parish church of Kallmünz.
• Reinhard Haller (Red.): 200 years of the Catholic Parish Church of the Assumption (1805–2005). Bodenmais 2005, pp. 69-70.
• Isfried Griebl: Catholic parish church St. Gotthard Kirchberg in the forest. Art guide. Kirchberg im Wald 1995, DNB 946501084 .
• Reinhard Haller (Red.): Parish and church, Assumption of Mary in Bodenmais. Kunstführer Bodenmais, Festschrift. 1989, DNB 1027243924 , p. 19, 38, fig, p. 37 and 39.
• Max Brix (Ed.): Dehio Handbuch Bayern II: Niederbayern. 1988, ISBN 3-422-03007-7 , pp. 116, 254, 664.
• German Society for Christian Art , annual portfolio, 1917.

References and comments

1. ^ Hans Christian Ries: Josef Wittmann (1880–1968) painter of the neo-baroque. Fink, Lindenberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-95976-021-8 , p. 17.
2. ^ Hans Christian Ries: Josef Wittmann (1880–1968) painter of the neo-baroque. Fink, Lindenberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-95976-021-8 , p. 18.
3. ↑ The exhibition “Josef Wittmann - Drafts for Church Painting” was shown in Aying in 2011, in Neuhaus Castle in Windischeschenbach in 2012 and in the Altes Rathaus cultural center in Bodenmais in 2013. For this purpose, the list of works was created by the art historian Hans Christian Ries with the participation of Dr. Michael Andreas Schmid revised.
4. ↑ Festschrift 1594–1994 St. Joseph-Altona. Hamburg 1994, pp. 36-37. (Digitized version) ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). There is a photo of the altarpiece from 1928 in the parish.
5. ↑ A photo of the picture is shown on the homepage of the parish church of St. Georg in Obertraubling.